Symptoms of the Flu

Here are the symptoms of the flu to look for in your kids (in this order):
1. CRANKINESS!!!!!
2. Headache
3. Fever
4. Stomach pain
5. Exhaustion
6. Body pain (everything hurts, even their scalp)
7. Red eyes (looks similar to pink eye, but it's not)
8. (new symptom) sore throat

Ds8 came down with these symptoms Wednesday, starting with #1 and by Friday working his way down to #7. Today he is feeling a little bit better. He has been out of bed all day, but he still has a low-grade fever, a headache, and he is CRANKY.

Now, this afternoon I have noticed ds4 being abnormally testy and irritable. He just came to me and said his head hurts. Oh no!!! I immediately gave him Tylenol and put him in bed to lie down.

I have read that the typical flu lasts a week or two. I hope that is not the case around here. I hope this is a short-lived virus that gets out of our systems quickly.

***Monday Update***
Ds4 is very sick~ I can't get his shaking to stop. He is shaking so badly that it's shaking the bed. He is being calm and good natured about it all though. I have dd12, ds8, and ds4 sick today. Dd12 is going to school at noon. Her school had Grandparents' Day today so there was no real school till after lunch. I kept her home, thinking she would feel better after getting up and around. I was right.
In Family Fun Feb. 07 issue, there are some tips on keeping sick kids occupied. One idea that is neat to help them drink lots of water is to label a water bottle in 6 ounce increments. Then each time they drink 6 ounces, they get to draw a reward out of a hat. Our rewards are things like, "10 minutes of computer time" "a picnic lunch in bed" "Mommy reads one chapter from The Magician 's Nephew to you" "You get to pick out a DVD to watch", etc.
So far, they have been very excited about this. Ds4 is coming out of the bedroom right now to tell me he finished his water bottle!