Thankfully, Elijah hasn't ever been really sick or hurt in his young life. I know of many kids his age that have had every illness possible at this point. Even so, I think watching your child be sick or hurt is one of the hardest things to do as a mom. It's so hard to watch them hurt, even if it is just a cold they have.
In the last week or so Elijah has been trying to get over a somewhat nasty cold (which he's still fighting), fell face-first onto our tile floor while trying to chase me (and I always expect him to get hurt while playing the rougher-than-I-like games with Gavin), and today gets his first bout of diarrhea. It's been kind of a rough week.
But what I've noticed is that it doesn't quite affect Gavin the same way it does me. He feels bad for Elijah, but not in the same way or to the same degree as I do. His comforting words to me are, "well, I just think about when he gets older and he'll have to go through much worse and more painful things than this."
Thanks a lot. Now not only am I worrying about the possible damage done to his teeth and mouth and whether or not he's getting dehydrated from his sick stomach, I'm also worrying about his first car wreck that he gets in when he's 16 and too immature to be driving in the first place. Or like Gavin said, "he'll be a lot more sad and hurt when he can't get a date to the prom." Again, not a helpful comment to me, but thanks for trying.
Overall, Elijah is a very healthy, happy little boy. And it's times like this, when he's sick and hurt, that make me even more thankful for his health and all of the blessings that he brings us every day. I know there are so many kids that don't have their health and their parents have to watch them hurt much more than I could ever imagine.
So, it's nights like this that I read a couple more books to him than I normally do before bed, and stand over his crib rubbing his back and praying for him a little longer before rushing off to have the rest of the night to myself.
If this is the worst it's been in the last 16 months, then we are blessed.
1 comment:
You know it never never goes away (the worry for your kids) even when they go off to college like Jessica. I know what you mean about the different response from Gavin because Jeff has been the same way. I think most men have the same kind of response. There is something about being in the womb for 9 months that is bond is started and will grab hold of you and never will it let you go.
Isabele
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