Sick

Our house was a sick house last week. First Maura and then Jennifer came down with a stomach ailment. Nausea and vomiting were followed by fever and exhaustion. Fortunately it was a fast disease and once the vomiting stopped a good night’s sleep was all that was needed for a complete recovery. When Jennifer was ill there was little I could do but let her sleep and encourage her to take some fluids. Maura had already been sick and I was reasonably sure that Jennifer had the same disease and would recover quickly. It was different when Maura was sick.

No conscientious parent can ever be entirely at ease when their child is ill and as much as I often try to be a hand-off parent, I think I am a conscientious parent. Maura’s illness struck in the middle of the night and I had difficulty sleeping afterwards. Partly it was just that my sleep was disturbed. In my role as cleaner-of-disgusting-messes I had been called to clean up vomit and after the activity I found it difficult to go back to sleep. Worry over Maura’s illness certainly contributed to the restless night. I could not be sure she was not suffering from food poisoning or something else serious.

In the morning a call to the pediatrician allayed my fears. There was a virus going around that caused vomiting and fever but it usually only lasted for twelve to twenty-four hours. Maura was a good patient during the day she was sick. She couldn’t eat anything but she held fluids down and happily drank what I gave her whenever she was awake. She spent the day on the couch in the living room and napped for most of it. By evening she was starting to feel better but she was still running a fever.

The fever meant that Maura was home a second day. Because of the flu the school has a rule that any child who has had a fever of one hundred degrees or more in the last twenty-four hours should stay home from school. It’s a good rule and I’m sure it keeps some parents from sending children to school who shouldn’t be there but sometimes it means the kids are home when they are no longer sick. Maura was one of those children. Since I didn’t think I should have her out during school hours we were trapped at home all day and a well-rested healthy Maura who is trapped at home is bored. A bored Maura is far more trouble than a sick Maura.