Sick Days

I have an excellent excuse for not blogging more. My son has been fighting a fever for almost 5 days. He timed the majority of it to coincide with the long weekend. Monday I thought he was better so I shipped him off to day care - only to get a call a few hours later to pick him up.

Last night he spiked a fever again, not as high as Sunday night's 40/104 temp, but high enough. I drove him to the Children's Hospital and went into emergency where the entire city had converged for one big sick-fest. Kids sick everywhere. I looked at my child, determined that he was not that sick, and went home. I was a little worried. I mean imagine if he takes some huge turn for the worst or gets diagnosed with some horrible condition and people learn I was too impatient to wait four hours to see a doctor.

However, after a fitful night, he woke up with a slight fever, a desire to lay there like a blob and stare at the tv. Fine with me. I called in with a sick child.

I'm not big on sick days. Mainly because I generally have to be pretty sick not to go into work. (Before you think that I'm ultruistic, I'm not, I'm greedy ;)) But a sick kid day can be frustrating. Because as much as I love my child, I gave birth to a child, not a leech. And the sicker he is, the more he wants to cling. I do spend a lot of time cuddling him, and it's not that I don't like it - it's just that as I lie there, I think about all the other things I could be doing.

But the thing I've learned being my child's mother is that some days you just got to do it. Adults and children alike need time to recover. Being around other kids may be good for him, just like going to work may be good for me. But we end up pushing our bodies too far, and then we drag out whatever sickness we've got. I can tell that today will be the last sick day. Already this afternoon he's on the mend. He's brighter, a bit happier, and - woohoo - he's eaten. Because it's been juice for a couple of days...

I know. Exciting blog.