Fear Factor
It hasn't happened in a while. In fact, you paraded around town with a smug look on your face for months. You forgot what hand sanitizer is, what tissues are used for and if the pediatrician you were using is still practicing. Just then while you sit in that blissful moment of relaxation and control... IT happens. That earth shattering moment when your lives seem to stop and chaos ensues. You have not seen signs of this event coming. You are completely blindsided and taken aback. You look closer to see if maybe...just maybe your eyes are playing tricks on you. But silly, naive you...they aren't. What you are looking at, what you are staring at, is your child's runny nose.
WHAT THE F*CK HAPPENED? Your family was on a winning streak from germs for so long! You were disinfecting and cleaning and sanitizing and saying "don't touch" so much you were sure it was going to be your child's first words. When did you stop putting your child in a bubble long enough for them to catch something? As parents you begin to wrack your brains and not so much focus on what to do for your kid, like for instance grab a tissue, but you suddenly become detectives. You autimatically have a running list in your head as to where your child may have caught this "disease" from. And of course, it's only going to get worse from here so you begin to panic and jump into action about what the plan of attack is going to be.
Suddenly you are spraying Lysol on everything and putting up caution tape around all of your kid's toys and play area and pack n play and crib and bedroom and stroller and car and calling anyone you may have come into contact with this past week. You do not hesitate to warn of the dangers of the spread of disease as though you are the CDC when your other children begin to come close to your sick child. You both think..."that's all we need is for our whole house to catch it".
A runny nose soon becomes a cough, teary eyes and everyone's worst nightmare...vomiting. Your evening becomes an episode of Fear Factor. Don't get your wives and these mothers wrong, we do NOT have any interest in having our children's sour milk all over ourselves but what choice do we have ladies when your child's father is shivering in the corner of your bedroom, holding his nose and shutting his eyes tight, leaving it up to you to bit the bullet?*
*Note to men out there: We smell it too. It's warm and gross and it's a terrible event that has happened to us and just because we don't have the privileged of running away from it doesn't mean we can handle it or that we would enjoy cleaning it all up afterwards. So grow a pair and take care of it.
So the difference between when this use to happen and when it happens now is simple. I've been through it, my child's been through it, my husband has been through it (hiding in the corner) and we will continue to go through it for the rest of our lives so there is no need to freak out. Sure it's inconvenient, heartbreaking and sometimes very, very gross, but it's going to happen and for the most part you are a pro who knows what to do now.
I remember sitting up at night crying when my baby was sick, feeling helpless and scared. I still feel helpless and I still get scared but I also know that "this too shall pass".
WHAT THE F*CK HAPPENED? Your family was on a winning streak from germs for so long! You were disinfecting and cleaning and sanitizing and saying "don't touch" so much you were sure it was going to be your child's first words. When did you stop putting your child in a bubble long enough for them to catch something? As parents you begin to wrack your brains and not so much focus on what to do for your kid, like for instance grab a tissue, but you suddenly become detectives. You autimatically have a running list in your head as to where your child may have caught this "disease" from. And of course, it's only going to get worse from here so you begin to panic and jump into action about what the plan of attack is going to be.
Suddenly you are spraying Lysol on everything and putting up caution tape around all of your kid's toys and play area and pack n play and crib and bedroom and stroller and car and calling anyone you may have come into contact with this past week. You do not hesitate to warn of the dangers of the spread of disease as though you are the CDC when your other children begin to come close to your sick child. You both think..."that's all we need is for our whole house to catch it".
A runny nose soon becomes a cough, teary eyes and everyone's worst nightmare...vomiting. Your evening becomes an episode of Fear Factor. Don't get your wives and these mothers wrong, we do NOT have any interest in having our children's sour milk all over ourselves but what choice do we have ladies when your child's father is shivering in the corner of your bedroom, holding his nose and shutting his eyes tight, leaving it up to you to bit the bullet?*
*Note to men out there: We smell it too. It's warm and gross and it's a terrible event that has happened to us and just because we don't have the privileged of running away from it doesn't mean we can handle it or that we would enjoy cleaning it all up afterwards. So grow a pair and take care of it.
So the difference between when this use to happen and when it happens now is simple. I've been through it, my child's been through it, my husband has been through it (hiding in the corner) and we will continue to go through it for the rest of our lives so there is no need to freak out. Sure it's inconvenient, heartbreaking and sometimes very, very gross, but it's going to happen and for the most part you are a pro who knows what to do now.
I remember sitting up at night crying when my baby was sick, feeling helpless and scared. I still feel helpless and I still get scared but I also know that "this too shall pass".
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