Parenting Trends: Friday Surges, Sickness Plunges

My family is on the mend and the baby loves to be outdoors. Also, the weekend has nearly arrived. Thank goodness!

It's been a crazy week, but it's almost over. Can I get a "thank goodness it's Friday"? Last weekend was fun if you consider blowing your brains onto facial tissue while entertaining a sick and irritable under-1-year-old enjoyable. Julie kept me sane through the whole thing, even though she also was under the weather. Micah is much better, though he's still plagued by a runny nose and some congestion. Could it be allergies? It's apparently well-respected that kids as young as he is don't have allergies, or at least don't show it until later, but my wife and I beg to differ. In other developments:

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Natal Nate

Sick Baby, Sleepless Nights

My wife and I are experiencing the joy of bringing comfort to an ailing youngster. Want to baby-sit?

At the risk of inviting an ugly virus, I can safely confirm that having a sick child is worse than being sick personally. Poor Micah came down with some sort of cold Wednesday—fever, runny nose, cough. Irritability. That of course means he doesn't sleep well. So he has abruptly awoken from naps in the past few days and wakes up screaming at night. Translation? Welcome to the world of co-sleeping! As I've said in the past, I'm not an advocate for this sort of thing. Everything I've heard or read indicates it is a risky practice because of suffocation hazards. But when you find yourself running on fractured sleep and a thousand scattered thoughts, it seems like a pretty good option. My wife and I also don't want him to get into the habit of …

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Moms Talk Q&A

Moms Talk: Faking Sick—What Do You Do?

This week, we're asking St. Louis parents to tell us how they respond when their children pretend to be sick so they can stay home.

Sunny skies and warm temperatures have arrived in St. Louis, which makes it tempting to spend more time at play and less at work. So suppose your child comes to you and says he doesn't want to go to school today. You detect no fever. You know he's not sick. Instead, he just doesn't want to go. So onto this week's question: What do you do?

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