There's no place like home for a sick child

Elizabeth is finally keeping down some fluids. She threw up all last night. Wow. I don't wake up in the middle of the night quite as easily as I used to. Our neighborhood pool is having a swim-a-thon and she's missing the whole thing. She really wanted to participate. One of life's little disappointments.

It's when my children are sick that I particularly appreciate the great blessing it is to be able to be at home and care for them. This past school year I worked one day a week at my younger children's school. I remember the very frequent occasions when a child would be lying on a cot in the office, usually teary-eyed, while waiting for a parent to be able to come get them. If mom was an at-home mom she would arrive in 10 or 15 minutes. If she worked outside the home it could be hours.

I remember the occasional phone calls made by the receptionist. She would present the case that the child really did need to go home. "Yes, he didn't even want to go to gym...." And one very young child crying and talking to mom "Yes, it really does hurt, Mom!"

Teachers would complain that children were being sent back to school too quickly after an illness. They would send them back down to the office and then the phone calls would begin again. "Yes, he has a fever. Someone needs to come get him."

It was so sad. When Mom can be at home the whole family really does benefit. And when a child is sick there really is no place like home.