We Always Knew He Was Special

So for a little while now, my son had what I thought were bug bites all over him. Where we live, to say bug bites aren't uncommon is an understatement. Not getting bit by a mosquito around here is an act of God. The mosquito really should be our state bird. See why I thought he had bug bites? Well sometimes as a mother, you're going to overlook the obvious.

I gave these "bites" a reasonable amount of time to heal up and go away. The problem was, they didn't. What was once just on his face and scalp, now had traveled down his neck and onto his arms and legs. Sigh...time to call the doctor. I usually avoid the doctor at all cost. My kids have to be pretty sick for me to take them to the doctor. I like to give them every chance to heal on their own before I go pumping them full of medication. But some things are warning signs I can't ignore. When five different people ask you if your kid has chicken pox, it's time to talk to the doctor.

The reason I had never given chicken pox a second thought is like most children these days he was vaccinated for the chicken pox virus when he was just over a year old. I knew it was a possibility, but it was such a slight chance...that should have been my first clue. Well, off to the doctor we go. Mind you this kid knows exactly where we were as soon as we pulled in. I know this because he started to scream before I had even parked and screamed until the nurse left the room. This is another reason we avoid the doctor. The doc comes in and looks at him, asks me a few questions, and says, "Well thanks. Now I have to report your kid. He has chickenpox." Super.

After laughing with the doctor about it, and leaving out the back door because they asked me to, I spent a few hours on the phone with people he's been in contact with to let them know "Hey congratulations, you've been exposed to chicken pox. Hope you've had it before." It was a very long, very tiring day.

Leave it to my kid. The doctor informed me the percent of children who still get chicken pox after receiving the vaccine is about 10%. So there you go. He may be one in a million to me, but statistically he's one in 10.