The Call

Yesterday morning around ten o'clock, I got the call. No working parent wants to get this call, but I think most of us have. It's the call where your childcare provider says, your child is sick.

It's a sinking feeling when you realize your child is feeling bad, and you didn't realize it. Maybe it's Mommy Guilt in overdrive, but I feel like I should have a better instinct for when my kiddos are sick.

L. had spiked fever at daycare that morning and refused breakfast. These are typical signs for when S. has strep throat, so I asked if any other kids had been sick. There was one in L.'s class who was symptomatic, but tested negative on the strep test. He was being treated anyway. A second kid in a different class did have strep, so I thought for sure L. was dealing with her first case of strep throat. Confronted with strep cases in the daycare and L.'s panting while breathing, I decided to take her in to see the doctor.

When we got to the doctor's office that afternoon, her temp had spiked to 103.7 (rectal), and her panting was worse. Her breathing sounded clear and she wasn't coughing, so the doctor didn't think she needed chest x-rays. However, she has one well-infected ear. Probably the result of her chronic runny nose.

Side note. Did you know that like dogs, people will pant to try to cool themselves off? I did not know that until the doc explained it to me. L. was panting to try to bring down her fever. Once we had enough Motrin and Tylenol in her, she stopped panting.

On the even more stressful side of things, I am sitting at end of quarter and Mr. W. is sitting at big project needing implementation. It's hard for us to take off right now, but our backup sick-child care (grandma & grandpa) are unavailable today and tomorrow. Timing...

M.W.