Change of Plans

Plans are meant to be changed aren't they? Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened this past weekend. As much as we plan and anticipate we cannot control everything. All week Dalton looked forward to his birthday parties; skating in the morning and family time in the evening, but those darn plans hit a speed bump Friday.

At 10:00 am Friday morning as I was about to head into town to buy party supplies and food I received a call from Mrs. Winkelmann, Dalton's teacher. Dalton was running a temp of 102. Yikes!! He was perfectly fine before he left for school. With the impending parties Saturday a doctors appointment and diagnosis was necessary. Given the circumstances we decided to hold off buying any food until we knew the verdict. Good thing because at 4:45 pm Friday afternoon we got confirmation...no ear infection like we had thought, but Dalton tested positive for the FLU!! Of all things, of all days, to catch the flu bug the day before his 5th birthday parties.

That's when the tough decision to cancel and re-schedule was made. Honestly, I think it was one of the toughest decisions we have had to make yet. You may ask why? It's simple, other than a constant fever Dalton never really exhibited any flu-like symptoms and when the pediatrician tells you there is no need to cancel. Get the Tami Flu in him tonight and he will be back to normal tomorrow just in time for his parties. REALLY? You just told me he has the flu, but it's okay to be around people! He seemed normal, he did not feel bad like you would expect if you had the flu. So how do you explain canceling and re-scheduling a birthday party to a 5-year old? It is not the easiest thing to do. We made the tough decision not only for everyone else's benefit not to be exposed, but also for Dalton so he could rest, re-cooperate and be ready for this weekend. Fortunately, we did not have any plans this coming weekend and Silver Wings was available so we told Dalton that he could celebrate his special day for another week. All weekend we questioned our decision. Did we do the right thing or not? In the end, I know we made the right decision, but it was not easy. Especially Saturday evening, when according to our plans we would have had family and friends at the house, Dalton was back to normal.

Instead of parties Dalton managed to entertain himself while being confined to his room, as not to expose the rest of the family. We sent Mallory to my parents for the weekend while we took care of Dalton. We did lots of hand washing, Clorox wiping and Lysol spraying. Dalton seems to be back to himself and is eagerly waiting for his parties Saturday. Hopefully there are no more speed bumps along the way.
 

Thanks Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Barbara for the birthday present. It seemed to lift his spirits Saturday. Sorry we will miss you this weekend.