My kids got it. That weird disease I was sure a lady made up when she told me about it just six short years ago ransacked my house this weekend. Sores, whining, fever and extreme contagion made me a ball of stress, immediately. My husband broke his leg last month. I needed nothing else added to my list.

But really, the stress was all me. The girls actually were just fine. That’s the thing about this illness. The kids are FINE. It just looks and sounds awful.

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease? It sounds like something cattle would have. (There actually is a disease they get with a similar name.) We really need to discuss disease names with these doctors. I think “Tiny Red Dot Disease” would be more fitting. Seriously, who chooses “Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease”? Real creative there, buddy. Also, it proved to be incorrect. At our house, it was more like Arms, Face, Legs, Ears, Mouth and Rear Disease. But like I said, they were fine. HJ only wanted chocolate milk for a couple days, both girls ran a very low fever, B got tiny red spots everywhere, and that was it.

So uneventful.

What is the real beast of this disease is just how contagious it is. Symptoms don’t typically show up until three to six days after the kiddo is exposed to the virus. So that means that we could’ve gotten it anywhere. Really. It could’ve been the library, the grocery store cart, the swimming pool or a random piece of candy from the sidewalk. (B doesn’t mind gravel in her candy, obviously.) This also means that we probably also shared with with the entire city. (I’m so sorry.) Dr. Google says it’s passed by an infected person’s saliva, open blisters and fecal matter. Basically, if you have a toddler, you’re toast. Our doctor’s office said it’s making the rounds in the local daycares.

The best part? Just because your house has already had it doesn’t mean you won’t get it again. There are multiple strains of this fun stuff. (Because OF COURSE there is.)

I’m thanking my lucky stars that we had such a mild case of it here. I hear it can get ugly. Has it visited your house? What did that look like?

*You can read more about it in Karrey Britt’s article from a couple years ago.

http://wellcommons.com/users/photos/2014/aug/05/277236/