What to Write When You’re Sick

Juggling home life and work becomes tremendously harder with a sick child.

These are the days that really get me down. My 8-year-old son came home from school on Friday with The Sick Face. Complaints about a sore throat prompted a trip to walk-in care. Rapid stress test was negative, “just a virus.” Two days later and he still had The Face and The Fever. Follow-up call from the clinic: turns out he has strep after all, as the culture turned positive.

Any juggling of home life and work becomes tremendously harder with a sick child. On top of that, no school today for President’s Day, so the five-year-old was also home.

By the time the clinic called in the evening and we had a prescription for antibiotics, I’m not feeling well. I know my own body well enough to know when a fever is imminent.

I think about all of the writing time I’ve lost. Since I have to squeeze in an hour here or there around our busy lives, something like this sets me back for days. It is impossible to catch up.

I haven’t written in my blog for six days, when I usually write 2–3 times per week. That blog is my grief therapy. Sure, I could dash out a post really fast and “get it out of the way” but it usually requires more reflection. I’m not yet organized enough to have…