The Joy of Sick Days

I love sick days. Now mind you, we rarely get sick so it's almost a treat to just turn off everything for a day and simply rest. I'm sure it would be different if we were sick often. But I also like who my kids are when they are sick. We have one strong, never changing rule in our house. "No whining!" It is our guiding principle for most activities and general way of life. So when my kids are sick they just lay around. What's not to like?

Of course sickness has a way of working through a house once it starts. All of a sudden a week goes by and each day has had a different kid down and out. Thankfully I do not get sick very often either. (The key is hand washing. Any doctor will tell you that.) So by the end of the week, I have been able to just sit on the couch with each of my kids and either watch a movie together while we snuggle or read to them while we snuggle. Catch the theme?

As a science teacher, I am aware that most medicine (other than antibiotics) is just to help lessen the pain of sickness. It does not help you get better. You get better almost entirely because God has created the most amazing defense mechanism right inside you called your Immune system. I love to teach about it because it is so well done. If you were a military strategist, you could not design a better army to ward of disease in the human body. Seriously, read up on it. And guess what? It always wins! If it doesn't, you die. That is something to just marvel about in your spare time.

But back to my sick kids. As impressed as I am with our Immune system, I have often wondered what really helps kids get better. Is it the rest, chicken noodle soup and extra sleep or is it the extra attention? Who's heart is not greatly served when someone stops what they are doing, gives them their full attention and lavishes them with care? Perhaps that is the extra spark the immune system needs to defeat the evil intruders. Perhaps God even allows sickness in our lives, just so we can be reminded about the importance of our being over the product of our work. Perhaps.

So enjoy your sick days. Let go of the agenda and curriculum and give yourself and those needy little hearts some grace to just be today. I am confident that even as the care giver, I am blessed by sick days because I don't have to teach about love, I just get to do it. Even in the midst of puking, we can experience another homeschool success story.