It really has not been much more than a fever and a lot of sleeping, but he is sick.
When Aedyn gets sick he mostly wants to just snuggle up on the couch next to Mama or Papa and watch movies all day. And since it is likely just a cold bug there is nothing much that Heather and I can do to help him aside from administering ibuprofen and juice and occasionally changing out a DVD.
One thing that made Saturday hard for me was that I had an exceptionally long day at work. I left the house for Pizza Gallery at 10:00 AM and did not get home until 11:00 PM, and while I was gone there was absolutely nothing I could do to help my son feel better.
I am very blessed to have very healthy children.
The other night, as I rolled silverware at the end of my shift, I was talking with another co-worker who has two girls of her own. We both agreed that while we were pleased that our respective kids are well behaved, what we are especially thankful for is that they are healthy.
I remember the feeling I would get when Heather was pregnant with each of my sons. The thought would drift into my mind of what would I do if the baby was born and something was wrong. Or worse, what if there is something wrong and there is nothing at all I can do about it?
There are few things in this world that bother me more that when my children are suffering and there is nothing I can do to fix the problem. When my kid is sick I want something I can fix, something I can battle and defeat to end the suffering of my child.
Last year the news came out that Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the doctor responsible for linking autism to vaccinations, had falsified the results of his study in order to support his claim that the vaccines were responsible for the increased frequency of autism cases in young children.
In light of the news it is easy to ask how so many were duped by this liar, but even though I always doubted Dr. Wakefield's research I can understand why so many believed him.
Modern medicine has not definitively discovered what causes or even how to predict what child might develop autism. Parents of children with autism often feel helpless; impotent to help their child. Then Dr. Wakefield came along and gave parents something to fight, some cause to take up so that they could feel like they were doing SOMETHING to help their child.
But is that the best way?
The past few days my son has been sick. Since it was likely a bacteria or virus that caused his sickness I could go on a crusade to eliminate all pathogens from our house; just disinfect the whole darn thing. And while that would serve a purpose, what my son really needed was from his Papa was the little stuff.
He needed me to pick up ibuprofen on my way home. He needed me to put juice in his cup so he could stay hydrated. He needed me to curl up on the couch and watch Return of the Jedi for the third time today.
Interestingly enough, there is evidence that this kind of attention may be the answer even for something like autism.
Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that we should not, as parents, demand justice when children are wronged or put in harm's way. I just wonder what is really important for us to do when our child gets sick.
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