...around your heart.
It's the first holiday heartbreak for the Bird. Late Sunday afternoon she started coughing, one of those tickling, trickling, wet coughs. I dosed her up with meds to make sure she didn't keep herself up all night, and she did sleep. But Monday morning found her still hacking and snotty besides. I made her stay home from her pre-school Halloween party. Can you say devastation? These things hurt like a beast, I remember.
I remember being sick for Christmas, being deemed too young to go trick-or-treating with my older brother and sisters, I remember moving away from friends.
Birdie remembers too. As a matter of fact, she has a very scary memory. She will tell you about the time that we "petted the kitty on the porch and it rained and we went inside but the kitty couldn't come 'cause kitties make daddy sicksicksick!" This happened when she was nineteen months old. Yesterday we were washing dishes when the sink backed up a little. As I was putting the Draino in the sink Birdie inspected the sink full of cruddy water and said, "this is like the time Grammy made potatoes!" Referring to a year ago when my Mom came to stay with us to help with Pearl when she was born. For some reason my Mom was unable to infer that while I told her yes, she could send the potato peels down the disposal.... I meant just a few and not the whole caboodle. Sure, that was just a year ago, but she makes these connections and has this memory and she KNOWS!
She knew she was missing her Halloween party that she had been waiting for ever since the pre-school calender came home in her backpack in late September. She remembers that I told her she couldn't invite her friend Jayden from school, to her party last Thursday, because she would be able to have a party with her at school. She remembers the treat bags that we put together for her classmates last Saturday. She listed off the names of her school friends to me as she held up a finger for each new name. Holding up her two hands with nine fingers up she said "these are my school friends, I have this many friends!"
As she sobbed Yesterday morning I could only hold her and sympathise. When she got to a place where she could, we went and did all the cool things I remember my Mom doing on sick days and rainy days.... let her watch all the TV she wanted, drink all the juice she could stand, and build a fort out of sheets and blankets in the front room.
7 comments:
Oh, that stinks! I remember being sick once for a school holiday party. And we moved around a bit when I was a kid so I knew about moving away from friends, that was never any fun.
But it looks like you guys had some fun making a fort of sheets.
Poor little Bird! She looks so pale in that picture. She could be a ghost for Halloween!
She will also remember how much fun she had staying home with you when she was sick. She'll tell you when you're 80 "I remember how you always tried to make life fun, even when I was sick."
I remember missing a holiday party at school and I wasn't even sick - my siblings had chicken pox - and I was stuck at home because of them - I never got the chicken pox...yeah, I can relate! Looks like a good time was had builing a fort though.
Oh, sad Birdie! I remember that pre-school heartbreak so well.
That said, I think Mama D is right - she will remember how you made it a fun day regardless. I still remember the time my totally-against-junk-food mom bought me Twinkies as a surprise when I was laid up and miserable with some sort of hideous respiratory thing. I'd never eaten them before so we did a whole "tasting" thing.
Poor Birdie - at that age it always seems like the end of the world.
I was always sick at Christmastime myself.
Nice fort, by the way!
I hope Birdie's feeling better now.
My sympathies to Birdie. I hope she was able to enjoy some elements of the holiday.
But if it makes her feel better, you can tell her she has great taste in Halloween clothing -- Mimi has the same shirt. :-)
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