Sharing is always good!

This has been a learning experience. I do want to say that we are still thankful for a healthy baby. A bout of pneumonia is nothing compared to some of the other illnesses out there — and I will never try to compare or think that we have a burdened plight.

As I mentioned early, I don’t get overly concerned by illnesses and I don’t scare easily. In fact, I was wondering if the concerned parent instinct in me was completely missing. I wondered if I was going to be that dad that says “toughen up” when my son breaks his arm or otherwise hurts himself. Not only was I concerned this time around, I was scared.

Every so often, something comes along to put the rest in perspective. Work deadlines, layoffs, recession — it all disappears. Before I was a parent, I didn’t understand — I thought I did — but I had no clue. The world stopped around us and we focused on one thing — getting our son better.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was OUR parenting that made the difference and not MY parenting. We made decisions together — some maybe grudgingly — but we worked together. It also gave me a new appreciation of single parents. My wife and I took shifts holding our son as he slept on us for four days with nebulizer treatments every three hours (which moved to four after three days). WE were exhausted, so I cannot imagine what it would have been like had I been on my own.

And the nebulizer. Oh, the nebulizer. If you are reading this, you are most likely a parent so I will only say this — try keeping a 10 month old crawler/stander still with their arms pinned for 7 minutes and a mask over their mouth and nose.

Sharing is always good!