Yesterday was possibly the most miserable day of mothering yet, with the obvious exception of the day of the stomach flu. (Speaking of which, did you know that what is commonly called the flu - the stomach flu - is not actually influenza? After our last bout I vowed to take the flu shot every year henceforward, until I learned that the annual flu shots are not applicable to it. As one friend put it, 'Influenza can make you dead. The stomach flu just makes you wish you were dead.')
Poor little Jane has been fighting a cold for several days, and while sniffly and hoarse for some time, she remained cheerful in spite of it all. But yesterday the floodgates opened; I litereally spent my whole morning wiping her nose. I had no idea one little body could produce that much discharge. Twice I tried the nasal aspirator on her, thinking that if I could suck out as much as possible it might give me a few moments' respite, but no such luck; she was dripping again immediately. We went through so many tissues and her little nose got sore from the constant wiping, of course, making her even fussier than the misery from the congestion had left her, and of course the more the crying, the more the dripping. It was physically exhausting to be reaching for the tissues every minute, but it was far more emotionally draining to deal with the tears and try to cheer her up, sing to her, and distract her from the discomfort.
Fortunately she cleared up a bit by the afternoon, so I took her to a friend's house for an hour while I kept an appointment downtown, participating in a market research study for big bucks. It was very exciting, but I can't say any more about it because I signed a paper agreeing not to discuss the details until the models of the prototypes I tested are already on the market.
Today Jane is much better, and thoroughly back to her normal happy self, complete with hat and glove obsession.
Poor little Jane has been fighting a cold for several days, and while sniffly and hoarse for some time, she remained cheerful in spite of it all. But yesterday the floodgates opened; I litereally spent my whole morning wiping her nose. I had no idea one little body could produce that much discharge. Twice I tried the nasal aspirator on her, thinking that if I could suck out as much as possible it might give me a few moments' respite, but no such luck; she was dripping again immediately. We went through so many tissues and her little nose got sore from the constant wiping, of course, making her even fussier than the misery from the congestion had left her, and of course the more the crying, the more the dripping. It was physically exhausting to be reaching for the tissues every minute, but it was far more emotionally draining to deal with the tears and try to cheer her up, sing to her, and distract her from the discomfort.
Fortunately she cleared up a bit by the afternoon, so I took her to a friend's house for an hour while I kept an appointment downtown, participating in a market research study for big bucks. It was very exciting, but I can't say any more about it because I signed a paper agreeing not to discuss the details until the models of the prototypes I tested are already on the market.
Today Jane is much better, and thoroughly back to her normal happy self, complete with hat and glove obsession.
3 comments:
Poor Jane! I love her little hands up expression. It looks like she does that a lot!? She looks like she would make a great child model--so expressive and loves clothes! -rlr
Baby washclothes make great kid-handkerchiefs so you don't have to keep grabbing tissues. I used to keep one even in my purse.
Jane is such a sweetheart!
-- SJ
Those pictures are so cute! Glad her nose has cleared up. I keep trying to explain to the ducklings that crying because I am wiping their nose will only make matters worse, but they just don't get it. :-)
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