She was about 5 years old, and followed me everywhere. I would try to set myself up as a sniper, and there's my little 5 year old shadow standing right in front of me, so everyone knows where I am. I told her to stop following me, I told her to go away, I even would take off running in a full sprint. But wherever I want, there she was. Her own mom was even in there playing laser tag with us, so I don't know why she chose to follow me. I kept saying "I'm not your mom!" or "Go over there!" but there she was. I couldn't lose her.
In the end, my little friend stuck with me the whole way, and even considering that I had a shadow I still ended up being third of all the people playing laser tag. I still don't know where her mom was. They give you a scorecard when you're done. That's kind of dangerous for competitive people like me. I'm proud to say, though, that ChasePlace ranked pretty well. Mike was first, I placed third, and Sammy came in fifth. Not bad, ChasePlace. Not bad at all.
Which brings me to my larger point. I'm a working mom now. Working moms don't have time for illness. Just like I didn't have time for my little friend in the laser tag room. Sick babies mean taking a day off, and that's hard because it means (in my position, anyway) that you have to find someone to fill in for you if you have any trainings scheduled.
Let me introduce Patient Zero. Patient Zero would be Payton. Payton is Sophia's friend, and she went bowling with us on Sunday. On Tuesday, Patient Zero was diagnosed with strep. Sophia was pretty whiny throughout our entire week, and on Wednesday she started complaining that her throat hurt. I told her to drink a glass of water and suck it up, cupcake.
On Thursday, Sammy had his Open House at school. Open House went great, and we actually ran into my friend, Heidi, and her daughter, Patient Zero. Heidi told me that Patient Zero was doing much better, and I was thrilled to hear that, because Heidi just started a new part time job this week and I want it to go well for her!
Then we went home. As soon as we got home, Sophia started up again that her throat hurt. Paging Mom, are you listening here? She laid down in the chair, and I went over to her and felt her forehead. Surprise, surprise . . .she was pretty darn warm. I took her temp and it was 100.1 or 99.7, depending on which ear I checked. Part of me said give her ibuprofen and move along, you've got a training tomorrow and she can't be sick, but the other part of me said it's time to stop. And listen.
My mom instincts took over. Mike stayed at home with Sammy, and I immediately loaded up Sophia and took her to the RediClinic at HEB. I was half-thinking they would think I was crazy because technically, she wasn't even running a real fever (100.4 is the magic number, my friends), but I took her anyway.
We had to wait over an hour, but when we were finally seen they did a quick strep test as well as a quick flu test. The doctor read her strep test from across the room, so it was pretty conclusive. She had strep. I'm so glad I ignored the "you've got a busy day tomorrow" and listened to my instincts and took her to the doctor before it could get any worse.
My friend Danielle took my training for the day, and I started my Spring Break a day early, trading my professional clothes for yoga pants and a T-shirt. Surprisingly, Sophia felt really great today. Her fever stayed low, and we watched princess movies and cuddled. I'm so proud to be her mom, and I'm glad that I stopped and listened...
Meanwhile, I'm waiting ... If Sophia had it, that means Sammy and I might not be far behind. So I wait ... And stop ... And listen ...
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