Day 3
Ebony woke up with 130 spots, mostly small red dots but the occasional (vom) blister. Some of the earliest blisters have started to scab over already. Ebony doesn't really seem to notice them and rarely complains of itching.
Another skipped day of school that didn't really count because the school was closed because of the weather. My parents came over to hang out with us all for the afternoon. My mum brought homemade soup and some craft sets. They offered to take Ember out for a couple of hours so she could remember life before quarantine, but the wind chill meant it was freezing outside and Ember is not a fan of cold weather (or warm clothing). Instead, they entertained both girls while I got some work done. We waved them off at 3 pm and then settled down to watch a movie.
It was a pretty uneventful day, with Ebony barely noticing she had chicken pox. I am still not allowed to refer to her as 'Poxo' or 'Mrs Poxy', she is very firm on this. She had a bicarbonate of soda bath before bed and then I applied calamine cream to all 150 of her spots. Most of them are little red spots, tiny bumps under the surface, they don't look like chicken pox yet but I fear they will tomorrow.
Ebony went to bed ok but woke up an hour later. Then 15 minutes after that. Then 10 minutes after that. She wanted me to stay with her so, in the end, I ignored the fact it was Friday night and just got into bed with her. She slept ok after that.
Day 4
I wasn't around for day 4. I went to Manchester for the day with my Mum. I was worried this would be the tough day that everybody warned me about, and waited for a text from Laurie saying things weren't going well. No text came, in the end, he messaged to say he didn't think she remembered she had chicken pox because she hadn't mentioned it all day.
Day 5
Day five of the pox meant four whole days at home for Ebony. I thought she'd be tearing her hair out by now but she seemed relieved to have an excuse to hide from the cold. Ember, on the other hand, was a big ball of energy with no outlet. So, to make life easier and give her a little rest from her hermit life, Laurie took her out for a soft play. They were gone for a few hours, leaving me and Ebony alone to do toddler-free things. We painted, we made a Lego palace, and we ate iced buns (and then we tidied, but that doesn't sound very exciting so I left it off the list). It was nice to spend some time just with her, and she didn't mention the pox at all.
Day 6
I'd already decided to keep Ebony off on Monday but, to be honest, I think she'd probably have been ok to go in. I just don't want to be the dick who times things wrong and infects the other half of the class with chicken pox. So she stayed home one last day and spent most of the day saying she wanted to have chicken pox forever because then she could always hang out with her family. We watched TV, she played insane imagination games with (or, more accurately, around) her sister, and she did a lot of dressing up.
To conclude, chicken pox was not at all stressful or terrible or what I was expecting. She has about 20 spots now, well, scabs, most of the others disappeared into nothing (I don't know why). They're all scabbed over and healing well, so she's ready to re-enter society. She's done her reading, her homework and she's ready to go and continue her elaborate game of chase with the boys from reception.
ps. This is Ebony's painting. It is some daffodils and a watering can. Yeah, a watering can.
