Sick-a-Louie

Laura and I know the imminent sadness and sympathy that comes when your child is sick…but what about the good things??

1) More free time for mom and dad – when our girls are sick it provides a great opportunity to get more tasks done. The kids are inert, either watching tv on the couch or napping twice as much as they normally do. This is a great opportunity to do perform tasks that are normally very difficult with small children such as sweeping the floors. Good luck getting that simple task performed with a one year old anxiously standing close by waiting for a pile of floor debris to be created so that she can defiantly stomp on it while at the same time your three year old is adamant about getting another broom and “helping” you sweep the floor thereby unintentionally strewing floor debris in all directions thereby prolonging the simple chore of sweeping the kitchen and eating area.

2) Early exposure to these viruses and bacteria gives their immune system a much-needed “workout” in learning how to combat these dastardly invaders. Expose ‘em early!

3) Parent-child bonding – when PJ was a little one the only time she would let mom or myself hold her for more than four seconds was when she was sick. And it was at that time was when she would put her head on Laura’s shoulder. That rarely occurred if she wasn’t sick, if at all.

4) It’s an opportunity for the little ones to enjoy what Parker considers an absolute treat. Antibiotics in a liquid form conveniently masked with a very strong, very sugary bubble gum flavoring. Perhaps we should look into pouring it on top of her broccoli at dinner time.


Of course the negatives outweigh the positives. No one likes to see their children suffer. No one likes to hear your child sneeze in the next room knowing that when you poke your head in to sneak a peek there’s going to be a really really long thick stream of yellow snot hanging from their nose. Yucky.