It is 3:37 a.m. and I am holding my five-year-old in my lap in the dark of the living room. He is shirtless and shaking.

His birdwing shoulder blades rub together when he signs “more” to my tuneless song.

It is Paul Simon, “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” in the off key of half sleep. But it makes him smile, which is all I need at the moment to keep me from dialing our pediatrician’s emergency line.

And I know this is just the beginning…

Click the picture below to read on Scary Mommy why this flu panic is the same panic I feel every time my kid gets sick.

 

 

**Amended to add, my son did not have the flu, but my husband did. You win some, you lose some.