The article reflects on the experiences of a parent whose three-year-old daughter started preschool, marking an emotional milestone. However, the joy is juxtaposed with the trials of managing chronic illnesses that come from toddlers, including common viruses and ailments like croup and norovirus. The author acknowledges that many parents are lucky to deal only with benign conditions, as they pray to never face more serious health crises that could affect their children.
Like any parent, I was slightly teary and enormously, stupidly proud. How momentous it seemed, this new stage of life; how beautiful, to watch her start to spread her tender roots into the world.
Before I continue, let me state the obvious: we parents who contend only with everyday diseases, and only in their non-life-threatening incarnations—we are the lucky ones.
Consider norovirus, which produces more bodily effluence than the Augean stables. Consider the many maladies dedicated to specific parts of the toddler body: pink eye; strep throat; ear infection; hand, foot, and mouth disease.
Like any mother, I would gladly contract every plague known to nature if it would spare my children pain.
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