Cough on a Stick

This morning I had my usual weekend wakeup to the sound of Hayden thumping the porcelain seat of the toilet up. As usual, I stumbled down the hall to make sure he didn't need any "rear maintenance" and found a wimpering hot boy on the floor. He was able to rasp out that is throat hurt and seemed genuinely upset by the fact that he couldn't talk. I gave him some Tylenol, cold water and honey, then tucked him back into bed saying we would go see the doctor later. I told Fillip I suspected Hayden had strep throat. Sure enough. The culture came back positive immediately. (They do a strep test right there in the office, and the ped compared it to a home pregnancy test.) Hayden was so very pitiful all day long. He just laid around not wanting anything but an occasional drink. This is a very spirited child, so as sweet as it is to have him snuggle up to me at the docs office, it just wasn't the usual Hayden. I know he will feel better tomorrow once the antibiotics have a chance to work, which is why I am a little glad that it is strep, rather than some virus that just needs to run its course. This is a concrete and easily treatable diagnosis.

Tomorrow, I hope and expect he will be significantly back to his usual self. I look forward to seeing more smiles and spirit from him. Today there were very few smiles and the only giggle was prompted by Logan. Logan had a little bit of a runny nose and as they were sitting together, Logan managed to blow a big ol' snot bubble out one nostril. Well, even a toddler suffering from a nasty case of strep throat can't help but laugh hysterically at that!

What I really feel bad about is that I really enjoyed caring for him today. He was so sweet and cuddly, and easy going about everything. He was content to lie on my bed and look at books while I folded laundry, went down for a 2+ hour nap when I asked him to, and didn't once fight back when Logan assaulted him in various ways. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't want him to be sick, don't want him to suffer in any way and truly feel bad for him since I know how awful it is to have strep throat. But, since he was sick, it was so nice to get to mother him and care for him all day long, rather than coral, cajole and often discipline. It felt like I got to spend so much more time truly showing him how very much I love him, to let him know that I was doing everything I could to keep him comfortable. All day I would reassure him that I understood his misery, that it would be better soon. I enjoyed that. I feel like I am a little warped for that enjoyment, but it was actually a strangely satisfying day.