No Rest or Day Care for the Weary

Brigid has been running low-grade temperature the last few days, although once she's been dosed with Advil, you'd never know anything was wrong at all. She was barred from returning to school this morning. They said she had to be fever-free for 24 hours. She'd been fever-free for 22 hours. That's a little ridiculous if you ask me. I don't "dose and dump," but there's no fighting Sibley Hall. There you go.

Jack has had a back episode for the last week, and although he's on the mend, it's meant that the girls have had a pretty dismal week of winter break because he hasn't been able to do much with them when he's been home, and then Brigid was home yesterday and today, so they've been on baby duty for a while. Margaret has been getting a lot of writing done one her book, which is good. Both girls have been able to get homework done. It's just not been a vacation filled with outside pursuits. As a result, I may take them to Burlington for the day tomorrow. That's always a lot of fun, even if we have to bring Brigid with us.

Last night, when I was sitting with Brigid before she got into bed, she asked me to tell her a story, but I turned it around and asked her to tell me a story instead. She compiled, and what followed was a very detailed and long -- very long -- monologue that started, "Once ubon (sic) a time, there was a pretty princess named Brigid..." it included references to the three bears and Goldilocks, a dragon, a pretty princess castle and other assorted fairy tale features. It was somewhat repetitive, but charming nonetheless. I wished like anything that I had a recorder with me because she was very serious and thoughtful as she spoke. It's a marker of her development, not just because of the vocabulary but also because it showed her formulating action in her mind before telling me. She was pretending and creating. It was wonderful to witness.

She woke up late today but was in a great mood. More evidence that she's feeling better. We'll see how she does later in the afternoon. But for a brief moment today, she was charming and bubbly and happy. I hope we can all follow her example.