Dear Kid Saturday- Your First Real Cold

Becca,

You are a very healthy, happy little girl. Although Daddy gets sick all the time, you very rarely get even a runny nose. At almost 18 months, you’ve had only two or three small colds.

This week, you had your first really bad cold. It started on last Saturday, with a bit of a runny nose, which progressively got worse. You were still able to enjoy Easter, though, despite the fact that Daddy was so sick.

You woke me up very early Tuesday morning with a fever of 102.5° F. I gave you some Tylenol, and we slept for another couple hours. By 6:30, though, we were on the fold-out couch watching cartoons. We ended up spending most of the day there. The cold got a little worse on Wednesday, and you developed a nasty cough. Thursday, you were feeling better, thank goodness. You still have a runny nose, and your eyes are still bloodshot from the coughing, but the fever is gone and you are almost back to normal. We even got to go to the park yesterday.

I knew that we were lucky about your good health. And I knew the first bad cold was going to happen eventually. I just wasn’t prepared for how hard it would be, on both of us. You didn’t feel good, and couldn’t understand why I couldn’t make you better. You would just cry and cry, especially if the Tylenol started to wear off. It didn’t help that you have a couple of teeth coming in as well. The universe was not fair this week.

As much as I hated seeing you so sick, I have to admit that I enjoyed all of the extra time we spent together. From Monday night until Friday morning, you wanted me. And only me. I was lucky to get a shower in on Thursday. You had to be right next to me, on my lap, almost the whole entire time. You never want to cuddle anymore. That’s just part of growing up- there are so many fun things to do. So I enjoyed the opportunity to snuggle on the couch for a few days, even if it meant I got almost no work done. Some things are just more important.

I love you.

Mommy

Dear Kid Saturdays at Cutest Kid Ever