When an intense child is sick

The Pie was so cool when he was sick. He did the 'normal' thing, he would lay on the couch, sleep... a lot... and suck up whatever attention was coming his way. That's what I do when I'm sick and that's what The Dad does when he's sick but that's NOT what the Dervish does and it's NOT what The Girl does.

What they do is whine. A lot. Sometimes they even yell. They cry - a lot. When they are sick, it's exhausting, mentally exhausting and physically exhausting.

The Dervish has been to the hospital too many times because he is so distraught when he's sick and so vocal and yells and screams and cries in pain that we've been sure his appendex was bursting and took him to emergency only to have him fall asleep once at the hospital and feeling fine the next day.

On one occasion The Dad and I were out of town and Dervish became ill with an unknown origin illness of the tummy variety. His Grandmother, who was babysitting was at her wits end with the screaming and crying and The Dad and I alternated trying to 'talk him down' on the cell phone for almost an hour while we rushed home. Luckily The Pie was there and helped us immensely by doing things like getting a heating pad for Dervish's tummy and some herbal relaxation stuff (that I think does nothing but Dervish felt vindicated in getting so ... whatever works?) Finally he fell asleep and his grandmother's hair settled back into it's normal position.

Aside from the mystery illnesses, they've had their share of the regular stuff, colds and flu, chicken pox, ear infections and fifth's disease (which is caused by the human parvo virus or B19.

That one was particularly interesting because there really wasn't much of a reaction from The Girl when she had it other than the rash - so she looked awful but felt fine (see the symptoms of human parvo virus)

So now that I've had some experience with these intense kids and their reaction to illness, I'm on a mission to keep them healthy! Eat well, excersise, lots of sleep, vitamins, and I'm considering the chicken pox vacine for The Girl because I REALLY don't want to experience her with Chicken Pox!