The Stomach Bug
Key Insights
We all have days on which everything goes wrong
Example of how to see the tiny upsides and keep going
We are on day 4 of a nasty stomach bug with our 1.5-year-old. My husband got it first. It took him eight days to clear it, and for half of those days, he was basically non-functional. My little one threw up over his feet the day after he was fully recovered. One big milk waterfall. Followed by a few instant returns of the food we tried to feed her at dinner. No, thank you - this stomach isn’t open for food at the moment.
It is supposed to be day two of our vacation. We haven’t really found the vacation spirit yet in between the clean-ups and the comforting. Now, I am not really good at getting into vacation mode to begin with, so the silver lining is that it gives me something to do. But at the same time, even I realize that it is a shame we can’t go for that hike on the mountain, or that we can’t take her in the canoe. Both activities are outside the required 20 m toilet radius.
Friday, technically still a workday for me, was particularly bleak, as the little one was feverish and a thick layer of forest-fire smoke suffocated us outside. It is hard to see the bright side of things on such days. Tired from a night of cleaning up vomit, changing sheets, and singing lullabies, I tried to get things done at work while my husband cared for our sick toddler. I managed to do a literature search for a new research project that, on a better day, would probably have taken half the time. At least I could check a box. I ordered groceries, another check. And I finally filled out the contact form to inquire about a PR and graphic design company to build my website.
When it was time to start dinner, my husband took out the cauliflower, the main ingredient of our vegan dish, and discovered it had gone bad. It looked funny, and in a house with stomach-bug-recovering stomachs, we couldn’t take the risk. Let’s order pizza (because that would be so much better for our frail stomachs). After completing a 5-min online ordering process, a notification popped up saying the vegan meat was out of stock at our pizza branch. My husband and I looked at each other and started laughing. Nothing would go well today, so maybe we should just give up. But since we had to eat something, I made a side salad and put some frozen burritos on the grill. It turned out fine.
At night, I thought about the day. I have made a habit of listing three things that were fun or that I am grateful for, as it helps me fall asleep. It was hard to make this list that day. But I managed.
• It rained for 10 minutes so that the smoke cleared and we could go for a walk with our little one
• I finished two tasks that I had postponed for weeks
• We turned a frustrating dinner experience into a laugh, and then had a nice dinner
I managed to get through this bleak day just fine. And there is always hope for good sleep, so that tomorrow things will be better.