What Happens When Dad Gets Sick?

Posted on June 20, 2012

At 1am, I knew I was in serious trouble. It was the first time since Maddie’s birth that she would be stuck with a sick parent. My stomach was in dire straights and I felt deathly ill. However, all of my thoughts revolved around making sure Maddie didn’t suffer the same fate.

As if I didn’t feel badly enough, Maddie sounded an earsplitting wakeup call promptly at 4:30am. Now we had a real party on our hands. There was no way to explain to the baby that her father was not up to par.

It was a lucky thing for me that Maddie’s grandmother would be awake soon. The burning stomach and pounding head would have to wait. Again, all my thoughts revolved around making sure that I did not infect the baby.

Once MiMi was awake, relief was close at hand. The only problem was that she was exhausted from waking up too early. What a pair, a sick father and a cranky baby – MiMi was in for a real treat. The baby was running around like crazy and I was no help at all.

I even tried to take a stroll with them, but barely made it to the end of the block before turning around. It wasn’t until the early afternoon before I was finally able to help MiMi with the honey badger.

Maddie was chalk-full of craziness all day long, but MiMi held her at bay long enough for us to regroup and join forces. All in all, Maddie had a good day despite the fact that her dad was under the weather.