Sick Day

Dear Friends,

He's been sick a lot this year. Maybe just due to the going to school thing... maybe just bad luck.

Here he is hanging out on the couch, missing school and feeling cruddy.



(he's checking out a get-well picture a school friend colored for him)

 

I hate it when my kids are sick.

Hate it that they are hurting.

Hate giving them yucky medicines that make me nervous.

Hate the possibilities of having to take them to the doctor.

Hate the fear that it might get worse or turn into something truly terrifying.

But a sick day does have a few perks...

I don't mind the extra cuddly nature my kids get when they are not feeling their best. The way they gravitate to quiet activities and just want to stay in one place. The way I feel the need to completely shift my focus to caring for their little, sick body. The way all my own plans, schedules and to-do lists slide away and make room for the full-on insticts of mother love.

My unwell child becomes the center of my mama-universe.

I build them a "nest", a cozy, warm, comfy spot full of blankets, pillows, busy-work and whatever appropriate fuids/snacks they can handle. We climb in, fluff our feathers, I settle him under my wing... prepared for whatever this sick day will bring. 

I'm a hen... nesting is what I do.

Love,

All Better Now in NE

P.S. I must confess this activity is good for me in another way... reminds me of what I'm NOT being as a mother THE REST OF THE TIME. I always come out of it feeling like I want to be more in tune with them, less selfish with my time, more patient... less eager to coax them into flight.