Why can't I get the flu?!

We have a family joke about Mr. Monkey, that his bones are made of rubber. He's been trying to break bones ever since he was a year old. He started on his injury-seeking career by diving out of a grocery cart, landing on his head, and bouncing off the floor. I figured he would have a concussion, or a least a serious knot on his head. Nope, you could barely see where he hit his head. Since then he's attempted everything from rolling four rain barrels over himself to flying headfirst off his bike and landing on his face. Not one broken bone. The latest bone breaking attempt was kicking a tree at our church. He couldn't break his little toe, but at least he managed to dislocate it!

Apparently his immune system is as indestructible as his bones are. Dozer, 4 Eyes and LMM all came down with the flu this week. High fever, chills, aches, headache and cough. They've been miserable, and so has Mr. Monkey. Not because he's sick, but because he never seems to get whatever the rest of them have. Instead, he has the pleasure of taking on extra chores when someone else is ill. So when they're puny, he's wishing he was. No matter how lousy the rest of them feel, he thinks he'd rather be suffering with them than waiting on them. No amount of agony on the part of his siblings can convince him that he's better off. 

Poor guy. I kind of see his perspective. I can't help but feel just a tiny bit sorry for the extra load he's had to carry this week. Not sorry enough to reduce his chores, mind you, but it's the thought that counts.