Party Bugs

When Grace was two years old, she developed a pretty high fever which scared me quite a bit. It was the first time I had seen her get so incredibly ill from a virus. She was beginning to really understand what was happening to her then, and that day, I began, what I think will be, a life long journey of helping Grace to understand the world around her.

I don't recall the exact conversation anymore, except for two words that sprung forth from my explanation. At that time, my inexperience as a parent was giving me much to ponder. I was literally stumbling over my words with her, all while Grace was suffering from a 104 fever.

Grace kept asking me why she didn't feel well. She wanted to know why, to get it, to understand. Gracie's fever made her more adament than ever. She was determined to know what the heck was making her feel so bad.

I struggled to come up with something to appease a two-year old. I hemmed and hawed and even thought that Grace might be delirious.

The final result was that I explained to Grace that there were "party bugs" having a dance party inside of her, and she needed to take her medicine to kick the bugs out.

This explanation has transcended her current state of knowledge. We mention party bugs frequently in our house now.

Recently, some nasty party bugs took up residence inside of Grace. I'm worried about it, but hoping that things turn out for the best.

I took Gracie back into the pediatrician today because the "boil" on her collar bone had become angry looking, had grown larger, and a tell-tale halo of infection was beginning to appear again. The pedi thinks it may be MRSA, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. He didn't culture the infection though. He wants to see if the bacteria responds to a drug in the sulfa family first.

She began taking Bactrim tonight, and after her shower, her wound opened up. The party bugs erupted from their house inside of her, and hopefully, this is the beginning of her healing.

"Mom, are the party bugs getting kicked out by my new medicine?"

Isn't she so smart?