Little guy had a little fever. Nothing serious, just a little fever and a very
mild cough. So we put him to
bed and he lay there watching me play
video games until he fell asleep. After about ten minutes I get up to check that temperature and
HOLY COW it’s 105.5!
I call to his father. "Hoooney...?" That tone that sounds questioning only as a cover for the urgency. The undertone of my voice brings him right in... a bit more tense than I am.
We need to cool down the boy.
Off come the blankets. Off come the pajamas. Little fella looks like a little tadpole in Spiderman underwear... a shivering little tadpole with skinny arms.
All three, we go in the bathroom and that little fella is being so patient. He’s got to be uncomfortable, but he just walks with us to the sink... he answers all our questions no groggier than we’d expect him to be after just waking up. We administer the baby acetaminophen and begin the cooling procedure.
It doesn’t take too long. He’s patient and we check the fever again and he’s down to 103. Better. With relief, we put him to bed and tell him, "take five drinks of water" periodically for the rest of the evening. By morning he is right as rain.
So we end the day a little tense and wired from the ordeal. Little fella sleeps and we watch "Jackass." My lord I am grateful for the jackasses. We laughed just enough to allow us to sleep.