For the first hour of my morning everything went according to plan. Then the girls woke up and all the plans went out the window.
For the sake of my over-scheduled day I tried to pretend that my 4-year-old didn’t feel warm to the touch. I tried to shrug off her sore throat as play acting to get out of eating the less fun parts of breakfast. Until finally, in light of her flushed face and refusal to eat anything at all, I finally caved and took her temperature.
The resulting number led me to have to cancel each and every one of my many appointments. I dispatched the other child to school with her dad and turned to face the sick one.
It was 7:30am and the whole day loomed ahead of us.
For a moment I was frustrated about all the work I wouldn’t be able to do, and then, as we cuddled on the couch, I realized that I didn’t mind all that much. For one day our job was to lay low and relax. You can’t schedule your sick days, but at least some parts of them are almost pleasant.
