Challenges

It has been a hard week. My wife went to Delhi for a 5 day business trip and Kaia got sick with the peak being a 39.5 degree (104+ in Fahrenheit) fever. Sleep has not been in high supply. I think that you recognize your growth as a parent when your children are ill. I can remember the terror I felt when Kaia had his first abnormal temperature, and how I freaked out when we first arrived in the dead of winter in Japan, had yet to register for health insurance, didn’t know of any doctors and just settling into a new home—and Kaia was really down with the flu. These were very high tension moments. Now if you flash forward to a few days ago, when the temperature spiked up and the little fireball was trembling and delirious, while here in India and his mother a thousand miles away. Now, if you would have presented me with this scenario a few years ago, it would have terrified me. My God—that high of a fever!?! In India?!? By myself?!? NO WAY! But after going through it a few times, trusting the wisdom of Dr. Sears, understanding that fevers are (in some ways) a good thing and need to be managed and not immediately eradicated, well, you begin to acquire some composure…just about enough to let your child know that they will be OK and to hide your own fear and silent prayer that everything will be fine. There were times when he was trembling that I thought maybe he had gotten malaria or some other funky infectious disease, but fortunately it looks like he’s going to be alright. He is still suffering from diarrhea, but according to our homeopathic doctor, this is a virus that is running rampant in the city right now. This little guy is really building up his immunities!

Why I Love this Time: Shirts with names “grandme shirt”, “surfer shirt”, “ant shirt”, “chickie shirt”, etc.