Sick Day

I picked up my Bailey from her Kid's Day Out program yesterday afternoon to discover her draped in one of her teacher's arms...asleep. Now if you know my child, my child isn't normally asleep. And that was red flag number one.


I approached her with caution and asked her teachers if she was okay and if she had a fever because something about this immediately sparked the "something is wrong" department in my brain. They answered, "I don't think so," and I did the kiss test on her forehead and it came up inconclusive. Then again, I'm not exactly feeling all that sparkly and wonderful myself, so I thought we'd just check into it further at home. Bailey sort of came to, we grabbed her stuff and she quite lethargically made it to the car, explaining to me that she was "just a little tired." My child is anything but lethargic on a normal basis...so that was red flag number two.


As we walked up to the house, her lunch bag felt heavier than I'm used to and I opened it and saw that my redhead had only eaten one bite out of her peanut butter and jelly heart (I used a cookie cutter) and nothing else, so that prompted red flag number three to raise itself. With three red flags standing firmly, I found the thermometer as soon as we entered the house, Bailey was already curled on the couch and without even being under her arm for two seconds, she of course had a fever. A high one. The fever still didn't worry me quite as much as the lethargy though.


So, she had to stay home from school today even though she tried her hardest to convince me last night "but they want me there" and that she felt much better. Neither plea worked. But the important thing was that she went to bed seeming a lot happier and on the right track to feeling like herself again.


She didn't wake up with that same feeling, and was back to lethargic and miserable. Poor kid. She was bundled on the couch this morning and finally had a chance to watch some of those morning shows she doesn't get to see because she's at school or busy with our traditional Friday schedule, and what is on? Is it the new show Olivia, based on her favorite Ian Falconer books? Is it the imaginative Backyardigan's? Dora or her animal lovin' cousin Diego? No. No. No. It's a several hour block of Spongebob Squarepants (which is NEVER usually on at those times) and I'll tell you, if I hadn't already been ailing myself, this would have made me that way. It was my own Nickelodeon nightmare; the bane of my existence.


I did what any sickly mother would do at that time of the morning (even if they won't admit to it). I made sure Bailey was comfortable, had some water, knew she could fall back to sleep (which she did), had the remote handy, was taken care of in all possible ways, and then excused myself back to bed where Spongebob Squarepants and I could coexist separately in our own quarters. It was the only way I was going to survive this sick day and any day with him is indeed sick. And I'll do anything for her...except watch him.