Yesterday, Nathan complained of a headache in the morning, but I sent him to school anyway. After lunch, the secretary called to say he was in the office complaining of both a headache and a stomachache. I told her he probably just wanted to come home and play video games, and to have him rest in the office and stick it out for the rest of the day. At 3:30 he called and asked me to come pick him up because he didn’t feel well enough to walk the eighth of a mile home.
He was white as a sheet when I picked him up. We had to stop at the township library to get Ryan a book for a report, and I asked Nathan to wait with Kaitlyn in the children’s room. When I went to get them, Nathan had fallen asleep face down with his cheek on a puzzle piece. He asked if he could get some hot chocolate on the way home, that it would make his stomach feel better.
Now, I have been a mother for eleven years. I have dealt with everything from RSV to Roseola to Bronchiolitis. I know that when kids are sick, especially if they say their stomach hurts, it’s best to stick with clear, easy to digest liquidy things until they feel better. However, I must have forgotten that as I drove through the McDonald’s drive thru for hot chocolate and a juice box for Kaitlyn.
Nathan came home, drank the hot chocolate, and then promptly ran into the bathroom and threw it up. Oh yes, my instincts were just excellent on that one.
I sent him to bed and he went without protest, and slept for two and a half hours. The rest of us ate dinner, and just as we were finishing up, Nathan walked into the kitchen half-asleep, asking for help getting his lunchbox down. An alarm bell went off in my head, and I sent Chris for the thermometer. Sure enough, 101.9. Peachy. I settled Nathan on the couch with a glass of cool water to sip through a straw, and a cool washcloth. I know kids’ temperatures go up while they sleep, so I was relieved when we took his temp again an hour later and it was normal.
This morning, however, he was hot and pale again, so I kept him home from school. He’s been on the couch all day, we watched “The Game Plan” (funny movie, I’ll have a review soon), and all he has had is water and apple juice. My poor sick little man.
Oh, and Chris flew to Orlando today for a three-day work training session. Freaking Orlando! Before he left, he had to use the snowblower to clear ours and our neighbor’s driveways and sidewalks of the two inches of snow that fell overnight. I don’t know how warm it is in Orlando, but it has to be warmer than here. I’m just glad Nathan isn’t more sick since it’s just me with the three kids until Saturday night.
But does that mean that every time a kid complains of a headache, that they should stay home? No, not necessarily. And that’s the difficulty a parent faces where sick kids are concerned-how to know when they are “crying wolf” and when it is real. You just have to trust your instincts, sometimes they will be wrong, but most of the time they are probably right.
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I hope Nathan is feeling better soon. I have done that myself before. It made me feel terrible, I beat myself up over all night.
Jeanine’s last blog post..Other site
Yeah. I’ve been the kid in the office. Although it wasn’t necessarily that my dad didn’t believe I was sick (I threw up the rotten banana he made me eat for breakfast and felt immediately better and ready for the day after that), but that the secretary called him at 8:15am to come get me because they were not allowing me to go to class at all while “sick”, and he didn’t show up until almost 11am. Because he wanted to get more sleep and then take a shower and shellack his hair. That will definitely color your opinion on things like this, you know?
Anyway, hope Nathan’s feeling better soon, and *knock on wood* none of you get the ick from him. We had a around with ick the week after Christmas. I’m still recovering. Blech.
Twitter: Table4Five
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Jeanine-Thanks for the comment. It’s hard sometimes, this parenting thing.
Twitter: Table4Five
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Lanna-Your Dad needed to do his hair before he could come get you? Forgive me if that made me giggle a little bit
And I sure hope we don’t have what you all had that week after Christmas, that sounded awful.
Hope Nathan is better soon, Elizabeth. It must be a worry.
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Poor kid. I hope he feels better soon!
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Poor kiddo! Hope he gets well soon!
I remember trying to fake being sick to stay home, eventually it backfired when I really WAS sick.
Jennifer’s last blog post..Rice, Rice Baby
Poor Nathan. Hope he feels better soon. There’s definitely something going around!
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Aw, I’m sure he’ll feel better soon. And that one day of toughing it out probably didn’t do any harm – I’ve dragged myself to class in much worse shape than that. God knows why, it’s not like I had a test or anything. I’m just crazy, I guess.
Lanna, your father doesn’t sound like a particularly great parent…sure, you weren’t really sick, but was it such a chore for him to run and pick you up? I sincerely hope I never find myself doing something like that to my kids someday.
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I hope he’s feeling better! It doesn’t really get easier to tell if they’re sick once they can talk because then they tell you they’re sick when they’re not, eh? I guess I better get used to trusting my mommy instincts, then…
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Mama instincts are right up there with telepathy… but we all have off days! Happy that all worked out for Nathan!
Sharon – Pinks & Blues Girls
I hope that Nathan is feeling better, as well.
I definitely think you should trust your mother’s instinct and you will usually get it right.
But, there is something to be said for getting to “cry wolf” and stay home every once in a while. I have wonderful memories of doing just that when I was younger..and spending the day at home, warm under blankets, reading a good book!
Hopefully the days of parents not taking their child’s sickness to seriously is coming to an end… I see it as somewhat old fashioned. I remember when I got too much sun as a kid and my face swelled up to the point I was unrecognizable, my parents sent me off to summer school (unrequired summer school!) anyway. I think they saw it as cheap day care. Anyway, sorry, not saying that that’s what you’re like.