There are a great many things about parenting that I think I have done relatively well. Some have taken a bit of a learning curve, while others have come more naturally. One thing, however, that I have never really taken a “shine” to is dealing with and taking care of sickly people. While I have overcome the sheer terror and anxiety that would overcome me when my children were babies and youngsters taking ill, I’ve still never become Florence Nightingale. I think, perhaps, that I can offer a little support to you OTHER parents out there who don’t see yourselves as the nursing type.
To be completely honest, I do not even make a very good patient or sick person myself which is probably one of the guiding reasons that I don’t get sick very often. I remember when my eldest daughter was still a brand new baby and we were getting through our first post-birth day—when she started coughing and trying to “hack” up mucus from the birth, I panicked and was convinced she was asphyxiating and I was never going to be able to calm myself enough to face the most ordinary of illnesses. Somehow, three kids and nearly twenty years later, I have managed to face all sorts of illnesses and injuries and I STILL would not say I am particularly great with sick people. I keep a handy “symptom and home remedy” book nearby and used to know the Ask-a-Nurse number by heart. I learned how to breathe through the panic and when I was really in doubt or out of my mind, I called my own mother for a little long-distance back-up.
Sure, there are those fabulous parents out there who stay calm when surrounded by germs, puke buckets, and spiking fevers. I am not one of them by nature and I would never confess to having a calling toward any of the “healing arts”—but somehow, many of us parents who are not great with sick people can still manage to be passable parents under illness pressure.
See Also: the HEALTH Blog