We’re back in school already! The kiddos have been in the building for over a week’s time, and I wasn’t terribly surprised when the school nurse called Monday to tell me LM2 needed to come home.

Someone (read:everyone, but especially LM2) has a tendency to get sick at the start of school.

LM2 likes school the least out of our kids. He is the one who says, “I hate school” like it’s nothing. A simple fact he needs to remind us of often.

If anyone is going to get sick right out of the gate, I might pick him out of the lineup. Snuggle time at home with Mommy while everyone else is in school? There’s a chance this kiddo has been waiting all summer to catch a cold and stay home.

He’s our professional snuggler.

So, what did we order up? 103 fever, vomiting, restless sleep, the works.

But nowadays, he’s old enough to swallow pills, which is SUPER because the red dye they put into acetaminophen and ibuprofen for kids gives him gnarly nightmares and sleepy time trouble. Call me crazy on that one, but clinical trials published in The Lancet showed that synthetic food dyes can trigger irritability, restlessness, anxiety, and other symptoms in a handful of kids. My other two kids have never had a problem, but LM2 has woken up screaming from night terrors too many times in a row (following medicines for fever) for me to blame something else.

So, today we spent time drawing quietly in the house, watching movies, and drinking water.

And carving out space for peace.

I usually get a little wrecked when we need to change the schedule up for illness or anything else. It’s not fun to swap everything around, and I’m a woman who CRAVES alone time nearly all the time. This week was going to look very different…

So, in the past, I would have gotten myself all spun out over a child getting sick this early in the school year.

“Are we always the ones?” I might say.

“When am I going to reschedule all that?”

“When are we going to get a break? When am I going to get a break?”

But, this summer, I spent some time reading books by Martin Seligman, including Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness. Why would I want to spend my time on the beach focused on non-fiction psycho-babble? Because Marty is the Father of Positive Psychology, and because I seek peace at all times, it only makes sense that I might wander toward books about optimism and positivity.

LM2s illness has shifted from a frustration to an opportunity. We can rest together. We can find quiet time together. I can make him feel well and supported, all on his own, without competing for attention among the other sibs in our family.

Seligman’s books have become more than just a reminder that positivity always wins the day. He’s also offered the very real possibility that everything annoying or frustrating is an opportunity, so long as I can see it that way. The way I see things is a choice. Every day. Every moment.

This week has gone very differently than I expected. And so far, it’s working out just fine. I continue to find my moments of peace. I search for them like shells on the sand. I didn’t find peace in the appointments I’ll have to miss, but they’ve popped up elsewhere instead: in the snuggles and quiet time for just me and a little man of 10.

Here’s hoping he’s back on his feet soon….a little prayer his body heals quickly so he can find peace in the rest of his week.

Namaste. Every. Day.