Gray Areas

Some days I wish life, at least parenthood, came with a direction manual. I know there are plenty of books out there, but all they tell you is that there is no one answer. Sometimes I just want a black and white answer, no gray.

This morning I woke, showered, did hair and makeup, and dressed for work. In other words, a perfectly normal morning. At 6, I went to get Sera. I like to let her sleep as long as possible. She sat up when I entered her room and told me she was coughing, but she seemed fine otherwise. She's had a bit of sniffles for a few days. Honestly though, she's had the sniffles more often than not ever since school started. When I picked her up she felt a little warm to me, but not really feverish. Just warm.

I took her to my room to dress. Things were still okay. She went potty and put on her clothes. And then she fell apart. She climbed into my lap and just clung to me whimpering. She still felt warm, so I took her temp. 98.9. I can't even call that a fever, but something just wasn't right. She was not acting herself.

And this is what I mean about the gray. Keep her home? Send her to school?

Jim and I made the call to keep her home, and I called for a sub.

She's had a quiet morning. She wanted grits for breakfast and ate the entire bowl. She wanted orange sherbet for her snack, and I let her have some. She wanted soup for lunch and ate about three bites. Her appetite is fine.

She pretty much snuggled with me all morning and then curled up on daddy's recliner to watch Cinderella. After the movie, she lay down next to me on the couch, and I let her watch more TV. I know...bad mommy. I warned her that naptime would be coming up when the show ended. Five minutes later I looked down because she'd quit kneading my side with her toes and found her fast asleep.

This was my black and white answer. Sera has never, let me repeat, NEVER fallen asleep downstairs.