Nothing is harder than sitting through the whine.  Sitting through the wine, I can do…

Oh, but the whine.  It pierces and screetches and is oh so irritating.

HFM sores all over her poor little mouth

But here’s what I’ve learned.  It’s generally not for naught.  At least, this is the lesson I learned TWICE in the past few months when poor Silvia came down with Hand-Foot-Mouth.  The first time, in my defense, it lived entirely in her throat so I couldn’t see any of the sores to know what was going on.  The second time, it was a little more visible, as evidenced in this photo.

Oh the poor thing!  She had sores in her mouth and on her mouth.  On her hands and on her feet.  On her bottom and on her belly.  And she was oh so miserable.  Once diagnosed I knew what I needed to do.

SIT.  I sat while she ate soup (chicken and rice every single time) on my lap, and drank kefir on my lap, and chewed on an apple on my lap.  For days, meals were rarely eaten anywhere but on my lap.

And once I too came down with the dreaded virus, I understood just how miserable she had been!  But imagine not having all of the vocabulary to explain it to the person who you rely on to help you.  No wonder she whined.

Last week it started up again.  The whining.  Now I’m jumpy.  I immediately sat down and pulled her into my lap.  ”Here baby girl.  Can I make you some soup?  Mommy loves you so much.”