Top 10 Reasons Having a Sick Child Rocks

In over six years of being a parent, neither of my children has ever been terribly sick. I have never known what it is like to have an ailing child lying around all day sleeping or watching tv or staring blankly at the walls. Oh, we have had our bouts of vomiting, diarrhea, and a sniffle here or there that lasted a day or less. We have also had the seizures with Reiss, but he bounces back after a few hours of deep sleep.

Reiss had one ear infection when he was a few weeks old - coincidentally (or not so coincidentally), immediately following when we began supplementing his breastfeedings with dairy-based formula. Milla has never had an ear infection.

Nothing has ever kept either of them down for more than 24 hours.

No, really. I know, hard to believe, right? People do not believe me when I tell them Reiss has never picked his nose either.

Oh wait, we did have that time when the hospital overdosed and nearly killed Reiss when he had to go to the ER for one of his seizures. The medication overdose kept him down for close to three days but can we really count that since it was medical "professionals" at fault (yes, we know this because the doctor and nurse stood there in the ER, bantering back and forth about whose fault it was, right there in front of my husband and me as we watched our son convulse on the exam table) and not a natural cause like a cold virus?

For these last four days though, Reiss has been caught in the grips of a cold that has him coughing, sneezing, and watery-eyed. He has been whispering when he wants to talk (which isn't much, surprisingly) and shaking or nodding his head when asked a question.

I find myself asking the question, "Wow, so this is what it is like to have a sick kid?"

And although it breaks my heart to see Reiss this way, I still like to think there is a silver lining to everything. So I have come up with ten reasons why having a sick child rocks. God or karma (or whatever belief you subscribe to) is probably going to come back to haunt me for making light of Reiss being sick. I will likely be struck down by contracting Reiss's illness and will be down for the count next week, but honestly, it has crossed my mind that all I need now is to figure out how to duplicate this week in a way that does not involve germs or my little man feeling miserable.

• 10. We are homebound. That is a money-saver right there! Well, assuming I do not go online to visit Amazon or Land's End.
• 9. I have cleaned out things around here that I forgot existed.
• 8. No homework to oversee. Being in kindergarten, Reiss does not have a whole lot of it but does any parent enjoy homework time?
• 7. No therapists in my home every day = not worrying about whether or not the house is picked up.
• 6. I am ahead of the game with the laundry situation.
• 5. No weekly Chick-fil-A outing. Okay, I love Chick-fil-A just as much as the next mom. I do! And biting into that juicy, fat-filled crispy chicken sandwich drenched in mayo? Yum! The play area there...well, it is absolutely delightful, especially when there are 37 other children besides my own in there and I am the only parent within immediate distance to supervise - which is the case almost every single week. But skipping a week of all that bliss now and then is just as delightful.
• 4. My duties as house servant have dropped dramatically this week. Apparently, sick kids do not ask for much, other than help with finding an on-demand tv show approximately every twenty-four minutes.
• 3. I have squeezed in two naps this week! I cannot remember the last time I got two naps within two months of one another.
• 2. My house has not been this quiet since before having children, which leads me to the #1 reason having a sick child is like a small luxury...
• 1. In the midst of the quiet and being able to sit for more than 14 consecutive seconds, I have gotten to read. Real books. No Dr. Seuss or Llama Llama or SkippyjonJones. Nothing that came from a Scholastic order form. Real books....off my neglected dusty bookshelves. During. Daylight. Hours!