My "Scarlet" Boy

We're on day two here with Liam and his scarlet fever. It just sounds so dramatic, but it's really not. There were generations when the name brought fear, but today it's really no big deal. With basic antibiotics and fever reducers there is no danger and he's even up and playing some. Not to say that he isn't miserable, but it's certainly not life threatening or any more miserable than a bad case of the flu.

Today my mind turned to those previous generations as his fever was still high after both tylenol and ibuprofen. Even still he was running around and torturing the girls. He alternates from sitting on the couch playing on his kindle to jumping in circles. I'm convinced that it's just impossible to keep a 5 year old boy still...for long.

His rash is still spreading, but we've made a fun game of putting on cream to help with the itching. We sing the afrikaans song "Jan Pierewiet" and he turns around while I keep my hands still, then at the staan stil part he stops and I tickle. And, of course, he gets a soentjie from his mama. :)

The words for the curious: Jan Pierewiet, Jan Pierewiet, Jan Pierewiet staan stil. Jan Pierewiet, Jan Pierewiet, Jan Pierewiet staan stil. Goeie more my vrou, hier's 'n soentjie vir jou. Goeie more my man, daar is koffie in die kan. (Jan Pierewiet, Jan Pierewiet stand still. Jan Pierewiet, Jan Pierewiet stand still. Good morning my wife, here's a little kiss for you. Good morning my husband, there is coffee in the can)

Some people have wondered if him catching it has anything to do with our location and the answer is no. It's quite rare here, as in the US. From what I understand it has a lot to do with the person's reaction to the bacteria. The other kids have had fevers and sore throats to some degree so they are probably infected, too. One thing that our location does determine is what we do now. The antibiotics and fever reducers are cheap, but there are a lot of children around here who would not have access to either for various reasons (poverty, lack of transport, etc) so we're keeping the kids home for a week or so. We don't want to risk spreading it to kids who wouldn't get treatment. That is one of the hardest things about living here- knowing that a $2 antibiotic makes all the difference in the world and knowing that it still isn't always available to everyone...even if they live just 20km away.