Gleek fools me twice

On Monday morning Gleek complained that she didn’t feel well. However in between complaints she bounced around cheerfully, so I sent her to school anyway. All seemed well, but after returning from school Gleek curled up on the couch and stayed there. I looked at her and could tell that I’d misjudged. She was sick and shouldn’t have gone to school that day. Sure enough she spiked a fever and had a restless night.

Tuesday morning there was no question about sending Gleek to school. She spent all day curled up watching movies, eating nothing, and sleeping lots. By evening she had perked up some, so I had hopes that she would be better in the morning. I didn’t want her to be sick on Wednesday and miss her beloved tumbling class.

Wednesday morning Gleek said she felt a little bit sick, but upon realizing that it was the day of her class, she insisted that she was plenty well enough to go to school. She cheerfully got herself ready and I dropped her off. When I picked her up from school she was happily climbing snow piles and tightrope walking along the top of the bike rack. She went to her class happily. Unbeknownst to me, Gleek was acting healthy through sheer force of will. The fiction unravelled during the last ten minutes of her class when Gleek simply had no energy left. She curled herself up into a little ball with the softest object she could find in the gym. It happened to be a martial arts punching mitt. This was all reported to me by my neighbor who was running the carpool for the class. All I witnesses was that Gleek arrived back home tearful and ready to be snuggled. I took one look at her wan little face and could tell that she was still sick and should not have been at school or at the class.

This reassesment was further cinched at bedtime. Gleek said I should let her stay up later because she’d had a nap. I countered that she couldn’t possibly have had a nap because she’d been at school all day. This was when Gleek told me that at lunch time she had crawled under the table and fallen asleep. She only woke up when the bell rang and she ran back to class. I can totally picture the chaotic lunch room full of kids and lunch helpers, all of whom are so busy that they don’t notice the little pink-coated bundle sleeping under the table. The thought makes me want to snuggle her up and keep her safe for a week. She is so brave and such a trooper.

Gleek is home from school today. She may be home from school tomorrow too. She’s fooled me twice already this week and I want to make sure she is really and truly healthy before I send her back to school again. I want her naps to be on comfy couches instead of curled up under lunchroom tables. And I need to remember that unlike my other kids who will languish from a runny nose, Gleek will continue to seem healthy until she is nigh death. The other three need me to teach them how to keep going in the face of mild discomfort. Gleek needs me to teach her how to slow down and let her body heal itself.