Pollen Fever . . . not as much fun as Boogie Fever

So it's that time of year again.  The flowers are popping out all over town.  Unfortunately, so is the yellow pine pollen, which can be seen billowing through the air in yellow clouds.  With a strong breeze, it gets knocked loose from the trees and covers everything (cars, houses, roads, people, and anything else exposed) with a yellow dust.  It makes some people sicker than others.  Unfortunately, my son and I both fall into that first category of "some people."  Benadryl, nose sprays, cough syrup, eye drops, cough drops, and tissues can be found in pretty much any room of our house.

The worst part (besides the difficulty breathing and being up all night coughing) is being a prisoner in my own home.  My son, after playing on the school playground the other day, ended up with red eyes.  I'm sure he probably rubbed his eyes with his little yellow-dusted fingers.  Days later, here we are:  cooped up and going crazy.  A simple trip to Target in the car can set us back a whole day in terms of progress we have made with all the previously-mentioned medicines.

Every now and then, when the meds are in full effect, my son starts acting like himself.  He jogs around the house in hot pursuit of an imaginary pirate stealing a treasure chest.  He breaks out in song.  Or he dances with whatever music happens to be streaming from the tv.  In those moments, I am tempted to take him to school or leave the house again.  But if I do, we will lose a whole day of progress and be as sick as we were at the start.  Coughing through the night, nose dripping, eyes red and running.  The Boogie Fever I see in the family room would become the same Pollen Fever that prevents the whole house from getting a decent night's rest.

So I have an idea.  I think we need something like HazMat suits for pollen.  Can you imagine people walking around in baggy white space suits over their clothes?  It wouldn't be everyone . . . apparently some people are immune to the point of even having their windows open this time of year.  But those of us affected could yell muffled messages through our clear helmets.  We would fumble with purses and wallets through awkward, bulky, gloved fingers.  Arriving home, we would stand at our back doors and be sprayed down by a garden hose before entering the back door.

I think I'm onto something.  In the meantime, here's an article about preventing bringing the pollen inside the house:  Keep the Outdoors Out