Saturday, May 28, 2011

Now or Later? (Warning: graphic descriptions :-)

I was just thinking about writing a post talking about how much less frequently my kids have gotten sick now that I've taken them out of preschool and school, but then -- my youngest got sick. Oh well, we did have a good run of healthiness, longer than most. Ryan is almost well again too, though not yet completely up to par. He caught some sort of stomach bug, resulting in messiness coming out both ends for a little while, plus a mild fever. I'm pretty sure he got it when we went to a water park on Monday, since he came down with it on Thursday. Or it could have been from the grocery cart he rode in on Wednesday.

Or it could have just been spite, since we had planned a long overdue kid-free dinner night out on Friday, courtesy of the grandparents/babysitters. At least we still were able to send the girls over to spend the night at Grandma's house, which made things much quieter, and we got take-out for dinner.

But back to what I had planned to write about:  it really is true that kids get sick more often when you have them in preschool. I used to think that wasn't a bad thing, since it does build up their immunity faster. They're either going to get sick now or later, and if they get sick more as preschoolers, they won't get as sick when they're older, and end up missing school and other things more critical than preschool.

But now missing school is a moot point. Now I've decided I'd rather they get sick later, when their aim is better and they are capable of making it to the bathroom before spewing on the floor. When they're older, they can tell you what's wrong and what hurts, and not just cry endlessly, giving you that betrayed look that says, "Why do I feel this way?" and "Why can't you make it all better?"

Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers with a stomach bug are no fun at all. Not to say that school-age children with a stomach bug are wonderful, but -- I'm tired of cleaning up floors, booster seats, clothes, toys, beds, etc.

Better later than now.

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