Bad Feeling in Her (& My) Stomach

You know the feeling you get when someone in your family is recovering from the stomach flu and is feeling just better enough to be hungry? That feeling you have when everyone else is well and sits down to eat a normal meal while the formerly ill person is stuck with jello and applesauce. The feeling you get when the sick one is a little person who gives you sad eyes when you tell her (again), that no, she may not have cheese pizza tonight like everyone else. It's the feeling you get as you look in those sad eyes. You know, that pit-in-your-stomach stuck kind of feeling? Yeah, that one.

I've got that feeling today. Except no one in my family is recovering from the stomach flu. Instead, I'm having to look in the sad eyes of my child who has chronic "stomach issues" and tell her that she can't have cheese pizza for the next few weeks. And we don't know how much of an option cheese pizza will be in the future.

I'm having to talk with my chocoholic Timid Daughter about how chocolate is on the list of foods that could contribute to her stomach problems. A week before Halloween.

I'm having to sort through what our doctor has told us to avoid or limit and match it up with what we usually eat. Except that the list to avoid looks strangely like my entire menu plan.

Yeah, I've got that feeling and it's not going away. At least not any time soon. And I know there are plenty of parents out there these days who have experienced that feeling in deeper and darker ways than I am. Parents who are thinking to themselves right now - yep, welcome to my world.