A Pox Upon Our House!

Small Son has the Chicken Pox.

Now, you may be thinking, "But wait. Isn't Small Son, you know, small? Didn't he get the Chicken Pox vaccine?"

And the answer is yes, yes he did. But it turns out that the CP vaccine only prevents really serious cases, so little kids can still get a mild version of it. So Small Son only has maybe 20 pox, and they aren't itchy or gross or anything, but he's still running a fever and making that "eh-heh,eh-heh, eh-heh," sound toddlers make when they don't feel good. He's pitiful.

But then, so am I. You see, Small Son has not been sleeping while sick, which means I have not been sleeping. Last night he didn't go to sleep until 9 (he's usually down by around 6), and then he woke up at 4, whereupon he promptly projectile vomited all over me. I was understandably grossed out and feeling very sorry for Small Son. I was also VERY tired, but I soldiered on, thinking I would nap when he napped.

EXCEPT NOT.

Because Small Son did not nap at all today. Despite being awake since 4 AM!

He finally passed out on the couch for about 10 minutes at 5 or so this evening, but then he was up and running around and crazy until I finally just put him in his bed at 6 and turned on a movie. I haven't heard from him since. Behold, the power of Teletubbies!

It seems appropriate that all of this is happening the week of Mother's Day because times like these are really what makes you feel like a Mommy. I mean, The Husband has been SUPER helpful with all of this, but at the end of the day, taking care of a sick kid is a Mommy Job. It's like there's something in you that physically hurts when your baby hurts. The Husband could go back to sleep this morning at 4 after Small Son was cleaned up. I never would have been able to do that.

It makes me think of the week after Small Son was born, and he had to go back into the hospital for 4 days because he had a pretty bad case of jaundice. The hospital room was tiny, and there was no way more than one person could have stayed in there overnight. So for 3 nights, I stayed by myself in that tiny, hot room, watching Teeny Baby Son on his "bili-bed"- basically a tray of lights, meaning Teeny Baby Son had to be blindfolded and naked. He was like a tiny political prisoner. He had to have an IV, and he was pretty miserable because we couldn't pick him up much. That first night, I didn't sleep at all. I just hovered around his bed, cleaning him up (remember, naked= no diaper). I'd been peed on, pooped on, and spit-up on.

I looked at my week-old baby, wanting my own mom, and thought, "This is it. This is Mommyhood by fire."

And it most definitely was, but being exhausted, and lonely, and covered with baby effluence was weirdly... okay. It was certainly better than the idea of being back at my house in my nice cozy bed, worrying about him. And that's when I knew that the love you feel for your kid is different than any other love you'll ever know. I think the love that flows from parent to child is the only true unconditional love in the world. So even though Small Son has made me crizzazy today, it's just part of the job description.

So Happy (Early) Mother's Day, both to my friends who are Moms and my friends who have Moms, so...um...everybody. God, I need a nap. :)