My daughter was sick this week. Actually, both my daughters were sick, but my oldest felt fine. It was my youngest, my Emmy, who suffered from the strep they both had contracted.
My poor baby was having a lot of pain from the strep. She had had her first dose of antibiotics, and the Tylenol I gave her at dinnertime helped her fall asleep. But then at 10:30 that night, she became restless. I brought her some more Tylenol, but she pushed it away.
She didn’t want to be awake; she wanted to be asleep. She keep tossing and turning; refusing to take the Tylenol I offered her; refusing to snuggle with me.
Finally, finally, she swallowed the thick pink liquid, but by now the pain had gotten away from her. She started screaming and crying so I took her downstairs. What could I do with this child? I felt so upset that she had such pain that I almost burst into tears.
I snuggled with her in a blanket and sat on the couch with her. I turned on an episode of Clifford that I had recorded. Her favorite show. The big red dog distracted her from the pain she was feeling.
I sat and snuggled with her in the middle of the night, watching TV. Not something I would normally do with my three year old child.
When she started feeling better, I was able to put her in her bed. She slept soundly for the rest of the night. The antibiotics did their job, and now she is feeling much better.
Sometimes, a mother just has to break the rules. And that’s a mother’s prerogative.
