Yesterday morning, Zelda awoke with a few spots on her body. Not so many as to be a worry: it looked more like a reaction to something, an irritation to the sofa she had slept on the previous evening.

During the day a few more spots appeared, and we continued to hope that it was chickenpox. She was likely to become infected some time before she turned eleven, but had managed to avoid catching it from the many cases that had occured at preschool. Better to have the pox now, in earlier life, than later on when the risk of complications is higher.

If it is chickenpox, she is doing well so far, and we keep our fingers crossed that too many more spots surface. It is early days yet, and the spots have not even become blisters. At least her sickness will most probably require being away from school until the spots heal. This could mean anything from five to ten days. To be frank, I would not mind a few more days away from work. We are coming to the end of our Christmas holidays, and I really do not feel like going back.