February 17, 2008

Baby of the family

When With-a-Why runs a fever, his skin turns so pale that it's translucent, white behind those long black eyelashes and the black silky hair that falls against his neck. When he's sick, I notice that he — like all of my kids — is painfully thin, so skinny that I can noticed the shape of his bones. (It's a mystery to me how teenage boys who eat so damned much can be so very thin.)

With-a-Why is thirteen years old. He's an expert snowboarder, a good Ultimate player, an accomplished musician, a teenager with a sophisticated sense of humor that comes from being the youngest of four kids. And he's almost as tall as I am.

But when he's sick, he becomes a small child once again, cuddling against me in the big bed, where I've set him up for the night. My husband is out of town, which means With-a-Why will sleep with me, waking up to ask for juice or another cold wet cloth for his head. I read to him a little, did reiki on him, and brought him some mints to suck on. Now, I'm about to snuggle next to him and sleep for the night, just like I did when he was a baby.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope he feels better soon.

Gawdess said...

Always our babies.

Unknown said...

Ah, get well soon, With-a-Why!

Busymomma66 said...

It sounds as if we spent the day and night the same way. I snuggled with Dear-Daughter who is sick.

Hope With-s-Why is better soon!

Auntie Knickers said...

My baby is 23 and still makes me feel guilty that I'm not there when she is sick! All good wishes for a swift recovery.

YourFireAnt said...

This is a killer. You really do go for the cheap shots sometimes, Jo(e, and improve on 'em.

;-)

FA

Lilian said...

This is so sweet! I hope he gets well soon, your baby.

Patti said...

I'm sick, too. And 4, yes 4 kids in my class have scarlet fever. I hope your darling is better soon!

Anonymous said...

awwww.

jodi said...

Hope that he is doing better.

susan said...

I hope he's on the mend soon. And enjoy those snuggles.

Liz Miller said...

I'm glad to know that 13 is still a snuggling age.

Anonymous said...

Poor Baby. It is great to know though that a sick 13 year old will still snuggle in.