Our Sick Little Boy

Brayden is fighting a pretty intense respiratory bug right now. We first noticed it in the middle of the night (following Friday) as he was having intense nightmares and sweating tremendously - not to mention running a fever. We went ahead and let him go to his basketball game, as he seemed to be feeling better (compliments of Advil), but as it turned out, I took him home after the second half so he could just "lay down"..... Poor guy. You know he's feeling cruddy when he asks to leave a sport he enjoys and all of his favorite buddies.

It's one of those scenarios that as long as he has a fever-reducer in him, he's doing "okay" - but declines in a hurry after about 4 hours. He's wheezing as he breathes now, has a terribly "croupy" cough and has all but lost his voice. I'm anticipating a no-school day for Brayden tomorrow....not to mention, a likely visit to the doctor. I'm also giving him Mucinex, hoping that will keep things from getting too terrible in his lungs and make his coughs more productive.

It's been a while since we've seen Brayden deal with this kind of "sick". More recently, it's been a stomach bug that's taken the whole family out - or the occasional run-of-the-mill head colds that don't put a stop to daily activities. And, I know this sounds awful, but there is something incredibly tender, endearing, and cuddly that happens when Brayden gets sick. All of my mothering instincts go into overdrive, because he's a "brave little soldier" who doesn't whine at all, and it makes me just want to take care of him. Some of his best character qualities seem to shine even brighter when he's under the weather. Honestly, when he was a really little guy, one of my favorite time periods with him was the week following his tonsil removal. He was more subdued, super sweet, braver than expected - just really special to hang out with.

So, while I pray Brayden gets better - and nothing becomes too serious - I am savoring this reprieve from the normal crazy routine we get lost in. Last night, Brayden cuddled with me on our monster bean bag as we watched HSM3 on DVD. The evening was made even more cozy as Michele and the kids were down - and the Whites were over. Just the sort of night I've been longing for..... Throw in Monday's "Chuck" episode and laughing with a DVR'd "Wipeout" and it was a very entertaining television evening.

Hope your family is able to avoid the "creeping crud", but if not, I hope you are able to see some sort of ray of light through it all.....