Taking Care Of A Sick Child

Taking Care Of A Sick Child
No matter how old your children get when they get really sick you step back in time and become ‘Mom’ again.  I know, I know you never stop being a mom but you take a back seat to them more and more as they grow older and they grow up and ultimately have lives of their own.  They have boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, children, jobs, and grown friends.  They become busy doing all the things you were doing when you were their age and they unfortunately have less time to spend with their parents.  That’s the way life goes and for some of us we’re glad of this but we tend to miss our little ones.  Now for some parents they may not be too unhappy with the distance.  I don’t judge you for this, I’m just one of those moms who loves being a mom.
For most parents regardless of the type you are, let one of them get sick however, suddenly you become the most vital individual in their lives again.  Well if you’re lucky that is, if you don’t have a great relationship with your child or children you might have a different opinion about that.
My daughter Gina got really ill this past week and I spent five days taking care of her.  As a rule when Gina is sick she can be a bit demanding and honestly a pain in the bottom but this past week she was at the point where she was so meek and surprisingly apologetic that it scared me.
As for her normally being a bit of a pain when she is sick, less face it, we all are a pain in the butt when we’re ill.  We don’t feel good and depending on the type of person we are we either want you to go away and leave us the hell alone or you want us waiting on us hand and foot.  It’s normal.  Hence the reason for me being concerned with my daughter.  She has a hard time apologizing when she isn’t sick so her doing it continuously when she was sick scared me.  What do you expect, I’m a mom and I love being one.
The thing is Gina and I had a chance to talk this past week like we haven’t in a long time.  We sat and talked about anything and everything.  The most important thing I found out was that she was honestly still my little girl.  Yes she is grown and she has her own family and that comes first, as it should, but she is still my little girl and always will be.
There were other things that came out of this past week that not many would understand.  What those things are I will keep between Gina and myself but I will say that she has a certain talent that for many years she had pushed to the back because when my mom died, they were very close, she put it in a mental box and locked it away.  I knew she had opened that box a tiny bit in the past couple of years but this past week I got to see that she has thrown that box open and let all of it come spilling out.  I don’t know anything that could have made me any happier.  Sitting here now it makes me smile.
I don’t know if it works the same for others but no matter how worried you might get when your grown child is ill, if you have to go and take care of them remember to take the opportunity to get to know them all over again.  You might be surprised at what you learn.  I’ve always been proud of my daughter and what she has accomplished but this past week gave me a deeper insight into the woman she has become.  Yes I’m tired but it’s a small price to pay for what I got in return.  Thank you Gina for being the person you are, imperfections and all.  Oh and for the rest of you reading this, the imperfections aren’t that big or that many in my opinion but then, I’m her mom.