Edwin has his very first cold, and it comes with all the things I, as a pre-parent, once dreaded: wakeful nights, a booger-filled nose, snot wiped all over my clothes, the frown-y face on the ear thermometer.
But instead of being as miserable as I’d once predicted, I’m grateful.
I’m grateful because he’s over a year old, and this is his first illness. (I can’t prove this is due to breast-feeding and vitamins, but I’ll still take the win.)
I’m grateful because it’s only a cold, and I had dreaded far worse illnesses back when we were only considering having a child, and I was feeling haunted by my own bout with childhood cancer. (As a matter of fact, we did have a medical scare with Edwin’s heart last week, but so far everything seems to be fine. It was/is terrifying, though, and I’m not sure I’m ready to write about it yet.)
I’m grateful because he’s kept his good humor (except during the nose-suctioning, but who wouldn’t hate that?). In fact, I’m marveling at how he can go about his day seemingly oblivious to his sore throat, cough, drippy nose and intermittent fever. I had this cold last week, and my husband has it now, and neither of us was nearly as cheerful about it as Edwin. I was the one acting like a child, pouting and looking for sympathy over my stuffy nose and achy muscles, while Edwin seems to exude sunshine. “Come on, Mommy, it’s just a runny nose! Let’s play!”
Most of all, I’m grateful for the opportunity to teach my little boy a new lesson: how we take care of illness in our family, no matter how big or small.
Lots of love and hugs.
Lots of tissues and medicine.
Lots of comfort foods.
Lots of naps.
Lots of snuggling and watching movies. (Or Baby Einstein. Although over the weekend, he was tired enough to snuggle with me for a few hours, and I didn’t think I could handle that much preschool television, so we put on one of my favorite Disney movies, The Emperor’s New Groove.)
How do you take care of illness? How do you handle it for yourself? How do your family members handle it differently?