Ordinary Days: The blessing of a sick day

A call from the nurse is never good news, though, and as I stared at those two words on the screen, I envisioned a sick child along with my afternoon plans dissolving. 

When I entered the nurse’s office, Kate was lying on the cot under a blanket. The heat radiating off her forehead told me all I needed to know about whether she was really sick or just wanted to go home early. After checking both girls out for the day, we headed home and I mentally rearranged my day. 

The strangest thing happened, though. The afternoon was kind of magical. It was like time out of time — normal flew out the window with the 101-degree fever, and I was able to go along with the change in plans, which is not all that typical for me. 

I got Kate settled in her bed with a cool washcloth on her head (a cure-all, or at least comfort, for most everything) and asked her if she wanted to read a book. She said, with extreme pitifulness, “Can you read something to me?” 

So while Sela laid on the floor working diligently on a get-well-soon card, I picked up a new library book, intending to read a few pages then hand it over to Kate to finish. Instead, I got comfortable and read eight chapters out loud to them. Time crept by slowly, but it didn’t matter because we had nowhere else to be and nothing else to do. I knew Kate wouldn’t be at school the next day, so I wasn’t as concerned with fitting in math homework, and both girls were completely wrapped up in the story. As I read, I found myself asking, “Why can’t it always be like this? Why are we not always splayed out across the bed coloring and reading after school? We’re all so happy!” 

In between doses of ibuprofen, temperature-taking and constant hand-washing by me, the day continued. Even Matt got in on the action, lying in the den with the girls under blankets before dinner. Despite Kate’s illness, it was a pretty good stretch of hours at our house. 

Coming up on the Christmas season (which technically started about two weeks before Halloween, when Christmas inflatables showed up in the big-box stores), it’s easy to talk about taking time out of the hustle and bustle to slow down and enjoy the season. In fact, that’s probably what I write about here most Novembers and Decembers. I’m realizing something, though: If something doesn’t cause us to slow down, the slowing-down probably won’t happen on its own. 

It’s sort of like writing for me. If I’m just looking for spare time during my day to write, I usually won’t find it. I have to create it, make space for it in the time when other things are usually happening. Something else has to fall away so I can make time for what’s important. 

Similarly, even in such a holy season as Advent and Christmas, time for savoring doesn’t just magically appear. We still have a few weeks of school left, holiday parties and gatherings are happening everywhere, shopping is in high gear and the general chaos of the season is near its highest point. Something — or maybe a few things — will slip down the priority list if we are to have space to reflect, to focus and to remember what’s important.

I still haven’t forgotten the feel of Kate’s sick day. Though I hated that she was sick — and admittedly, I was nervous about the bug spreading and taking out the whole family — the afternoon still lingers in my mind. I set aside my endless to-do lists around the house, left the laundry unfolded in the basket and skimped a little on the complete dinner I had planned. Instead, there was coloring and reading and snuggling — rest and togetherness built into a busy day. 

That’s my hope for the rest of this Christmas season — that instead of holding it all together, we’re willing to let some of it go. 

My novels “The Hideaway” and “Hurricane Season” are available wherever books are sold. “Glory Road” releases in March 2019. You can reach me by email at Lauren@LaurenKDenton.com, visit my website LaurenKDenton.com or find me on Instagram @LaurenKDentonBooks, Twitter@LaurenKDenton or on Facebook @ LaurenKDentonAuthor.