Fever

My son has a fever. Not the regularly-fever-scheduled son, but Little E. He's rarely sick, so it seems so sad when he is. He's my one to curl up and go to sleep at the very break of an illness. I love that he is so in tune with his body. He's been throwing up too... not that there's much to throw up anymore, but he has like a 4 minute warning system where he walks over to me, taps me on the shoulder, calmly tells me he has to throw up, we walk slowly to the toilet together where he proceeds to do as he said. Who does that?! So while it's sad and breaks my heart, he is such a good little sickie.

Because of our family's history and experience with fevers, I admit I'm sort of interested in them. What a unique way for our bodies to attempt to neutralize whatever is attacking, weakening or infecting our bodies. It's a response that catches the attention of others, it forces us to rest and slow down, it makes us shiver and tense up, and causes confusion with the state of our body temperature. A fever forces treatment and also, if it persists, gives us reason to seek medical attention; to get the help we need.

A fever is a physical symbol, and I wonder at times what our emotional and spiritual symbols and responses are. We all struggle at different times, and often with those emotional and spiritual weakenings, we attempt to hide or disqualify the fact that we need help or need to rest and slow down. Other times it's apparent: a tantrum (and yes, grown ups have these too), a fit of crying, a total breakdown, or just the inability to act. It's easy to dismiss these responses as "low-grade" and inconsequential. But I'm sure you've all seen a low-grade fever last for days, or else spike at the least opportune time (for a physical fever, this is always at 3am). I hope that as we care for our bodies, we will also care for our inside selves. And watch for the symbols in ourselves, our families, and our friends. Sometimes a bath and a popsicle are helpful for things other than physical fevers.

We'll be taking it easy over here for a bit.