On the boats and on the planes

So the entire household came down with some nasty virus. I caught it first and had a feverish Monday night after struggling through work during the day and class that evening. On Tuesday, Jen was feeling it and Jack had a pretty rough day, too. Tuesday night, Jack came down with the fever.

There's nothing worse than when your helpless little baby-- who depends on you for everything-- gets sick. Jack's recent ear infection came with a low-grade fever, but this was something new. On Wednesday morning, we spoke with the pediatrician's office and learned that his fever-- ranging from 101 to 103-- was considered "beneficial," meaning his body was fighting the virus. North of 104 and you've got a problem. (The threshold for babies is higher than adults.)

Well, since the whole family was sick, Jen and I were able to stay home and take care of our ailing child. It was a sad day, filled with short naps and fussiness.

Jack is generally a happy, go-lucky kid. But when he was working through his fever, he was completely out of it-- glassy-eyed and lacking his usual spark. There are a few things that you can do to easily get a smile out of the boy, but none of them were working (not even the hippo counting story!)

Last night, I found one thing that cut through the fever and got Jack laughing and smiling. And that thing is our national treasure, Neil Diamond. I put my forlorn little baby in the swing to try to distract him and, for some reason (I blame the cold meds I was on), "America" came to mind. Complete with triumphant finger-pointing ("Today!") and other signature-Neil drama, my hoarse singing sent Jack into gales of laughter.

Jack stayed hydrated, and with momma nursing him through the night, broke his fever to wake up a new baby-- smiling and happy again. The moral of the story? Everyone should know about the healing power of Neil Diamond.