Sickness and Ronald McDonald Houses

It's hard to write this post knowing there are far sicker children out there right now, but let me wallow in my selfishness for just a moment, then we'll get back to the big picture.

Being sick stinks. I think we can all agree to that. Chucky-Sue recently got over her first really bad cold. She had endured through some light sniffles before, but nothing quite as bad as this. The cold caused a cough, which in turn caused vomiting. Thankfully the vomiting ended after 48 hours, but now I still have a sniffly, fussy, achey, and exhausted baby on my hands. Her once awesome schedule is completely off-kilter and she's so congested she can only sleep in our arms or her swing. So being sick stinks, but being a baby AND sick stinks even worse.

Then we skip ahead a few days to where she's gotten ME sick. She spewed on me twice, it was inevitable. Though, I've taken it worse than her. (her highest fever 100.5, mine? 103.7! don't worry, I'm fine now) But remembering how awful I felt/feel, I feel even worse about her being sick! She couldn't tell me if her head hurt, or if she wanted juice or water. She couldn't ask for more medicine or a cool cloth. I had to translate all that from the WAHHH WAAH WAAAAAAAAAHS.

Now for the big picture:

There are incredibly sick kids out there, with much more serious illnesses than a mere common cold we deal with. There are life threatening diseases and conditions tearing down little tiny babies/infants/children all over the world. So while we all agree diseases are bad for anyone, can't we agree that they are just a little worse for their tiniest victims and their families?

So here is my holiday charity plug: help out Ronald McDonald Houses. This organization was a life saver for us while the girls were in the hospital at UVA. They let me stay within blocks of the girl's hospital until Chucky-Sue was transferred to a closer hospital, with a 24hr bus shuttle on call. In Big City their family room gave me a much needed break and rest from the dark, scary, windowless NICU. (seriously, do they design those rooms to be a depressing as possible?) Your donations at your local Mickey Dees go to your local RMH, and you can even donate food, toilet paper, paper towels old books and DVDs to the local RMHs.

I thank God everyday that Chucky-Sue doesn't have anything so life threatening as the thousands upon thousands of children do all over the world, but I know if she did, I'd want help from anywhere I could find it, even if it was just a bed to sleep in and a place to rest.