Tag Archives: children sick

I hate when kids are sick.

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As a father of two, I believe one of the worst feelings I get is when my kids are sick.  I feel awful about it because I can’t do anything to make them feel much better.  My girls are 4 and almost 2 and I believe I need to figure out a way to cope with them being sick because naturally as part of life, I have a lifetime of illnesses that I will be dealing with.

The reason this came to mind is because my oldest one is currently sick and spent all day yesterday just laying there.  Mrs. Z took good care of her, but at work, I  was thinking about her all day.  It definitely stresses me out and distracts me from other items I’m trying to accomplish.

So as an experienced Dad of 4.5 years… what are the techniques you won’t be able to find anywhere else to make a sick child feel better?  Feeding them ice cream and letting them watch movies all day.  My philosophy of being sick, is medicine doesn’t do much of anything.  The real healer is time.  Unfortunately, when my kids are sick, I get impatient.  I think I am older, I can tolerate the grogginess, fever, cold, runny nose, sore throat.  I know kids are tougher than you think, maybe tougher than adults, but as a parent, natural instinct is to protect them.  When they are sick, I feel like I haven’t done my job as a parent from protecting them from germs.  I know this is all crazy talk, but I tend to be a bit of worry wort when it comes to certain things.

So how can I, as a parent, feel less guilty about kids being sick?  How can I go about my day doing the daily functions without having a dark cloud over my head?  Since I believe I understand life pretty well, I have come to the following conclusion to try to make me feel less anxious about this particular situation.

Kids being sick is out of our control most of the time.  And my personal philosophy is that anything that is out of out control, you can’t worry about.  It’s tough not to worry, I get it.

For instance, I begin to think about the ramifications of the oldest one being sick, than the younger one will probably be sick, daycare solutions can be a problem because we don’t want others to get sick, appetites are not the same, deciding what medicine to provide to them, should we send them to a doctor.  The worries and decisions seem to be endless when you constantly think about it.

But, if I take a step back and try to think about it again.  You can’t control your kid being sick.  It takes time to get better.  If you spend time worrying, will this make your child feel better?  No, and I understand this.  You do your best as a parent, provide everything you can.  There is no magic wand I can wave to make her feel better instantly and not be sick.  I will do what every parent has the ability to do which is love her.

Max 10.01.2013

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