When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong

by Jennifer on February 20, 2008

You all know from my last post that we were all sick here throughout the weekend. And then we were better.

Over the course of those several days, the squeaky wheel was definitely my 6 year old daughter. She’s not a bit shy about announcing her symptoms, or about declaring a general malaise. The words heard most often this weekend were these:

“I don’t feel well. AT ALL.” When saying this, it helps to drag one-syllable words into two or three syllables. And to look mournful. And to wear jammies with little flowers and carry a teddy bear.

If that statement doesn’t get the desired effect (which, it seems, is a full court of worshipers waving palm fronds and offering fruity drinks), then it’s best to move on to more specific ailments. It also helps to wail.

“My head hurts so much.” Or “My tummy hurts really, really bad.” And so forth.

They were all legitimate complaints, and I dealt with them–as a good Mommy will–with compassion and effective remedies.

However. It’s possible, though you’d never convince The Girl of this, to oversell one’s illness, to the point that maybe Mommy started to doubt that things could really hurt that much, or that the symptoms really required that many tears. Especially when everyone in The Girl’s target audience was sick with the Very. Same. Thing.

Yes, we’re getting to the part where I was wrong.

So yesterday, the kids were well enough to go to school. The fever was gone, and they were excited to leave the house. They both had a great day at school.

Then last night, The Girl came to me, crying, “The Boy is making a noise, and it’s making my head hurt.” More crying. Now, I admit, my sympathies were exhausted after the last few days. And because I was certain no tears or whining were necessary at this point, I gave her this speech: “Girl, we’re done being sick now. Everyone is feeling better now, so it’s time to stop whining about things like this.”

She snuffled and nodded and went back to the other room.

Where I found her sound asleep on the sofa about 15 minutes later.

With a fever of 102.5.

In case you missed it, that was the part where I was wrong.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the RSS feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

liv February 20, 2008 at 3:52 pm

ooof. i know. i’ve done this recently. i was so in the throes of emotional pain on that sunday night that i overlooked my son on the sofa curled up in agony.

suburbancorrespondent February 20, 2008 at 4:23 pm

And the saddest part is that the poor trusting child still thinks that you were right….

Emily February 20, 2008 at 5:15 pm

Well, that’s a road we have all been down.

Angela February 20, 2008 at 7:54 pm

Yes. But…having coexisted with the mercilessly ill for a whole string of months now, I’ve come to the point where I expect them to nurse a fever with a smile. Silently. Just give ’em some ice cream and tell them to shut up and leave you alone. I like to call this “efficient” as opposed to “wrong.” Wrong has such a….negative vibe.

Julie Pippert February 20, 2008 at 8:02 pm

Oh it can happen to any of us! It has! I got a call to get my child from school, with a fever over 100! I felt horrible. (As it happened their thermometer was broken and she had no fever and wasn’t sick. But! I reacted to it because I’d missed the signs of an ear infection before.)

Hope everyone is well soon.

Mary Alice February 20, 2008 at 9:32 pm

I told the Rescue Ranger to stop being so dramatic about the little arm injury….turns out it was broken.

That’s when you feel lower than rabbit droppings.

Tootsie Farklepants February 20, 2008 at 9:40 pm

I’ve been that kind of wrong before and it makes you feel like crap.

marlee February 20, 2008 at 10:01 pm

See, now, THAT is why we are always trying to tell Snacks about the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf…but at 4, he’s apparently not wrapping his little brain around that yet…

Hope she’s feeling better soon!

Kellan February 20, 2008 at 10:25 pm

I’m often wrong! Being sick is exhausting for everyone – I hope she feels better soon – for good, poor Sweetie. Take care – Kellan

AMomTwoBoys February 21, 2008 at 5:06 pm

Oh, poor thing! We’re dealing with the same sort of thing with Dylan. We’ve been labeling hims as a big, whining baby for MONTHS and we think it all may have something to do with a lingering ear infection. No Mommy of the Year awards for me!

Hope she’s feeling better!

Lisa T February 21, 2008 at 5:45 pm

We are all guilty of this! Last week, girl#2 was ‘chilly’ so I cuddled with her and noticed she had a zit (! ). We sat and read a book and then another one on her chin–what the heck did she eat? I asked her if she had lots of pre-valentine day candy and proudly pointed out this was what sugar did.
Then I came with her to her room to get PJs and her back had about 6 ‘zits’; I had her turn around, more spots on the tummy—uh-oh!
No zits, no too much sugar, no faking–CHICKEN POX!
I felt awful 🙁
Hope your girl gets to feeing better soon!

Brenda February 22, 2008 at 1:57 am

I love Angela’s post! She’s so RIGHT!

So it’s a valuable characteristic to be able to admit when one is wrong; however, in a case like this, it probably wouldn’t do a lot of good to modify behavior greatly in the future. I’m guessing you’ll have plenty more “whining without reason” episodes. It’s best to be “efficient!”

Hatchet March 8, 2008 at 7:51 pm

Ayup. Just like that.

How quickly we move from righteous to wrong, from grumpy to guilty.

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: