Full Disclosure. {Of toddler sickness and Mommy realities}

Hi, my name is Christine… and my son has chronic diarrhea.  It has been 18 days of the most disgusting diaper duty, in the most unorthodox places.  So many times per day, that my once overflowing diaper supply is quickly diminishing.  I actually started journaling his weekly ailments: cold, hives, eczema, wheezing, vomiting, child bite, tongue bite (all the way through!), and now this.  They inevitably arise on Friday evening and disappear with the beginning of a new week, but this one is tenacious!

Do you ever feel like your children require a disclaimer?  Advance plans become subject to a “Caution: play at your own risk” warning by the time they are realized.  Requiring all parties to shift into risk analysis mode to determine if an hour of fun is worth the next week of cancellations.  I used to be reliable, on-time, available!  The more I am put in this situation the braver I become, eventually paying the piper in the days that follow.  It is no wonder that anything goes by the time siblings arrive.

Back to doing your duty, diarrhea is stealth in nature and easier to disguise than other brands of illness.  Rashes, runny noses, coughing, and fevers are more obvious to the public eye, sending weary parents running to their stash of sanitizer, and leaving you with less of a choice regarding the disclosure of said illness.  It’s a moral dilemma, one that parents seem to be faced with week after week.  Parents are their own breed of flaky. In order to do right by their kids, they check their personal interest at the door.  I despise canceled plans or even a change of plans for that matter but am adapting.  After all, I always have my little love, my ball and chain, with me to pass the day away.

My generally apathetic feelings toward sickness, as a mother, have been thrown into the spotlight. As an adult, you can manage to keep your germs to yourself and carry on with life, but now I am responsible for the health of my child and whoever happens to be in his vicinity. My choices affect our’s and other’s schedule(s) for the foreseeable future.  Suddenly, “have you tried probiotics?” is not a sufficient solution.  Doctors don’t realize that diarrhea means you can’t attend mother’s morning out, the gym nursery,  or the pool. Nothing when they are so obviously unconcerned about the number of diapers I’m changing each day.

Now, having suffered in similar situations countless times, I have adopted a full disclosure policy.  After all, it’s not a choice, really. And so I stand (and text) “Hi, my name is Christine…and my son has chronic diarrhea.”  I hope that we can still play.