I don’t think any of us will forget the first time we experience what it's like to have a sick kid. With my son, it was the week he turned 5 months old. Despite our best efforts to keep him away from the germs, he caught his dad’s cold, and spent a pretty chill day on my lap, sniffling, and sneezing adorably. I was concerned, but not overly scared as he was in a pretty decent mood otherwise.
Until dinner time, that is. That’s when what we thought was a simple head cold turned ugly and messy. I'll spare the details (because, well, they're kinda gross) but we called our doctor’s office and were advised to take him to the ER. To make a long story short, it wasn't anything serious, and he recovered in just a few days. But damn was it intense to take an infant to the hospital.
He’s been sick a few times since then, and every new cold or bug gets slightly less terrifying. I mean, it’s still heart-wrenching, but not in an "OMG WHAT DO WE DO? CALL WEBMD AND GOOGLE THE WORLD IS FALLING APART" kinda way. In fact, having a sick little one gives me a chance to do some extras for him that aren’t always necessary on a day to day basis. Like...