Sweetie's got a miserable cold. A nasty, nasty cough and a stuffy, stuffy nose. She's feelin' pretty yucky.
Still, if you ask her how she is, she'll answer with a weak-but-still-hanging-in-there: Great.
Since she doesn't have a fever and she's acting pretty normal, I sent her to school yesterday. On the car ride home from school, she was interested in telling me all about the "Beach Party" activities she and her classmates did that day - interspersed with some pretty serious hacking coughs.
And then we all sat in chairs like we (cough, cough, wheeze) were in a bus (hack, hack) and we pretended to go to the bea..(cough, hack) each!
She played quietly with her paper dolls at home last night, not even getting upset when she'd accidently rip one of the paper dresses or shirts:
Oh, I ripped it. That's okay. I'll just put some tape on it and it will be all better.
I gave her medicine and we sent her to bed at her regular time. She did have an awful lot of difficulty falling asleep. She got out of bed several times in a 2+ hour period, telling us she couldn't sleep because she was coughing too much. But she never once whined or cried about it. She was simply letting us know that she couldn't sleep.
It wasn't until after 11pm when she finally did fall asleep. Then she slept through the night.
This evening she seemed to be coughing a bit less - but the times she did cough seemed just as brutal, if not more so, than the days before. And she seemed a wee bit more animated this evening as well. But she tired out quickly and went to bed without a problem tonight, with the aid of some night time cough and cold medicine.
Unless things turn dramatically worse overnight or first thing in the morning, I suspect Sweetie will be going to school as usual tomorrow.
My point with all this? Simply to show what a great trooper we've got. I know I've mentioned it here before, but Sweetie is so awesomely strong and brave when she's sick.
Whenever she's sick, we can certainly tell that she's not her usual self. She's more low-key and more snuggly. But never once - with this cold or any other illness she's ever had - can I remember her crying to me, or even merely mentioning to me, that her ear/head/throat/anything hurts her.
I try to get her to blow her nose, and she insists - more times than not - that she doesn't need to. Okay, that one may be explained with the fact that, when I do get her to blow her nose, she does complain that her raw nose hurts. Oh, and she's mentioned more than once with this particular cold that her lips are raw and she'd like some chapstick. But, truly, that is the extent of her complaints.
(Absolute Full Disclosure: Tonight she did happen to mention to me, in passing, that she doesn't feel very well. But then the next moment she was laughing and telling me a joke. So really, just like her non-ability to sleep last night, this was much more about sharing some factual information with me than complaining).
Now, like this post's title says, I really don't mean to sound like I'm bragging here. Believe me, Hubby and I both are thankful beyond words that Sweetie is so good at dealing with her illnesses. But her great attitude does make me wonder - where the heck did she come from?!
From the look and sound of Sweetie's current illness, I'm pretty dang sure I'd be one sad puppy if I was the one dealing with it. Sure, I'd take medicine and probably go about my work day as best I could. But then again, if my cough was as bad as hers or it gave me any sort of earache or persistent sore throat, I wouldn't put it past me to take a sick day so I could rest.
And I know that with pretty much every cold I've ever had, I've at least woken up in the morning with a badly sore throat. Generally speaking, the mornings and evenings are the times one feels worst when sick with a cold.
But yet there Sweetie was this morning, running into our room to wish us - in her raspy, cough-tired voice - a good morning. Just as she's done on other occasions when she's not feeling her personal best. Wow.
Oh, and Hubby with a cold? Yeah - he's no better, perhaps even worse, than I ever am in the "woe-is-me-I-feel-like-I'm-going-to-die-please-let-me-die-oh-Goodness" department. Sweetie certainly hasn't gleaned her super trooper attitude from him, let me tell ya.
So, again - where did it come from? It almost makes me wonder (and again, please refer back to this post's title and understand I'm not trying to be conceited here) - if I really sit down and try to reason it out - that maybe, perhaps, in some very small way... could Sweetie have adopted this "I'm always great!" sense of self and well-being simply from being my daughter? By observing how I silently and rather successfully manage my physical challenges and differences? By quietly, intuitively understanding that her Mama doesn't have it exactly as good as most other people she's ever seen, yet she's never heard me complain about it?
Maybe, without even knowing it, I'm sending a message of strength and determination in the face of set backs to my Sweetie. Huh....
Or, you know, something else entirely. Like, she's just naturally always great just because.
Or - because, because - as Sweetie so often says when she wants to quickly explain things away.
Whatever. I suppose I don't really care where she gets it. I'm just so very glad she's got it! A great attitude and a willingness to face obstacles head-on will take her far in this world.
Go out there, Sweetie, and be your great self every single day. You're the best!
Oh, and feel better soon. You may be able to handle your colds okay. But it breaks my heart to hear you cough and sniffle so badly.
:(
