Does God have a sense of humor? As if flamingos and naked mole rats weren't evidence enough . . .
Many of you have patiently been putting up with my whining and pouting about how busy I have been and how much stress I've been under and . . . yada, yada, yada . . . and I'm sure God in his infinite wisdom was just doing eye-rolls and head slaps and saying, "Sheesh, just take a break, will ya!" So along comes vacation, spring break, but things seemed like they were just a different flavor of crazy.
After two days of shopping and packing, we left for a planned camping trip to the beach on Wednesday with five other families. My son woke up with a 102 degree fever but begged us to let him go. After pumping him full of motrin and deciding that the RV we were borrowing from Brad's parents would be comfortable enough for a sick little guy, we set out.
Camping - not really my idea of a great vacation but my family loves it and it was easier on the budget than the trip to Mexico. To me, it's all the work and chores of home, just on the road. My family never camped when we were kids and the first time I went camping with a friend when I was 12 years old, we both caught a severe case of the stomach flu and I spent the night in a dirty camp bathroom watching my body empty itself of everything I had eaten in the past five days. Yeah - fun times. Don't even get me started on the critter encounters I seem to have every time I go camping. Yech . . .
The boy spent the first two days watching movies on the mini DVD player in the master bedroom (that's an RV for you) and being a pretty content little guy for the nasty cold/virus he seemed to be fighting. The rest of us took turns hanging out in the RV with him, walking on the beach, sitting by the campfire, and visiting with our friends. By Friday afternoon, the boy was feeling much better and made it out on the beach and fishing with dad. Saturday, he even went to the indoor pool at the campground for a swim with his sister. He seemed to be turning the corner.
I had the chance to take some great long walks over the weekend. I'll share more about those later but it was such good thinking time and times of great conversations with God.
Yesterday we got home and the load of work began - another reason I don't like camping. There's so much stinkin' work involved before and after the trip. Baskets of laundry, towels, bedding to be washed and the RV to be scrubbed and cleaned. Today was supposed to be back to work, back to routine, back to normal. Between all the stuff that went on during spring break and the crazy time of preparation and clean-up after camping, I was feeling a bit deflated; I didn't feel like I'd had a "real" break.
This morning. "Mom - I have a bite or something on my leg that really itches."
I pulled down his Buzz Lightyear PJ's and looked. There it was, a bump with a red ring around it. And on his stomach, two more. And two more on his arms.
"Let me see your back." Two more. And two more on his face. (Not sure of the significance of two-by-two, but everything about this is a bit of a mystery.)
The wheels in my mind start spinning. 102 degree fever, headache, sore throat, red bumps a few days later.
"Oh, buddy. I think you might have the Chicken Pox!" I think both of our hearts fell at the same time. (For all of you moms out there - yes, he had the vaccine at age one; and yes, I feel terrible about exposing all those innocent campers and no, I would have never taken him to the pool and other public places had I known he even had the slightest chance of having the chicken pox. But it is the exact reason I hesitated getting the vaccine in the first place. After reading Michelle at Full Soul's blog and this experience, I'm really starting to feel like I need to do more research before I ever give my child another vaccine.)
"But, can I go to school?"
"No buddy. We'll have to wait a few days." Okay, after doing research online today, (Chicken Pox hasn't been on my radar for years) I haven't had the heart to tell him that he probably won't be going back to school for quite a few days. It's only the afternoon of the first day and he's bored out of his mind already.
Does God have a sense of humor? I'm sure he does. "You said you wanted a break, Kim. Here's your break."
8 comments:
God does have a sense of humor, doesn't he? This even made me chuckle. Poor guy. Tell him we're praying for him. I'm so glad you were able to get away and have some alone time with God. I always leave so refreshed when I actually make time to hear his voice.
We missed you while you were gone!
Jenn
Oh! Kim! I'm so sorry. I hear you on the camping thing...it's fun while you're doing it...but the prep and cleanup afterward is a big deterrant to me!
Our youngest is the only one of the kids that has not had chicken pox yet. (The other 3 had them when I was 8 months pregnant with her!) She had the vaccinne too, but I'm not banking on it. I keep hearing of more and more kids who have had the vaccine and then end up with them anyway!
You're a good mom, Kim. No one else would have suspected them either! Hang in there.... And hug your fella for me!
I'm am glad you were able to get in some good walks by yourself. At least you had that little respite.
Hope to see you soon!
Oh, I feel itchy just reading this. Poor little guy...poor mommy. It sounds like you had a nice vacation anyway. Hope he gets well soon.
Are you sure it's chicken pox?
If so, it is probably a good thing. He will have stronger immunity and be less susceptable to the very painful "shingles" in adulthood which are genreally much more debilitating than a childhood case of chicken pox.
Knowing what I know now, I wish I'd never let my two have that vaccine.
Nothing like a sick kid to force is to slow everything down, right?
Oh no! I hope he feels better soon. ((boy child)) ;)
I am with you about the shots. I declined the chicken pox shot for my kids, only because I thought it was sooooo stupid to get another shot for something most of us had lived through just fine, while it was so new we didn't know the long run problems with it. My doctor gave me crap. Whatever. I have never had any shots, and I lived just fine. ;) AND, now with my friend Melissa and her son with autism, and Michelle...I have decided to put a hold on some of the other ones, too.
And I hear you about the camping. Give me a beach in Mexico any day. But if I have too, the RV is the best way.
:)
Oh yes! God DOES have a sense of humor, He shows it to me all of the time!
I am right there with you on the camping.. it IS a lot of work. Before~ During~ After!!
Both of my kids (ages 20 and 22) have never had chicken pox. They have had the vaccine though. I can remember deliberately letting them play with children who had it. I had heard of adults getting it, and it being much worse. They never did get it though...
I hope he feels better soon!
Oh yes, God has a sense of humor.
Rockboy had the chicken pox at age 3.
Roadchick had the chicken pox, caught from Rockboy, at age 23.
I hope he feels better soon. And I hope you get to rest up with him and watch some good movies too!
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