Belly Bugs

I am more afraid of a "belly bug" than an open wound, stitches, rashes, tick bites...the list goes on. Yesterday at 4:45, Henry said he had a headache (a first for him) and he laid down on our bed (also a first in daylight hours since the age of three). At 5pm, he threw up all over our bed. We cancelled the dinner scheduled for 5:30 last night. So began the first gastrointestinal infection in our home for this year. And now I wait. Dreading what could be days of laundry, getting sick myself, helping several children one at a time through illness....The anticipation of it all is really worse than the thing itself and that is what gets me about a belly bug. You don't stop to anticipate ticks or cuts or other tough kid illnesses (or atleast I don't). But the belly bug usually gives you a chance to ponder, to think ahead and wonder how bad it could all become. Henry slept on our floor last night with surrounding towels, a deep pot and his sleeping bag. One down, five to go?