When your child is sick...

So my little guy had his first ugly stomach virus + fever this past weekend. He's had a couple minor colds and pink eye in the past, but this was a level up from what we'd walked through previously. He saw the pediatrician today and I think he's on his way to healthy once again. After (almost) weathering Isaac's first substantial illness this past weekend, I've learned a few things about what happens when your child is sick:

• You watch a lot of Veggie Tales. Or ______ (insert kid's show/movie here). I thought I was doing good by finding a Veggie Tales movie on Amazon Prime that was a compilation of silly songs, since Isaac likes music. What's more entertaining than cartoon vegetables singing songs about cheeseburgers, water buffaloes, and bubble wrap? It certainly held his attention... and after multiple viewings, my brain is constantly stuck on at least one tune. I mean, where HAVE all the staplers gone?
• Your heart fills with dread at the first sounds of awakening from a nap or bedtime sleep. Increase the dread tenfold if it arrives well before the typical wake time. It's hard enough to occupy baby's awake time when he isn't feeling well, so sleep deprivation, fever, and diarrhea make for exceptionally long days and a clingy, cranky boy. Sometimes you just need lots of couch time and Veggie Tales.
• By some incredible feat of magic or sheer strength, my child has the ability to shoot diarrhea out the side of his diaper while leaving the diaper itself relatively untouched. 
• Sometimes it's perfectly ok to walk around in pajamas all day while your kid rocks a diaper. Aint nobody got time for showers. Or real clothes. 
• My child is more resilient than I'll ever be. His ability to crack a smile in the midst of nastyvirusland kind of amazes me, mostly because if I had a 101.9 degree fever and intractable diarrhea, I'd be the grouchiest, whiniest, most pathetic person on earth. I'd still trade places with him. 
• Carseats are washable. See also: shoots diarrhea out the side of the diaper while keeping the diaper itself clean. 
• Pedialyte tastes gross and sometimes you have to trick your kid into drinking it. Same goes for grape flavored Tylenol. Note to self: the straw method beat out the hide-it-in-a-bottle method. 
• Showers of cuddles and kisses accompany lots of hand washing and fervent prayers to keep this mama healthy and virus-free. No amount of diarrhea could keep me from being close to my baby. I think that's one of those primary qualities of unconditional love: maintaining physical touch despite diarrhea. 
• There is nothing more heartbreaking than seeing your child feel miserable and not being able to take the yucky away.