Vlou-rence Nightingale

I'm listening in the night for a cough.

It's been a long time since I've lain in the dark worrying about this son. When he was little he was prone to bronchiospasm, and it landed him in hospital a couple of times. But as a sports mad teen, he is mostly very healthy.

Now he's caught something, and of course the mind can't help whispering 'swine flu?'

I'm not a great nurse. My strongest impulse when one of my sons is ill is to want to say, 'Snap out of it, you're scaring me.'

I do try, though. I bring on pillows and duvets, offer hot drinks with lemon and honey, and carry off handfuls of snotty tissues without protest. In fact, I seesaw between trying to pretend it's not happening and being overbearingly attentive.

Sick kids, hey, who needs it? Here are some other blogs and stories to keep you company in this flu season.

7 days of swine flu

How to fight flu spread

My swine flu story

Swine flu at school

Oh, and what about you? What kind of nurse are you? Your letter could win you a R250 voucher from kalahari.net.