My two-year-old grandson came to stay last week. Halfway through his stay, he came down with a cold. His nose was runny and he had a cough. As I watched him deal with sickness, I noticed a difference in the way he handled misery compared to me (because I got the cold a few days later).
Whenever he sneezed, my grandson simply looked around in wonder like “Wow, did you see what just came out of me?” He even giggled after a few of his sneezes.
I, on the other hand, whined a lot about how raw my nose was after blowing it so much. I was really crabby and pretty sure that I would drown from the vast volume of boogies in my nose.
Whenever his cold wore him down, my grandson would simply grab a binky and his favorite stuffed animal and sit quietly watching the television for a bit. When he was sufficiently rested, he’d jump up and continue to play.
But, I dragged my body around like I was carrying lead weights. I did watch a lot of television (with tea instead of a binky) but I moaned and groaned to let everyone know just how miserable I was.
My grandson headed outside as often as he could to get fresh air and some exercise.
I stayed in my pajamas all day and kept the curtains closed so I wouldn’t have to open the door to anyone.
And, while he tried not to let illness control his life, I gave in to it completely and let it run the show.
He hasn’t learned how to milk an illness for all its worth. No one has taught him that misery is best shared with others. Instead, he muscles through and tries to smile even when he’s not feeling his best.
When do we learn about being sick? At what age do we create the illness habits that tend to follow us through life? For some of us, being ill was the only time we received much nurturing, so being sick was kind of a big deal. For others, sickness gave them an excuse to slow down and crash for a while. Others were told to “suck it up”. All of these things affect how we act when we’re ill.
My two older grandkids got the cold too. My six-year-old grandson is on the cusp of changing how he views being sick. For now, it is an irritation that cuts into his play time. He refuses naps even when sickness takes over his body. He just continues to play until he crashes.
My eight-year-old granddaughter, quite likes being ill. She says that a little misery is worth the extra TV time and all the relaxing and juice-drinking she gets to do.
As for me, I am doing my best to learn from these little ones. My goal is to remain cheerful, keep moving until I drop (yet cherish rest). Oh, and to laugh whenever I sneeze.
Read more of Ann’s contributions to allmomdoes here.
