Keats didn't sleep well Saturday night. He came into our room around 11:30 and snuggled with Scott for a little while before being gently carried back to his room. At 1:30, Keats came in again, a little weepier than normal, and curled up between the two of us before falling into a fitful sleep.
Yesterday, around dinner time, Keats crawled up onto Scott's lap during the football game and snuggled in. He had spent his Sunday in a relatively normal way. We went to worship together, then I left early with Tucker, Keats, Aidan, Abigail, and Elyas in order to pick Shelby up from her weekend away at Youth Advance, a leadership conference for teens in the Northeast. Once we had Shelby, we then headed back to our county for Tucker's final soccer game. Keats joined Aidan, Abigail, and Elyas in playing a game of soccer with all of the other younger brothers and sisters on a field behind the game. He never gave any sign that he wasn't feeling well.
That is, until he was curled against Scott. After a quarter or so of the game, I noticed that Keats' normally rosy cheeks were now looking a little sunburned. Scott checked and sure enough, Keats had developed a fever. It wasn't overly high, but we gave him Motrin before bedtime anyway, trying to make him as comfortable as possible.
Again, Keats joined us a few times throughout the night, finally coming in to stay around 2 in the morning. He stayed curled tight to my side and I noticed throughout the night that he seemed quite stiff and unable to relax.
This morning, Keats came to me and said in a tremulous voice, "Mommy, there is something coming out of my ear." He pointed to the ear causing his concern and I saw the telltale drainage of a ruptured eardrum. I can't even begin to express how puzzled I felt, as when Aidan's eardrum would rupture, it was a major event with a lot of screaming and writhing in pain. And the only other time Keats had an eardrum rupture, it was also accompanied by a lot of pain-induced noise.
I asked him if his ear had been sore and he nodded. I then asked if it had been hurting and he nodded. So then I asked what I felt was the next logical question: why didn't you tell us?
Keats replied: "I knew that the pain would go away and when it hurt too badly, I could always go to you and daddy and you would hold me. So I didn't need to cry and complain because you and daddy were there to hold me. I didn't want to cry too much, because that might make you sad, too."
I gave him a big hug and told him that while I was very impressed with his act of bravery, that I would never think less of him if he told us he was in pain. As I was holding my courageous six-year-old, I found myself wondering what caused him to grow up so quickly. And then he asked his next question, instantly assuaging my fears that he was growing up too fast.
"Mommy, will my ear fall off?"
Yesterday, around dinner time, Keats crawled up onto Scott's lap during the football game and snuggled in. He had spent his Sunday in a relatively normal way. We went to worship together, then I left early with Tucker, Keats, Aidan, Abigail, and Elyas in order to pick Shelby up from her weekend away at Youth Advance, a leadership conference for teens in the Northeast. Once we had Shelby, we then headed back to our county for Tucker's final soccer game. Keats joined Aidan, Abigail, and Elyas in playing a game of soccer with all of the other younger brothers and sisters on a field behind the game. He never gave any sign that he wasn't feeling well.
That is, until he was curled against Scott. After a quarter or so of the game, I noticed that Keats' normally rosy cheeks were now looking a little sunburned. Scott checked and sure enough, Keats had developed a fever. It wasn't overly high, but we gave him Motrin before bedtime anyway, trying to make him as comfortable as possible.
Again, Keats joined us a few times throughout the night, finally coming in to stay around 2 in the morning. He stayed curled tight to my side and I noticed throughout the night that he seemed quite stiff and unable to relax.
This morning, Keats came to me and said in a tremulous voice, "Mommy, there is something coming out of my ear." He pointed to the ear causing his concern and I saw the telltale drainage of a ruptured eardrum. I can't even begin to express how puzzled I felt, as when Aidan's eardrum would rupture, it was a major event with a lot of screaming and writhing in pain. And the only other time Keats had an eardrum rupture, it was also accompanied by a lot of pain-induced noise.
I asked him if his ear had been sore and he nodded. I then asked if it had been hurting and he nodded. So then I asked what I felt was the next logical question: why didn't you tell us?
Keats replied: "I knew that the pain would go away and when it hurt too badly, I could always go to you and daddy and you would hold me. So I didn't need to cry and complain because you and daddy were there to hold me. I didn't want to cry too much, because that might make you sad, too."
I gave him a big hug and told him that while I was very impressed with his act of bravery, that I would never think less of him if he told us he was in pain. As I was holding my courageous six-year-old, I found myself wondering what caused him to grow up so quickly. And then he asked his next question, instantly assuaging my fears that he was growing up too fast.
"Mommy, will my ear fall off?"
2 comments:
Wow! That one made me cry!
Awwww...poor baby! Emma would get ear infections, I would only know when she got a fever. I remember the dr. scolding me pretty severely once b/c it was evidently a very bad infection. Emma just wouldn't let on how bad it was.
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