Change of Plans

You can make all the plans you want when you have little kids, but you can’t really bank on them coming to fruition. Although I’m far from being a veteran parent with kids as young as mine, trust me – I’m right about this.

I know I’m right because last weekend, our plans to drive to western New York state for a long weekend and a visit with family were dashed as soon as my 1-year-old son spiked a fever over 101 degrees the night before we were supposed to hit the road. On top of that, we received the dreaded day care note letting us know that someone in Isaac’s class was suspected of having a stomach virus. So we had no idea what was in store for us – for any of us, because once an intestinal bug hits one person in the family, the odds are strong that someone else in the clan will soon be feeling ill.

After much hemming and hawing, we decided that the right thing to do was to stay home and cancel our plans. We got a refund on our hotel reservation, and the days I planned to take off from work were nixed; there’s no point in taking vacation days when there is no vacation to speak of.

The trip cancellation was particularly disappointing because I was going to see my brother and his family, and I haven’t had a chance to get together with them in ages. Still, as my brother put it when I broke the news to him that we weren’t going to be able to make the trip, when you have kids, they have to come first. There was no way we could subject Ike to a seven-hour drive when he had fever and was feeling bad. And it was unfair to take our germy family across state lines to possibly pass the virus on to my brother, his wife and son when they would be traveling again in a few days themselves.

So while I know we made the right decision and I felt a certain sense of resigned relief about knowing we did the right thing, that doesn’t mean I was happy about it. Making sure Isaac was well had to be our top priority, but it was one of those situations where being a mature grown up held absolutely no joy.