Inheritance

I'm coughing again.  This is bad, and yet not unfamiliar.  It probably goes with the territory for a lot of asthmatics I would guess.  I've had a barely noticeable cold, during which I've had to blow my nose precisely twice; however I've still gone on to develop the post-viral cough of all evilness.

If you haven't experienced this either personally, or by having to share a bed with someone who has - consider yourself blessed.  Basically, you cough in the day a bit - but then when you lie down and try to sleep, the cough turns into an evil sleep inhibiting monster.  It's enough to require ear-plugs, muttering and sometimes separate beds in our house...

I probably get my predisposition to this sort of thing from my Mum.  She's always been a cough-er; which I think is decidedly unfair - since it was my Dad who smoked for years. (He gave up when the price of cigarettes went up in the budget in 1982!)  Anyway, as I know to my cost, genes aren't always fair...  After all, I've never smoked either - that said, I would have been a fool to start, considering I've been asthmatic since I was ten.

My Mum inherited her dodgy lungs from her Dad, so I can hardly hold it against her.  The trouble is, I'm now having to face up to passing on my occasionally ropey genetic material to my own fabulous offspring.  Both the boys have a tendency towards ear infections (as do I), Joel has dodgy lungs - although not true asthma yet, and colour blindness passes down the X chromosome, so effectively Joel is colour blind because of me.  All this is serious fuel for mother-guilt...

That said, the boys (thank goodness) also have inherited a whole load of good things, both from me and from Paul. Things like Joel's ability to read so well so early (just like me, and his aunty Sharon), or like Nathan's innate knowledge of cars (no surprises where he gets that from...).  I am thankful everyday that the boys and I don't have more serious health problems to deal with too - after all, as genetic issues go, colour blindness is very small on the scale...  Just don't ask me to do too much rejoicing on a day after very little sleep due to the cough-monster.