Well, I will have to give a brief recap of yesterday's progress. That is if I can still remember yesterday. For some reason if one of my children has a fever it effects my memory.
All of our children were sick with fevers just last week so I was unprepared for further developments in that area. Even though I realize fevers are part of our bodies normal immune response and are actually beneficial, they worry me. I am sure this fear comes more from books and movies then from any factual information I have been exposed to. I remember as a child, watching an episode of the TV series "Little House on the Prairie" in which someone, I can't remember who it was exactly, but some poor person had to be immersed in a tub of ice in order to bring down their fever and thus save their life. The details are blurry but the impact is clear; fevers are drastic life threatening situations. If my children want special treatment from me all they need do is get themselves a fever. What alarms me most about fevers is the heat that radiates off their little bodies and feeling the warmth against my palm without actually touching them.
All this to say, that when I saw my four year old daughter cuddled up in my bed and fast asleep of her own accord in the middle of the afternoon, nothing else got done. I woke her up for dinner and spent most of the night alternating between cuddling her, cuddling my newborn son, and cuddling them both. I didn't get anything "done" but I accomplished so much. Those are the simplest times. Times of clear purpose. I need to comfort my children when they are ill. Holding them is what I ought to be doing. Hang the housework. It is nothing compared to my little one who clings to me, hot and achy and tired. "What can I get for you honey? Is there anything that you want?" I asked her last night.
"I want you Mommy. Can you snuggle with me? My head hurts. I want you"
"No, I have to do the dishes." God forbid. God forbid.
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