Posted by Jim at July 27th, 2004

I, like many children who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s, experienced the wonder of chicken pox. In my case, it meant that I would miss marching in the Tulip Time parade yet again (as would happen every year from Kindergarten through 4th grade).

I’m not sure when it happened, but, sometime between now and then, doctors developed a vaccine against chicken pox. Noting that my kids had been vaccinated against it, I was slightly disappointed (but not very) that chicken pox had moved from being a rite of passage for kids to being yet another mythical disease (to kids anyway) like measles, mumps and rubella.

I needn’t have troubled myself.

Like a number of kids at their daycare, Abby and Rebecca both have chicken pox. Thanks to the vaccination, they barely have any actual marks, and I’m told that it’s likely to be much milder and shorter.

Nonetheless, Kristen and I will be spending some er… quantity time with our kids–who are showing few if any signs of illness. Outside of a few red bumps, they have every bit of their normal energy and make no effort to itch themselves.

With any luck, they’ll get better soon.