Vol. 26 - Sick Kid

On stuffy babies

Nobody wants their kid to be sick. 

Especially not when their kid is preverbal and completely unable to communicate what they’re feeling and, more importantly, what might make them feel better.

But if there is one universal truth that sates all sick kiddos, it is being held. A lot.

Which is why, somewhat sadistically, I kinda love it when my kids are sick.

I’m not alone, of course. In fact, once, in our son’s earliest days, I admitted as much in an Instagram post which showed him sleeping, red-cheeked and very sick on my chest.

The caption admitted that as terrible as I felt for my son, I couldn’t help but love how much he needed his dad to hold him.

The comments and my inbox flooded with parent friends who felt exactly the same, all with the caveat that, yes, you do feel terrible that your kids feel terrible. But you love how much they need you in those moments.

Last week was a long week. Our daughter battled virtually every single daycare cold a kid could get, all at the same time. Add in the fear of her having Covid-19 (she didn't) and you can imagine how frazzled Emily and I were by week's end. 

She was out of daycare all week, an adorable wrench thrown directly into the works of our normal workweeks and, for at least a few days, Emily and I were transported right back to the earliest days of the pandemic, when we were trying to cultivate our careers while tossing our son back and forth like a beanbag, working in fifteen-minute increments. 

But, as any parent can attest, none of that mattered. Not the impact our daughter’s illness had on our work or our routine or our sleep (which was near nonexistent).

What mattered was our little girl and how, for five straight days, she was in agony. 

Unless, of course, she was sleeping quietly on either of her parents' chests.

Because there, in that supine position, is not only a sense of relief for the child. There is also a sense of zen for a parent. There is no fear or worry or exhaustion or anything that ails you as a parent of children. There is only this strange, calming sense of contentment. Your child is at rest, comfortable, sleeping. And in that moment, you as a parent are doing exactly what you as a parent are programmed to do. 

You're giving your child a place to be comfortable and safe. And when your kid is sick, that’s usually what they need most.