A First For Me...

Yesterday held a first for me. It was the first time I have ever had to take a sick day for family illness rather than personal. On Monday, Austin apparently had some sort of bug and threw up twice at school. Poor little guy, I felt awful for him. What made me feel even worse was that although I gave the daycare my cell number, the signal does not always go through, so I didn't learn about it until after my afternoon Jazz class ended at five. I really wanted to be there for him and get him home to recuperate as well as ease my worries.

I'm not exactly sure what my feelings were on Monday afternoon, other than to simply get to my son. I really despised myself for not catching the phone call when it happened. Maybe it was a full feeling of being powerless or helpless. He was there, at school, not his mommy nor his daddy there to take him into our arms and clean him up and get him to rest his poor tummy. All I really know is that I didn't like the situation one bit.

Of course, by the time he got home (he's getting picked up by Mommy these days), he was fine and chipper, just like usual. He rarely shows when he's feeling sick, almost to the point where I don't think he really grasps the feeling of illness. Lucky him...

So I called in and took the day off to make sure he relaxed and got fed smaller portions of food to ensure his stomach would stay settled. Sadly, it meant that I had to plop him in front of the television most of the time, but I consider that more of using a tool to keep him still and allow his body to recover from whatever it was that got him so sick.

It was definitely a first for me. I have not had to take on the caring father role before like that; it was all new. Lots of things in my life, although I knew they would eventually happen, I never really saw myself actually doing. Let alone at my young age (which I think makes it an exceptional challenge.) C'est la vie~