Sickness and Health

My poor little boy is now suffering from a bad cold! – I feel like telling everyone about it. I can’t bear to see mucus running out of his little nostrils like rivers – it must be so uncomfortable for him, as he does not know how to blow his nose. Poor Winston – I keep thinking about it and want to tell everyone about how bad it is.

However, even I realize that I will not get much sympathy from others. “What is the big deal, if it’s just a cold? It will be good for him, as it will help build up his immune system.”

Sure enough, before I even thought of bringing it up, a friend told me that her twins are both suffering from stomach flu. Another friend's son is throwing up constantly. My sister-in-law and her son are just recovering from a week-long cold. My colleague told me that her two daughters were getting sick almost weekly when they were little!

People have told me that I had better get used to Winston’ catching diseases, since it will happen quite often with kids, especially after they start attending daycare or school. Then it occurred to me that this is another sign that life becomes a full circle – in the beginning babies get sick easily and catch all kinds of viruses, but presumably this is how their immune system gets strengthened, so there is a silver lining to it. At the end of people’s lives, they also get sick easily and catch all kinds of germs and viruses as well as develop other disorders, but their health keeps getting weaker and weaker.

I recall asking my mother when I was very little what defined “happiness”. She answered, “well, I think happiness is when everyone is healthy.” – I recall being very disappointed in that answer, as I was hoping for some profound answer to that question. “If that means happiness, I should be happy all the time, since I rarely get sick. But I am not happy all the time!” – I thought to myself.

Little did I know how right my mother was. How I wish that my son could grow up without experiencing all kinds of illnesses! I want only health and no sickness for him. I see how unrealistic that is, and I also see that this wish of mine is probably another sign of my being an overprotective mother.

Ah, it is really hard not to spoil one’s child – I never realized how hard it was until now.