1 Mother 2 Another

I do believe I’ve done a pretty good
job of making a sick day relatively boring, without crossing the
line into comatose.


And let me tell you, it wasn’t easy.

I’ll confess right off that I let
Maddie sleep in as much as she wanted – because it meant I
got to sleep in until Maddie woke up. So we slept until 7:30, which
is quite a luxury around this house these days. And as Maddie
stretched and clambered out of bed, my saying, “Hey, all your
friends are walking to school right now!” elicited a mere,
“huh” from her.


Maddie and Cora played pretty contentedly most of the morning,
creating their own games while I did laundry and various household
chores. I so wanted to join in, playing with her and enjoying her
time at home, but I held myself back so she’d have an easier
time going to school. I deliberately made her a boring lunch, a far
cry from the fancy lunch boxes I’ve been packing for school
days.


Our one structured activity was decorating cards for people, and
Maddie and Cora both got in on the crafting for a bit. After a
while, though, Maddie got bored and began doing “Alphabet
Cheers” she had learned at school. All finished, she sat
down, stared at her markers, and finally said, “I wish I was
at school right now.”


Yes! I restrained myself from doing a victory dance and simply
asked why as neutrally as possible.


“I just miss my friends, and there’s more to do at
school,” Maddie said. “Actually,” she continued,
“I do like school. In fact, the only part I don’t like
is missing you and wishing you were there. If you were at school it
would be perfect.”


So we’re making progress, and my hope is that when Maddie
gets up this morning it will be with minimal grumpiness and a heart
at least somewhat interested in heading off towards school.


As for me, I had a deeply unsatisfying day considering Maddie was
home the whole time. But at least I had a day off from packing a
lunch.