When the children are sick…

This week, deep in the night on Tuesday, our younger daughter woke up wanting to go to the bathroom. This was not unusual. What was, was that she wanted to go for a long call. She seemed to have a running stomach. However, she went back to bed and rested without any major complaints. We left early the next morning so I was not able to check and see how she was feeling since she was deep asleep. At lunch time however, the maid called and said the girl was not looking or acting well. I asked the older sister to take her temperature and it was indeed high. I had to conclude work and dash over to take her to the hospital.

Experience has shown that if one of the girls has an infection, the other is bound to get it so I had both of them checked out. Turns out the younger one had a bacterial infection and her older sister, although she looked well, had mild traces of it too. So we got medication for both.

The younger one is now better. She still complains of tummy pains and visits the bathroom quite a bit but at least she is now eating and looking better than she did on that day.
Whenever I find out that the children are sick, my heart drops. Sick children, even when they are not mine just make me feel terrible. To see them go through the pain and discomfort is just painful. So having our daughters cry, throw-up, have no appetite and yet they love their food, is disheartening. I cannot have a goodnight sleep. Each time I hear a movement in their room at night, I worry that something is going wrong and sometimes I stay awake for almost 30 minutes waiting to hear if they are going to start crying.

If in the morning, if I do not hear their chirpy selves, laughing, playing and fighting with each other, it dampens my mood as I can tell they are struggling. And when I get to the office, the poor maid is bombarded with call after call. “Has she eaten?” “Did you give her the second dose in the right measurements?” “What is her temperature like?” “Has she tried to play?” If the answers to most of this is positive, then I shall settle somewhat. If not, my day will be ruined. Only when they are finally well, and properly back on their feet, do I breathe normally again.
It is true that they say; once you have children, your life is no longer completely yours.

cbeyanga@ug.nationmedia.com