Parenting: The 'ups' and downs

I have a sick baby. She's sleeping on the floor right now, cuddled up underneath a blanket. This is the child that has begun refusing naps, though she's not quite two. This is the child that can wake alertly at midnight if you creep uber-silently into her room. And now she's sacked out under her blankie next to the couch, bathed in the dull light of an overcast day.

Being sick stinks.

I mean, it's bad enough for us grown-ups. But we at least know what's going on. She doesn't understand why she can't have her big cup of milk, why she keeps throwing up the little bit of water she does have, why she feels so lousy. Last night, she just sat in the warm water of the tub–one of perhaps half a dozen little dips following visits by the vomit fairy–quietly poking floating bubbles with one extended finger.

Hopefully in a day or so, this will just be a bad memory. Or perhaps not even that. It's amazing how quickly kids move on.