Midnight Hack

January 12, 2014

All,

The middle of this week Tate had a resurgence of a cough that seems to have been lingering with him to varying degrees for the past couple of months.  He flung himself on our bed sometime close to midnight complaining of his ailment and coughing up a storm.  Tate has always had a very distinct cough.  Even when he was an infant a couple of weeks old, he got this cough that would leave him gagging when he really gets it going.  Nothing has changed.  I volunteered to come downstairs with him to provide what little comfort I could.  I got him a drink of water, gave him some homeopathic "snake oil" (ingredients: dark honey, stew nettle, linamint, and balm of Gilead) and made him as comfy as I could on the couch next to our fireplace.

I sat there in a stupor and felt bad for him as he had a particularly bad coughing fit and wondered what in the world could be done.  I ended up asking him if he would like me to say a prayer for him, which he agreed to let me do.  It was a simple and sincere prayer but when it was done, I felt like there was more to be said.  I wanted to make sure that I wasn't praying for his comfort just so I could get back to sleep (though truth be told that was my initial motivation) so I prayed again, this time silently.  Instead of asking for much, other than that I could make him as comfortable as possible, I thanked God for the time I had to spend with Tate.  I thanked HIm that I got to be his parent and that I had the opportunity to help him.  I thanked him for the love I felt for my son.  It was surprising to me how I felt at that moment.  I truly felt glad.  Not that I was awake.  Not that my son was sick, but that I was able to be there for him.  I felt love for this miserable little man and at that time I was happy to be by his side in the middle of the night when he needed me.  Blessedly, he was able to fall asleep pretty quickly and both of us slept well the remainder of the night.

The rest of our kids have had similar ailments this week, but most of them now are on the mend and thankfully, Dee and I seemed to have dodged the bullet thus far.  Knocking on wood over here.  Actually, it's a laminate countertop.  I hope that is adequate enough to ensure good Karma.

Trev hates his pants.  I don't know why.  I don't remember having any ill feelings for my trousers when I was a lad, but he really gets mad at his.  Today after Church his carpenter pants really did something to tick him off.  He tore at them in a fury until they were off and in his hands and then he proceeded to pummel his pants rotten.  After their beating he threw them across the room.  I am not sure what he was saying.  I can still only understand about 75% of what comes out of his mouth anyway, but when his knickers anger him he becomes unintelligible.  In his rage his underwear worked down around his ankles and he tripped on them.  That seemed to snap him out of his moment.   

We drove up to see Mom and Dad Jacobs today to wish her a very late happy birthday.  They are mostly packed up and ready for their upcoming move.  We are very much so going to look forward to having them closer than they are currently.  They did off-load one of their paintings they had from when they lived in Italy the first time and they did say (FOR THE RECORD) that we could call dibs on the Rose Painting should they not find a place for it in their new home...  they also let me take Leah's painting of the chickens she did while she was in high school.  I think it was for me anyway, since I have an affinity for that type of bird, but if not, Leah, you are welcome to have it back.

As mentioned, Tracen and Tyler are playing basketball, but in addition to that, Tracen is playing "Futsal".  It is a form of indoor soccer.  For those of you who have never had a chance to see Tracen play, while he is not the speediest of players, his foot-skills are very developed and he is really fun to watch.  Tyler is playing very well in baskeball this year and if he were any sort of aggressive, he would really be a force.  It just isn't his style to be so, unless it it towards Tate or Tracen.

Well the boys are doing their best to injure each other in the family room and I am starting to feel like I either need to referee or jump in and remind them all who really is Alpha Male still in these parts.  I should be able to hold that title for at least the next 3 years... I hope.  Oh man, there went a picture!  Sorry, this party is officially over.  Time to be Big Bad Dad...

Love,

Dan