Christmas wishes

Poor Little Bear invented a new level of vomiting this weekend. Saturday was a late night, all night Physics lesson: everything that went in came out. She mastered the lesson by Monday morning. I mastered laundry, taking temperature, and forcefully encouraging liquid intake. She's been home with me this week, as Frank has a product launch today and has been close to non-stop work for months.

She appeared to have the flu. The nurse on call said it sounded like flu and that Little Bear couldn't go anywhere for 7 days because she would be contagious.

At first, despair draped me like sackcloth and ashes: how would I finish the Christmas shopping when I couldn't leave the house? Frank couldn't do his shopping because of work, so he asked me. Suddenly I couldn't finish mine or his. Aaaa.

Then, I gave in to circumstances. She and I would make gifts, since we couldn't go shopping. When she felt well enough, we'd do craft projects, learn new skills, listen to Christmas music, learn French and do other lessons. So, we've knitted, glued, stamped, drawn, colored, cut, written, spelled, counted, added, subtracted, multiplied, divided, sung, studied weather, built a sandcastle out of pillows, bowls, toys, and blankets, given the cat a very loving medical examination, researched flu and the proper foods and vitamins for flu, napped, learned new French terms, and hung out.

What seemed to be a hinderance to Christmas (how blind could I be) has turned out to be the best Christmas gift. No, not her being sick. I'd give anything for her not to have suffered. But to have her home doing things we've both enjoyed.

Yesterday evening, the doctor told us Little Bear didn't have the flu, a nasty stomach virus indeed, but not "flu".

She's well now. She ought to return to school tomorrow. Ought. What an ugly word.

I want her home. I want to continue our festival of mess-making. But she ought to return to school. She will. She'll enjoy being with friends and sharing the season's spirit with other children. And she'll sing in the Christmas Program Thursday night, and we'll be there to enjoy every moment of it. And on Friday afternoon, early, I'll pick her up, and we'll continue our non-stop mess-making fiesta till the Feast of the Nativity.