A. woke up at 2 am throwing up in her bed. We were up for around 30 minutes while she finished and I cleaned her up and changed her sheets. She got up 2 more times but didn't get sick, she just thought it was time to get up. Thankfully she went back to sleep. I thought it may have been the pizza we had for dinner last night--it may have been in the fridge a little longer than I thought when I warmed it up.
She didn't get sick again this morning and I thought she was OK. Until after almost 2 hours when she got sick again. This was long enough for me to get dressed and make arrangements for daycare (and this is another story). All arrangements stopped when she got sick again. So she is resting today, not drinking or eating much until her stomach settles down. She needs to be home, not transported to a sitter's house.
So here is my dilemma: I had a client scheduled today that I can't go to because A. is sick and I need to stay at home with her. Am I the only one who feels torn in this situation? I feel a strong responsibility to my work, and can't be missing appointments. I'm a travelling bookkeeper whose clients rely on me to pay their bills and process their payroll. If people are scheduled to get paid on Thursday, they want to be paid on Thursday!
After I called my boss to tell her I couldn't go to my appointment today I had a knot in my stomach. I felt so bad that I wasn't meeting my responsibilities. Because if I can't go, she has to add that to her schedule. The controlling part of me is not happy with unexpected dilemmas.
Then I thought to myself, I have a responsibility to this little girl to keep her safe and to take care of her always, no matter what. I reconciled myself to the fact that I have to take care of the most important need of the day. Today, that need is taking care of A. (That and washing those sheets from her bed! I figured if I was going to be home today, I might as well do laundry.)
I'm remembering when she was 11 months old and she was sick like this. All she wanted to do was sit with me holding her. She was very tiny back then and I worried so much about her. She ate very little and I spent the better part of 3 days just holding her. She hasn't changed much since then, still wanting to sit on my lap when she needs comfort. She is longer and lankier, but she still fits on my lap.
We're under a couple of weather watches, one for freezing rain this morning and another for 3-6" of snow tonight. If the roads are bad, we may get another snow day tomorrow. My new sitter starts tomorrow and I'll be going to work. There are no sick days for me in my job, so if I want to eat, I need to work. Hopefully I won't get this bug that she has!
