She was super sneezy and sniffly all day yesterday and by bedtime, she was a mess. I prayed that it was allergies and that the Zyrtec gods would heal her as she slumbered.
My prayers were not answered. I should be used to that by now.
I had to work hard to wake her up this morning and as she ate breakfast, I tried to convince us both that it was just allergies. When she sneezed out what looked like a tiny chunk of her brain, I knew it wasn't allergies.
A good mother would never send her sick child to school to suffer there all day while infecting the rest of the class no matter how much she wanted an almost-kid-free trip to Target.
A bad mother would send her sick kid to school armed with tissues, figuring she got the germs from someone else and turnabout is fair play.
Sometimes I really hate being a good mother.
The Madam is home and she's just laying around, feeling sorry for herself. She really does feel like crap and she is sad because she wanted to be with her friends.
Yes, you read that correctly, Natalie Christine Tobin cried because she couldn't go to school. I looked out the window and, amazingly, pigs aren't flying and Delaware isn't toasty warm so hell hasn't frozen over.
Over a comforting lunch of French toast for my little convalescent, we talked about how she'll probably feel better tomorrow. I told her that if she did, she could go back to school tomorrow and that we'd go to Grammy's on Thursday since school is closed.
N: Why is school closed AGAIN?
C, sighing: I know, right? It's closed because Thursday is a Jewish holiday.
N: But we're not Jewish.
C: No, we're not but they close the school anyway so that people who celebrate the holiday can be home with their families. Just like they close the school for Christmas even though not everyone celebrates Christmas.
(Interestingly, I had the same conversation with Jack over the weekend but with him, it ended there. Nothing is that easy with The Madam though.)
N: Yes, some people celebrate Hanukah.
C, thinking: Oh God, please don't ask me why school isn't closed for Hanukah! I have no frigging idea why it's not!
C: Right, Jewish people celebrate Hanukah.
N: What's Jewish?
C: Ummm, it's a kind of religion.
N: What's religion?
ACK, how do I summarize religion for a 5 year old when I'm not even sure I understand it myself? DAMN, I did the right thing and kept my sick kid home and this is the reward I get? If I wanted to discuss theology in the middle of the afternoon, I would have joined a convent!
C: Well, religion is a way of believing in God. Different religions have different rules and beliefs. Some religions celebrate Christmas and Jewish people celebrate Hanukah like you said.
N: So, Jewish people don't celebrate Christmas? THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN SANTA???
C: Umm, no. They don't.
N: HOW DO THEY GET PRESENTS???
C: Well, they get presents for Hanukah but presents are not the real reason for Christmas or Hanukah. Those days are about God.
N: Yeah, but presents, too.
*sigh* Yeah, but presents, too.
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