And Now for Something Completely Different

The experience of parenting is fraught with many challenges. If anything will ever teach you to practice flexibility and patience, it's raising kiddies. To wit, the unscheduled day home with a sick child.

Last night, my younger son, Ethan, limped around like a lost puppy and fell asleep before dinner. When we roused him, it was clear he was hot, tired and pretty out of it. A quick bite to eat, a hurried undressing and redressing in pajamas, a dose of ibuprofen. and off to bed he went at 6:45 PM. At approximately 4 AM (I say approximately since I was too bleary eyed to get a fix on the clock), Ethan emerged, climbing onto our bed. He was hot as heck. Half awake and somewhat goofy, I scrounged up some more ibuprofen and a cup of water. I gave him the meds and whisked the little guy back to his room. It was at that moment, standing in a darkened hallway in my t-shirt outside Ethan's bedroom, that I realized my plans for the day had changed. Thankfully, this is a fairly slow time in my world, so I could cancel stuff without too much disruption. (Job flexibility is key here.) Of course, Ethan woke up, happy as a clam and ready to conquer the world. Except he still had a fever. So, more medicine and here's to a "Daddy/Ethan home day."

Now, these unscheduled days are a bit of a conundrum. The chance to spend time with my son, by himself and without his older brother, is an unexpected gift. And, thanks to the miracles of modern technology, I can check e-mail and voice mail remotely and no one would be worse for wear. But it's these surprise downshifts (unforeseen and without much warning) that make parenting a challenge. The lesson: whether or not you are ready to conquer the world today, all expectations, in the end, must yield to a preschooler in flannel pajamas.