My children are healthy and I am happy. Just within the past week, both of my kids have been sick with some sort of a virus. They had a relatively high fever, headaches, body aches, stomach cramping, and vomiting. Pretty typical stuff when you have two young children in the public school system. Certainly not something that we haven't had to deal with before and will most surely have to deal with again. However, as I sat and tended to each one's fever, nausea, aches and pains, and watched them try to sleep through their discomfort, I worried. I found myself remembering news stories about a brain-attacking bacteria in a lake somewhere, and a story about food poisoning somewhere else. I began to replay the past days' activities...where were we, what did we do, what did we all eat? What possible dangers could I have subjected my kids to at the movie theater, grocery store, or even our own yard?
My littlest woke from a nap yesterday sobbing hysterically from the pain in her jaw and head. Her fever was low, but it scared me enough that I called the pediatrician. I usually try to avoid taking my kids to the pediatrician, mostly to avoid picking up any other infections, but that is where we ended up yesterday. Luckily, the doctor agreed that it was a viral infection and simply needed to run its course. Today both are feeling and acting much better. I find, as a mom, that I usually follow my intuition and trust my ability to read their cues. On the other hand, I try to be informed... I read any article about nutrition that comes across my radar, I listen to health stories in the news, I even seek out information on the internet (don't even get me started...) It's difficult not to panic.
Anyway, I am very thankful that both of my kids are now back to health. I will remind myself with the next illness (hopefully it will not be anytime soon!) that we have been through it before and that we can handle it. I will remind myself not to panic and to trust my intuition. And I will try to take my husband's advice and turn off the news for a while.
