That Kid

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah and all those other holidays I missed. Things got a little cray cray around the B house last month. Note to self, never have another winter baby. Being stuck inside has killed me.... KILLED ME!!!!! Our Christmas was fantastic but stressful to the max but who's isn't?

Then it happened. The one thing I warned B about back in October when J made his grand entrance. B got the flu a day after Christmas. I was devastated. I had visions of plopping J in B's lap and running off to finally get the laundry done or dishes washed. Fun fact: the laundry hasn't been completely done since J came home. That's a lie. Since I was 8 months pregnant. Then in one fail swoop, my parenting cohort dropped to the ground saying he felt like death. I'm a nurse, no one is ever that close to death and still plays on their iPad. But one Sunday I made him go to the Minute Clinic and the swab proved me wrong. This was after we ended up at the emergency room with J because his fever was high. No worries, he's fine.

While B was sick, I experienced a triad of emotions. First I felt really horrible for him and took care of him because I never want to take care of myself when I'm sick. While I've never had the flu, I've experience flu like symptoms when I had mastitis and it was the pits. I then felt anger because I told him months ago to get the flu shot to which he replied "Humph, I don't need a stinking flu shot." And finally, I felt jealousy. I was jealous because he got to sleep in the basement for 3 nights, uninterrupted and played on his iPad all day long. How I long for laziness. I'm excited to go back to work so I can sit for longer than 15 minutes at a time.

Which brings me to my next thought. J starts daycare next Monday. I'm scared to death. Not of having to leave my child with someone else or the fear that they won't be patient with him when he pulls a W and changes his mind half way through a task. No, I'm scared of him being "that kid". We all know who he is. He's the one that you see coming and you find a hiding place quicker than when a Jehovah's Witness comes knocking at the door. I'm scared of that day when I show up to daycare and I hear the words, "Jackson bit Betty today. We need to work on our biting skills." But seriously, who could be angry with this kid?

Today I'm going to set aside my fears and breathe in his baby smell. We're hibernating in the bedroom today because it's 8 degrees outside and our house wasn't built for this kind of cold.

Sending warm, happy, beachy thoughts your way!

-W