The sickness that is going around has landed at our home this week. It started last week with my youngest actually. She ran a mild fever and a cough. She is now fever free with an occasional cough. I got “the call” yesterday from school saying that my son was running a fever and I needed to pick him up. Well, with only and hour left in the day I asked for my middle daughter to be ready to go too. When I get there they inform me that she has a fever too. UGH! (Oh and I could blog an entire other post on why it was urgent to call me with 1 hour to go in school…he’s already been there all day and passed the illness to others, what’s another hour? But I digress!)
Now for a few minutes I panicked. Neither of these two have had their flu shots yet because of their pediatrician’s office not having any available. My son has asthma so the flu shot is a necessary thing in our household. So I panicked…for about 5 minutes. Until my son asked me a random question, “Mom, why does your temperature go up after you eat?” Now my mind is whirling around why is he asking THIS question. You see, we have been taking their temps pretty regularly because of absences in their school, and the night before my DH took their temps after they ate dinner. I made a remark about needing to take them again because our temps go UP when we eat…our food being metabolized and processed makes our body temps rise…we are at “work” so to speak. I KNOW my smart son heard this last night. So here’s the question, is it simply coincidence that he asks this question on the car ride home from school? The suspicious side of me says no….I think he ate something and then complained about “not feeling well” and fed into the school’s anxieties over illness. But I don’t know for sure and will never know.
Here’s the kicker. I called the doctor’s office to make an appointment for both of them that day…since they were sick and coming home early from school. The nurse AND the doctor took one look at my son and said, “He doesn’t have the flu, maybe just a mild cold. We’ve seen a lot of flu and this isn’t it.” Not to mention his temp at the doctor’s office was 98/99 just a few hours after I picked him up from school mind you. This morning my son’s temp was 96 and has remained there all day. Kinda’ makes you wonder doesn’t it? He’s such a smart cookie. He played on the anxiety of the school over illness and remembered what I said about eating and temperatures and worked out a “free day” for himself. Of course, I can’t prove it, but in my gut I know it’s so. Call it “mom’s intuition.” Adolescence is going to be sooo much fun with him! (can you pick up on the sarcasm here?)
Now, as for sickness, my daughter is sick and I am too. I’ve lost my voice and am coughing without a fever. My daughter lost her fever sometime midday today but is still coughing. So we do have some sickness around. Thankfully not the flu, but a virus none-the-less. We are treating the symptoms and getting through it. My DH has worked from home for 2 days to help out, God love him. I haven’t had total free time at home, but at least I didn’t have to manage 3 kids while feeling pitiful. We’ve tag teamed pretty well and I definitely feel better than yesterday, but still sick. Moms never get a day off or a vacation or a sick day. We are always on duty. It’s part of the job description!
Sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it….routine change.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading recently about what has been going on with my son. The book was awesome; “Living with Intensity.” It ties in with another book I’ve been reading called “Emotional Intelligence.” They are both written by PhD’s in psychology. The first is about gifted kids, adolescents and adults. How being gifted lends itself to over-excitability and intensity in character and determination. I related a lot to this book and have come to the realization that I was one of those overlooked gifted kids in school. The public school system didn’t classify me as gifted because I didn’t “perform” on standardized tests. I hate standardized tests much like my son does now and always felt pressure to achieve…leaving me anxious about not finishing on time. So it explains a lot about why I feel so INTENSELY over my son being “overlooked” at his school now. I feel the injustice being served to him and feel a need to protect him from what happened to me. I tell you…when you are constantly feeling like you are smart enough to do something but the “authority figures” tell you that you aren’t qualified or smart enough to do it…it really hurts your self-esteem. Something I’ve been dealing with for a long time…low self-esteem. I’m very thankful for this book because it has validated me. It has also turned my world upside down so I’m struggling with a lot of different thoughts about my past, present and future. I’ve been aiming too low in life…now just to get over my fear of failure and to aim a little higher.
The second book, “Emotional Intelligence” talks about another type of intelligence, possibly a more important intelligence than what our schools teach us. How to relate to others and yourself to successfully move through life. Being sensitive to your own needs and the needs of others…to empathize and identify with others lends to a more enriching life to live. The two books really go hand in hand. For if Emotional Intelligence were taught in schools today, kids would be much more successful in life (outside of academics) and many gifted children would not be overlooked. Gifted kids can exhibit highly intense emotions…emotions that need to be addressed in schools. Unfortunately many schools today just see the acting out of emotions they can’t put in words as “bad behavior” and are thus labeled as difficult or troubled kids. School administrators and teachers need to be schooled in emotional intelligence. I feel that until our public school system can adequately address the emotional needs of kids along with academic needs they are a failure and will never be able to truly identify kids with potential or help those in real trouble.
