Parent Corner: Dealing with a Sick Kid

Sometimes the parent corner isn’t so fun. Sometimes, it’s downright trying and miserable – like when cold and flu season decides to rear its awful, ugly head, wreaking havoc.

I was naively optimistic at the first hint of my daughter Greta’s fever, her slight cough. 

“Just a day or two and she’ll be fine,” I told myself. “We’ve been so busy – school, her uncle’s art show, Bluey’s Big Play, at the Weidner Center, and visiting family in Milwaukee. A bit of rest is all she needs.”

We bought juice boxes to keep her hydrated, popsicles to soothe her throat. We curled up on the couch and watched “Paw Patrol” for hours and hours and hours, while her fever and cough grew worse and worse and worse.

At night, she woke at regular intervals, coughing and crying. She sobbed and screamed, her eyes purple and puffy and finally oozing goo, sending us to urgent care. I felt the illness creeping over myself as well, chills and sore throat, a throbbing headache. 

What’s worse than taking care of a sick child? Taking care of one when you’re sick yourself. But you soldier on, drawing baths and offering spoonfuls of honey, singing lullabies and sleeping beside them. Buying soup to-go from Get Real Café, Scaturos Baking Co & Cafe, and The Healthy Way. You take them on short drives with the windows slightly rolled down, just to get out of the house, enjoy the fall colors and breathe in some fresh air between coughing fits. You buy a humidifier.   

You might cry in the pantry and shower. You might call your own parent. You might go to urgent care, again. 

These stretches can feel so isolating, overwhelming – wondering what’s best, how you’ll get through another day, bone-tired and aching for life to get back to normal.

I ventured out for more supplies one morning – cough drops and apple juice and eucalyptus tea – noticing something as I reached for the children’s Tylenol: the rest of the medication aisle was stocked full, but beneath the ‘Kids’ Pain & Fever’ sign, a meager two or three products remained.

I felt less alone than I had in days. 

If you’re currently at home, watching “Paw Patrol” for the umpteenth time, wiping your child’s nose, holding a bucket beneath their chin, or trying to coax them into taking another dose of something to help their fever or cough – you’re not alone.

As I type this, Greta’s finally back to school. I dropped her off to a little crew of friends waving her over, welcoming her back to normalcy.