SALVE FOR SLEEP: C.J., our four-year-old, has the croup, we think. Scary stuff, with the seal barks and the gasping for air. I had to go get him from his bed tonight, sling him over my shoulder as he gasped and drooled and cried, fireman-carry him upstairs, and then Eileen took him and consoled him and he went back to sleep. We've been through it before. It doesn't seem serious. And so we both seem to console *ourselves* with a basic, mildly comforting thought: "He's not dying."
Funny that the thought "he's not dying" is what passes for comfort at this lifestage. In my teens and twenties, that thought -- with its evil portent -- might have kept me up all night. Now it's the salve I need for sleep.
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I remember the croup, and that awful seal sound (I think it was just a Davey thing a number of years ago). I can remember hearing it at night and just wishing it away as hard as I could.
Such a helpless feeling when your kid is sick- I really appreciate all those times when everyone in the house is healthy. It used to sound so corny when someone would ask how you or your family was, and the answer came back "We're so happy that everyone's healthy", but I think it's the number one thing i hope for each night. It just makes life so much more enjoyable, and I no longer take any of it for granted.
Hope CJ's doin' better for the Bears game.
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