sick bay {still + life}

We took Cal back to the pediatrician yesterday. Essentially, he's been sick since September. I can pinpoint the day. Erin's wedding. We tried a dose about 10 days after that miserable virus, but in hindsight, he never really recovered. He sort of recovered. He'll feel okay.  He'll even feel pretty good for a few days, laughing and having fun and doing all of the normal things he does, and then it's back to coughing, congestion and a even a mild fever.

He missed more school. He could have stood to have missed more. This weekend, when all he wanted to do was rest (seriously, what teenager wants that?) and was clearly coughing, congested and fighting a fever and sore throat again, Neel and I said, enough.

In hindsight, we should have done it sooner. It's easier to beat yourself up as a parent, isn't it? Cal is just so big at his doctor's office now. (I was reminded of that episode of Friends where Ross goes back to his pediatrician.) His legs are so long that he has to tuck them way under his seat when we sit in the "Sick Kids" section of the waiting room in order to allow people to pass. He's longer than the exam table and the little stairs at the end of the table, designed for preschoolers and toddlers are laughable.

But he's still sick and he's still my kid and he still needs help. So we'll try some heavy duty drugs for about three weeks but check in with the doc after two. I think this should knock it out. If so, maybe we won't go back until he's even taller, bigger, broader. I hope so.

weekend lookback, november 10

weekend lookback 11_10.jpg

Oh, what great comments and conversations we've been having about "ah-ha moments!" I'm thrilled! In the comments in this blog, on the phone, over lunch, in email. What a fascinating thing to think about in relation to all aspects of our lives, even if it's as simple as, "I actually DON'T like to cook."

Neel has had some significant ah-ha moments lately, and they remind me of his big ah-ha moment which came when he realized that he was in love with science and didn't actually want to go to medical school. He was in the middle of applying for medical school at the time, and had been on that path for most of his life. He was studying for a college course and described pushing away from his desk and walking down the hall, having to move with the impact of this realization (I'm picturing Gru in Despicable Me saying, "Lightbulb!").

Not all ah-ha moments are like this, I'm sure, and I'm not sure the news was welcome to Neel at the time (everything seems to have worked out okay). What's fascinating to me is that in reading just the comments here on the blog, many of you have similar ah-ha moments (and Erin, Neel agrees, his best thinking is done in the shower too). I'm torn about the "don't force it" bit because I continue to think that good work is being done even in the moments that feel too hard, but that is, perhaps, a story for another day. I also think there's value in working through things that feel really, really tough, but maybe I need to keep telling myself that right this instant because of my own work I'm doing now. And that too is a story for another day. ;)

We're all creatives here, right? (And I'm teaching this morning, but as soon as I'm back, I'll respond individually to your comments.) So we must think about these things or experience them in some measure. As the bursts come to you (or don't) I'd love to hear more.