Sickness Sucks!

Well, day two of the flu is in the books and for Katie, it wasn't a good one.  She was actually in pretty good spirits once the Tylenol took effect, but when she woke up in the morning and after a much needed nap, she felt awful.  She is just so hot to the touch that it is scary even though the thermometer (which hasn't functioned well for about a year but we always forget to replace it until they are sick) shows that the Tylenol/Advil is bringing the fever down.  She started out the morning at 103, medicine brings it down to about 100 and then when it wears off she is back into the 102/103 range.  She feels really miserable at about the time for another dose, but when her fever is controlled she thinks she is well and wants to play and "go somewhere."  She told me today that "this is a very boring day" and I told her to tell Tyler because he is super jealous that she gets to stay home.  I explained to her that we couldn't go anywhere because we didn't want to spread germs and she very wisely said "well, someone spread them to me :)." 

Lance is super busy at work right now, and I have a lot going on too so I am kind of stressing about responsibilities that are being neglected and worrying that this illness is never-ending, but Katie feels so bad that I know that we have no other option.  When they have had other sicknesses that have kept them home I have been more upset about missing work, but this is so awful that you can just tell that there is no way she should be at school or really even out of bed.  It is kind of funny because I had to answer a questionnaire for the 40 under 40 awards that talked about challenges and one of mine was a work/life balance and how grateful I am to be in non-profit work that doesn't have as demanding of a schedule or an expectation that you neglect home life for work.  Nothing sends that message home better than having a sick child and knowing that what she wants more than anything is just for you to be there to hold and comfort her. 

One "benefit" of not working today was that I got to attend a parent/teacher conference at their school.  The kids both got a great report and the teacher was very complimentary of the kids and how they are progressing.  She said that they are both just excelling academically and that they are good helpers, good friends and seem to really enjoy learning and new challenges.  She gave me their assessments and observation notebooks to look over and some of them were very funny.  Often when they were testing Tyler he would try to make the teacher laugh and the teacher's comments are hilarious when he would purposefully give the wrong answer and then delight in laughing and saying ha, ha just kidding - "I tricked you.!"  I was primarily interested in finding out how they are doing socially since I don't get to see them interact with other children as much, and the teachers note that Tyler continues to be the leader in almost every group and situation and that Katie is not as confident as they would like and that she plays with groups and is important to the group but never really takes the lead.  That is so strange to me, because  it always seemed like she had very innate leadership qualities, but makes sense since her confidence hasn't been really strong in the last year. 

Tyler told me today that he coughed a lot at school and he definitely has a stuffy/runny nose.  He doesn't have a fever, or at least didn't at bedtime.  I think he may have a cold, and really, really hope that it isn't his manifestation of the beginning of the flu!  It came on very suddenly for Katie and she was feverish well before the cough and congestion, so I still have my fingers crossed that Tyler has avoided it.  If not, I will need to figure out how to get more work done from home and Tamiflu (which I kind of regret not trying now since it seems like this illness will be quite lengthy) will be purchased!