Horrible streak of illnesses leads to realizations

http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=50385
Horrible streak of illnesses leads to realizations
David Trinko - Mar. 10th, 2008
The last place in the world I want to be is the hospital — unless one of my children is there. Then it’s the only place I want to be.
For five days in the past two weeks, our 7-month old spent time hooked up to IVs and monitors at one of the local hospitals.
For five days in the past two weeks, I spent time reflecting on how completely and totally unimportant everything else was.
The good news for the youngster is she appears to be mostly healed from her brush with a nasty strain of influenza. I’m not faring so well. These are the times you realize being a father is really the most important thing you do all day long.
I don’t mean to minimize my job and chosen career (which, by the way, includes a tad more than writing this column once or twice a month). But I learned an important lesson years ago, when I was younger and cared more about my living. Even if you love your job, she cheats on you with your co-workers on the weekends.
I don’t know what it was about the job description for fatherhood that appealed to me:
“HELP WANTED: Caring man sought to provide a male role model to children. Must have capacity to love existing and future children. Fun and humor encouraged. Other duties and requirements as assigned.”
It sounded kind of easy, to be honest.
I wasn’t a father for more than a few months before I realized there’s nothing easy about it. Things that sound easy, such as getting dressed, making dinner or even getting in the car, can be an ordeal making the production of a daily newspaper seem like child’s play.
It’s that “other duties and requirements as assigned” that will tear you down. I should have read more about the benefits first:
“You must be available to work as a parent every hour of every day. While there is vacation time, it actually requires more time with your children, for them to argue and fight and make you crazy.”
Trust me, driving me crazy is a very, very short trip.
Then there’s the section on sick time.
“Sick time is available, assuming all the needs of everyone else in the house are met first.”
Two days before the baby went to the hospital, a doctor diagnosed my wife with pneumonia. Our 6-year-old had strep throat.
They required a fair amount of care as they stayed home together for most of the week. I picked up a second job that week, becoming the primary caregiver for food, care and compassion, in addition to the nine or 10 hours a day I spend at work. I’ll admit, I was better at the food part than the other two.
While running errands for them one morning, I ran into someone I knew. She kept asking if I was all right, since an infection in my throat left me barely audible and an infection in my ears left me barely able to hear.
The answer was simple, also hidden in the small print of the job description of a dad:
“There will be plenty of time for me to be sick when everyone else is healthy.”
Fortunately, everyone is healthy now. We can laugh as we tell stories of the miserable previous two weeks and wonder aloud how we made it through with everyone in the house ailing at the same time.
Now I can answer why I accepted this dad job in the first place. The wage for this job is incredible:
“The pay is all you’ll ever need. It’s a hug on a rough day. It’s a peck on the cheek when you’re feeling down. Even a simple ‘I love you Daddy’ or a grin on a baby’s face is all the compensation you’ll ever want.”