Flu and fastidiousness

I'm the only one in my family who has not succumbed to the flu. Even the cats look pathetic. Jonathan's a grown man, so while I do feel sorry for him, my true sympathy is reserved for Xander, who spent all day in his pajamas lying on the couch or in my or Jonathan's arms. At least today he was able to keep toast down. I hate it when he get sick.

But while he came home from school early yesterday, his end-of-day report on Thursday cracked me up. He's very fastidious, always asking for a napkin at mealtimes and hating to get muddy. The teachers seem surprised:

"We played in the classroom in the morning, then got dirty (except for Xander) with fingerpaints."

I can just picture him... wanting to paint but then looking at his fingers and saying, "Wash hands! Wash hands!" One of the books we have, about opposites, has pictures of Maisy the mouse in various situations. When she's holding a mop and standing in front of a spic-and-span kitchen he describes her as "Clean." But on the next page, when she's covered in grime, he doesn't say, "dirty." Instead he states, very seriously, "Needs shower!"