A sick kid (thanks dad)

So this morning I got the kids up as usual and Ian and Sarah got dressed and headed downstairs to have breakfast. Ian was kind of grumpy and sitting at the table with his head in his hands. Terry came down about that time and asked Ian if he was tired or if he didn't feel well. Ian said in a grumpy tone "I am tired and I don't feel well". Terry told him to finish his breakfast and go to school and if he didn't feel well at school he could have the school call his mom and she would come and get him. OK, my first thought. "Thanks for giving him the idea to be sick and to call me to come home form school!" UGH!!! Now I was grumpy. (ok, maybe I was grumpy before that)

Off to school the kids went in our car pool and I went about my Monday morning routine. I was in the middle of grocery shopping when I got the phone call. I didn't recognize the number (they must not have been calling from the main number) but answered it anyway. It was Mrs. Alorie, the after care teacher (Mrs. Wiley was out sick for the day). Mrs. Alorie said she had Ian in the office and he was complaining of being dizzy and his throat hurt. I told her what had happened with his dad this morning and said that I thought he might not really be sick. She said that there were several kids out in Ian's class due to strep throat. Well, Ian has a history with strep. If someone else has it in his class in the past he usually would get it too. There was only one time that I took him into the doctors office to have a rapid strep test done and it was negative and that was recently. I finished (yep, finished. I wasn't entirely certain he was sick) my shopping and then headed to the school. When I got to school and walked in not only was Ian sitting on the green bench but Connor T was there also. Apparently he wasn't feeling well either. It was all a little fishy to me. I called Dr. Endo's office and got in to see a nurse practitioner who took his temperature (no temp but he had strep once and didn't have a temp) and did an rapid strep which came back negative so they did another culture to see what if it would grow (results in 48 hours). We went home from there. Ian hung low, read, watched a little TV, and did his homework. I left for a auction meeting and my Mom stayed with him by the time I got home he looked perfectly FINE.

When Terry got home I let him know that I thought Ian came home because of his suggestion. Terry headed up with the kids for bedtime and ended up having a conversation with Ian. Terry chatted with him about really being sick (or not) and told him that if he really was sick then he wouldn't feel guilty and if he had come home and really wasn't sick then he would feel guilty. Ian asked Terry if he had ever played hooky and Terry told him, "No, I worked hard in school to get where I am" (ie: go to collage and become a doctor). Terry said that Ian was standing in his closet getting his pajamas on but stopped and was staring off into space (seemingly lost in thought). Terry got him moving once again but found him staring into space instead of brushing his teeth. Terry got him to move again but once he got into bed he confessed "Dad, I think I feel guilty, I don't think I was sick. Please, Please, Please don't tell mom!" Terry helped Ian say his bedtime prayers and then told him to sleep on it but in the morning he should probably come clean with mom.

Terry told me everything that happened before he headed down to the front garage to work on his art project (a whole other post for another time!). About 30 minutes later as I was chatting with Eileen (Ian's God Mother and one of my best friends) about what had happened I heard Ian at the door. I put the phone down and asked Ian what was up. He replied "I can't take it anymore (on the verge of tears). I called him over to me and pulled my 9 year old boy into my lap as he truly broke down and cried. "I can't take it anymore mom, I didn't tell the truth, I wasn't sick today and I am sorry, PLEASE don't tell anyone"  (If you are reading this and you have kids that go to OLL please don't tell your kids about this, he is very embarrassed about lying) So Ian and I had a talk about lying and what it dose to your creditability not to mention how it makes you feel, hugs and kisses all around and off to bed he went.

The interesting thing about Ian is he really doesn't lie when pressed. When asked by an adult (maybe even a peer) if he did something I can (usually) count on him to answer truthfully. I was kind of like that as a kid. I might not tell on myself right away but eventually I couldn't live with the feeling and would tell my mom what I did.