Sick Days

This Monday, my oldest boy greeted me in the morning with seven dreaded words: "I'm too sick to go to school." This was a particularly difficult case because, although it was clear that he felt terrible, he had no fever. What is a stay-at-home father to do? Be harsh and send a coughing, sickly-but-not-officially-sick child to school or accept one's fate that today would be, in the words of John Milton, "Paradise Lost." (Perhaps Milton was a stay-at-home father with a child home on a school day; I don't know for I've never actually read his book). Those of you less versed in the daily life of a stay-at-home father (or mother, I suppose) might wonder what Paradise I'm referring to and why it got lost. The Paradise in question, and I know that I'm being a tad dramatic, is the independence, tranquility, and general down-time that occurs when one's children are in school. When one's child is sick, and not at school, one's independence, tranquility, and down-time all suffer.
I have a fairly consistent approach to my children's being home sick from school. Mine is the "Let's take it easy" theory of getting better. "Taking it easy" usually involved watching movies, relaxing, and avoiding sports. This may sound elementary. It probably is, but it actually took me a long time to realize this elementary notion. I'm usually a big believer in being active when sick. If one usually exercises, then one exercises when sick. If one usually does yard-work, make sure to rake when sick. The same could be said for countless different activities. The concept behind my theory, and I know that it doesn't really make sense, was that if one continues to do what one does when healthy then one can fool one's body into believing it's healthy. Sickness cured. (It's good that I'm the stay-at-home father and not the MD in my family). I used to really put this practice into motion. When he was a young boy, I frequently took my older child to museums when he had fevers (crazy, I know). Oddly enough, my strategy was effective. For only the duration of the field trip, unfortunately. Invariably, my wife would return from work, and I'd say something to the tune of "it's odd; he seemed so healthy at the Children's Museum [or the Zoo or the Museum of Flight or the Science Museum]."
So, now I guess I've learned. My older boy and I sat mutely (but restfully) in front of the TV for many hours while he was home sick. It might have been a better idea to have him take a nap, but that seems like a waving of the white flag to me. There's no surrender in our house (probably no sense either). So, we watched a cool Japanese cartoon called Code Lyoko for a couple of hours. Then, in a burst of energy born from restful, nurturing and health boosting TV watching, my son went ballistic. He went from sitting on our downstairs couch to completing (and this is no joke) five consecutive spinning kicks, repeated arm punches, and several blasts from an imaginary rifle. He was aiming his aggression, no doubt, at Xana, the odd, cyber-villain from Code Lyoko. (Xana really is an odd duck as villains go; he has no body and doesn't really seem to do anything bad). After his assault on Xana, my boy ran into our backyard to play basketball. Sadly, this requires my following my son outside to clean-up after our dog. The de-pooping never lasts long, but it is not one of my favorite activities. Then, just as quickly as this flurry of activity began, it ended. My son ran back in the house, flopped on the couch, and said, "whew, I'm pooped." For a normal person, this would be a completely normal reaction (probably an indication of sound mental health), but for my boy, this is atypical in the extreme. He was feeling sick. So, we watched a little ESPN. We, then, went upstairs and had lunch. (He is currently loving my "restaurant style grilled cheese sandwich" (my son's words). By 'restaurant style,' my son is referring to my practice of (brace yourself for genius) putting a cheese sandwich in a panini press. A meal easily executed, mess-free, and appreciated. (I'm currently bowing to the fictional audience that so appreciates my savoir-faire in the kitchen). After eating,we retreated downstairs and "took it easy" some more. On other days, we hike, bike, play all sorts of sports, and are generally active, but it was in our sitting, near-comatose, in front of the TV that health was most perfectly achieved on this day.