Christmas Made Me Sick

Every Christmas season for about 7 years (we counted them one time) I was sick. My birthday falls four days before Christmas, so I was either sick on my birthday or Christmas. I'm not sure why this happened year after year, but here are some possibilities:

1. Maybe I was allergic to the indoor Christmas tree. We have an artificial tree now and I'm rarely ill during the Christmas season. But allergy and sickness are different. As I remember I ran a fever and had to stay in bed in my bedroom. Isolation of germs was the theory then.

2. Maybe I was allergic to mold spores from the rain, or smoke from the fireplace. (Both are true today.)

3. Maybe there was too much excitement from the anticipation of my birthday, Christmas, and two weeks' vacation from school.

4. Maybe I caught stuff from other kids who were sick. This is probably the reason because as Pasteur proved, germs don't just appear. There was a lot of hand holding in games at school and I don't remember too many admonitions to wash hands except when you used the restroom, and I don't remember EVER using a school restroom! (another story)

I got my bicycle for Christmas when I was 9 years old. Daddy parked it between my sister's and my twin beds. (My sister had moved to another room for the duration of my sicknes.) Every time I got up during the day to go to the bathroom, I was allowed to sit on the bicycle seat for a few minutes. I think it was an incentive to get well faster.

P.S. I still had the same Christmas-season problem when I was in college. My major was Vocal Music. Consequently, I had a high level of anxiety regarding Christmas programs. I was always afraid I'd have laryngitis and wouldn't be able to sing, and I loved the soprano solos in the Messiah.

SO I'm reconsidering my choice above, and I vote for #3.
Paulita