Last Friday's plan went completely out the window. My plans didn't pan out, and shortly thereafter, my daughter's school called to let me know that she was sick. Not just feeling under the weather, mind you, but sick as in sharing her breakfast with the entire table behind her. Yick. Sorry about that, guys.
Of course, I hate when my children are sick and there's so little I can do for them. In this case, washing basins and providing cool cloths for her head, as well as switching the movie whenever one ended, was about the extent of my usefulness.
Oh, and one other thing - she suddenly needed her Mommy again.
My little independent almost-first-grader suddenly wanted to be held and read to and played with. We made a clothespin doll and played a zillion games of "Memory" and sorted through an entire box of books I'd just purchased. She's usually a very hands-off kind of girl, so proud of all that she can do, that I'm relegated to the front row, watching her read, watching her write, watching her do all kinds of things - and so this tummy bug was a real blessing in disguise.
She's about back to normal now and headed to school tomorrow, and of course I'm still praying hard that her little brother doesn't catch this particular bug, but for now ... I'm grateful for the minor tummy bugs that let me spend time with my girl. I'm grateful for these times when I can hang out that "We're sick" shingle and the world stays away, when it's okay to hibernate inside and just spend time together. I'm grateful for those days when nobody will blame me for having slightly sticky counters or crummy floors, because my little girl needs me, and there's no where else I'd rather be. I'm grateful, too, for in-laws who changed their plans and kept a very energetic little boy on no notice for the weekend in the hopes of keeping him away from all dangerous tummy bug germs. That, too, was special - for once a second child comes along and begins to grow up, it gets even harder to spend quality time with each of them individually, and this weekend, I was treated to two whole days of Andi time.
I hope, for my daughter's sake, that the tummy bugs stay far, far away for a very long time; but when they return, secretly, I will enjoy the quarantined time spent with my daughter. Really - despite all efforts - doesn't the time fly much, much too fast??
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