ModernMom: How Sick is Sick?

My son woke up with a cough today. You know what that means…mass panic and mild hysteria as my husband and I tried to assess how serious the symptoms were, whether he really needed to stay home, which one of us had a busier workday, whether the ear thermometer was accurate, and which one of the four thermometer readings we should believe. By all accounts, his temperature was under the 100 degree cut off, so we decided to bundle him up and bring him to school.

I spent the entire commute feeling horribly guilty and like a terrible mother. Shouldn’t I have stayed home so he could rest on the couch while I cooked chicken soup? And if I’d stayed home might we have prevented an even worse cough or cold from developing? Was my daughter going to catch it?

Well, by the time I found a parking space, booted up my computer, and grabbed my first cup of caffeine, the child care center called to say I should come get my son. “He’s not feeling well,” they said. “He really needs to be home.” Two hours later he was planted firmly on the couch while I was in the kitchen heating up some Campbells.