Sick Babies

Susanna has been sick this weekend. Her nose drips constantly, she is hacking a lot, the past two evenings she's run a fever, and she is CRANKY! This explains in part why I didn't write anything yesterday - I was on constant kleenex duty. Today I have given up trying to wipe her nose everytime it runs, 'cause I would have to spend all her waking moments standing there with the tissue. Since I've been a parent, and Susanna got her first cold at 5 months, I've gained a newfound sympathy for the parents of all those snotty-nosed kids whom I disdained in my youth. The reason that they let their kids run around with that unsightly bit of mucous dripping off their nose, is not because they want their kids to look sick and uncared for, but rather because when a kid has a serious cold, there is simply no way to keep their face clean all the time and still do the other things you need to get done. And if you have ever tried to wipe a baby's nose, you know that it is really no easy task. They see that tissue coming and they turn their head. And then they twist and dodge and squirm and cry until you either manage to catch them or decide to give up. And if you have to use the aspirator (that little bulby thing with the pointed end), well, you might as well tie the kid down first. So if you happen to see my daughter at Wal-Mart, sitting in the front of the cart drooling on the cart handle with her little nose running, please don't look at me in disgust like I'm some awful, neglectful mother! I can't help it. She's sick and I can't leave her home alone while I shop. And if you're the one who gets the cart after she's been in it, don't worry. The germs will help strengthen your immune system. Yeah, actually you should thank me :)