Tommy got it most severely. He had herpes all over his face, hands, and chest. Six weeks he spent in the hospital receiving treatment after treatment for his diseased skin. Being that the herpes were located most heavily around the mouth and throat areas, the application of skin cream appeared, from a distance, to be a fluffy pink beard.

Nobody was surprised by Tommy's red herpe-hosting chin. He had a history of putting things in his mouth. His mother worried that her mischevious four-year-old would one day choke on a marble or crayon. If anything, the herpes would teach him a lesson.

"Back when I was a kid," she told him, "we weren't allowed to put things in our mouths. Especially our fingers. Daddy said if he caught us with out fingers in our mouth, he would make us eat them!" Because she refrained from using threats in disciplining her child, unlike her father, she considered herself a very laid-back parent. Yes, she intended on letting her child make his own mistakes, but tried not to be too casual.