Sick Day(s)

On Tuesday, the worst day of The Disease. Look at what a trooper she is!

We have had an insanely busy 8 or 9 days. Or whatever. I’ve lost count, honestly. Last weekend, our little Charlotte had an extraordinarily poopy weekend. On Monday, I made a note on her form at school to give the staff a heads up. Around 9:00 a.m., I received a phone call from Charlotte’s teacher who told me that four (out of six!) babies’ parents mentioned oodles of poo. Which meant a stomach bug. Which meant we’d have to pick up our girl if she shat again. A half-hour later, I got the call (she had actually gone twice more at this point, but who’s counting?), and off we (we carpool, y’all) to collect her. Oh, my poor baby. Poo, poo, poo. And an increasingly bad diaper rash. I stayed home with Charlotte on Tuesday, taking a sick day. “I’d be a total liar if I said I could telecommute and be productive while my kid is like this,” I told my boss. I took Charlotte to the pediatrician, who confirmed that my girl had the same stomach virus that had infected the majority of the state, and she also declared that Charlotte’s diaper rash had become infected. I’ll spare you the grosser details, but Tuesday was a looooong day of clean-up, diaper rash care, and coddling my sick girl. On Wednesday, Chris was Mr. Mom and took care of Charlotte while I went to work. Anxious to get out of the house, he took her to Target in Frederick. I wasn’t thrilled with her leaving the house, so I made him promise to do a diaper change NO MATTER WHAT when he got there. As he shopped, I got a text from him: I AM THE ONLY MALE IN THE ENTIRE STORE! I told him to play it up and enjoy his exalted status as Tender Father With Adorable Baby Girl, which mollified him a bit. And because Charlotte had been an amazing trooper through all of this, we felt it was only right to get her a couple extra toys: a noisy barnyard toy and a cute little giraffe thing. Chris admitted that he really enjoyed spending time with her, although I also got one call exclaiming, “This is a lot of work by yourself!” Well, duh. Thursday, I took another sick day and battled Charlotte’s tummy and toosh. On Friday, she was doing a lot better but not yet allowed to return to school, so I stayed home and telecommuted. Friday afternoon, our good friends Meghan and Bryan arrived from Northern California, so the week could at least end on a fun note! We did lots of wine tasting, visited a brewery, and hosted a dinner at our house with all of us plus another college friend, Greg. It felt right to have a nice, full house—otherwise we have more space than we know what to do with! Now that we’re back to some routine, I’m fighting some pretty miserable allergies, and Charlotte is teething AND her pooping has picked up again. She has had a rough couple of days at school, which is worrying me. I chalked up her fussiness and poo to the teething when talking to her teacher to try to downplay it and avoid another week of work juggling, but I’m actually worried. I absolutely detest being in the position of having to choose between work and Charlotte, because it’s really not as black and white as that. I can’t stay home every time a tooth MIGHT be coming in, but if Charlotte would be more comfortable at home with me, it’s hard not to feel really, really guilty. I just need Charlotte to have a good day today. Hmm. Let’s call the school, shall we? And see how my pumpkin in doing . . . .