Jack is ill. For the first time in his life he's a poorly boy. He's come down with what Helen thinks is Croup. It's a viral infection that pretty much causes a really awful dry cough. It's nothing very serious but because it's viral so it's accompanied by fever, and it's contagious. This cough though is a hideous thing. I've always thought the dry cough to be the worst kind, it's like not being able to swallow but in reverse. Your throat hurts so you're compelled to cough but you can't get any grip in the cough, instead all you do is hack and make your throat hurt more.
Jack has been sick before, but not like this, he's a very miserable little soul. It's never been much more than a cold and never last more than a day or so. There was a brief chicken pox scare, and we've had a couple of fevers but nothing really worth noting. We're lucky in that respect I guess. All the other children we know have taken their turns being ill, some more than others, but Jack has always been the one that doesn't get sick.
Jack was up from 3:00 am this morning, coughing and complaining. We gave him cough medicine but it didn't really help much . He spent some of the night sitting or sleeping in bed with us and I even spent some the night sleeping in his bed with him. He needs his rest so anything we can do to get him back to sleep is done. He perked up a little around 7:00, long enough to eat breakfast and pick a movie. As the movie played he watched and laughed and repeatedly told us that he couldn't talk and had lost his voice. As the morning went on his mood and energy level gradually dropped. Soon he was sitting on our laps groaning for milk and just being generally miserable.
It's no fun being the parent of a sick child. Illness in general is unpleasant for all involved but as we grow we develop an understanding and acceptance of it. Jack is 2, there is nothing I can do or say that's going to make him understand what's happening to him. His intellect is at a torturous point, he's old enough to understand that he's sick, and that 'medcint' is supposed to, and sometimes does, make him feel better. But he doesn't know why he's sick, or why Mommy and Daddy won't just do whatever it is we usually do to make it go away like with most other things. It's heart-breaking. We're helpless except to try to keep him comfortable as possible.
So today Jack wins all the fights, if he wants snacks, drinks or ice cream he gets it. Anything to make this pass as smoothly and quickly as possible. We've spent the entire day so far sitting on the sofa watching Pixar movies. Let's hope he doesn't get too used to it.
Jack has been sick before, but not like this, he's a very miserable little soul. It's never been much more than a cold and never last more than a day or so. There was a brief chicken pox scare, and we've had a couple of fevers but nothing really worth noting. We're lucky in that respect I guess. All the other children we know have taken their turns being ill, some more than others, but Jack has always been the one that doesn't get sick.
Jack was up from 3:00 am this morning, coughing and complaining. We gave him cough medicine but it didn't really help much . He spent some of the night sitting or sleeping in bed with us and I even spent some the night sleeping in his bed with him. He needs his rest so anything we can do to get him back to sleep is done. He perked up a little around 7:00, long enough to eat breakfast and pick a movie. As the movie played he watched and laughed and repeatedly told us that he couldn't talk and had lost his voice. As the morning went on his mood and energy level gradually dropped. Soon he was sitting on our laps groaning for milk and just being generally miserable.
It's no fun being the parent of a sick child. Illness in general is unpleasant for all involved but as we grow we develop an understanding and acceptance of it. Jack is 2, there is nothing I can do or say that's going to make him understand what's happening to him. His intellect is at a torturous point, he's old enough to understand that he's sick, and that 'medcint' is supposed to, and sometimes does, make him feel better. But he doesn't know why he's sick, or why Mommy and Daddy won't just do whatever it is we usually do to make it go away like with most other things. It's heart-breaking. We're helpless except to try to keep him comfortable as possible.
So today Jack wins all the fights, if he wants snacks, drinks or ice cream he gets it. Anything to make this pass as smoothly and quickly as possible. We've spent the entire day so far sitting on the sofa watching Pixar movies. Let's hope he doesn't get too used to it.
He's starting to brighten up again, he's watching Toy Story 2.
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