Ask Captain Dramatic

Captain Dramatic has been fighting a pretty nasty head cold for about two weeks. We had thought he was finally on the home stretch when he started to develop a cough. I was not too concerned. He is healthy and strong, so I figured it would run its course, but that it would mean he felt crummy for a few more days, maybe a week at most. It was still something that I wanted to keep an eye on.

It was taking him a bit longer to fall asleep at night, but once he was asleep, he stayed asleep. I still wanted to help him feel better and treat some of the symptoms though. That is virtually impossible to do when he won't take medicine. I usually let him decide on medicine unless it is something vital, like antibiotics or the sort. "If you have a headache, take some Tylenol, or deal with it, but stop whining" is usually a what is heard in my house. Minor aches and pains are usually the only ailment as well.

Back to the topic. A cough is hard to keep an eye on when the child is not with you. He is at his biological father's house for the weekend. I decided to call him today to see how he was feeling, and try and figure out if I was going to have to start making plans to take him to a doctor on Monday. If he wasn't getting any worse, we might watch it a few more days, but I was hoping that he was finally getting better.

Me: "Hey buddy. How are you feeling?"
CD: "Good"
Me: "How's the cough?"
CD: "Much better! Dad taught me how to cough up and spit out the phlegm!"
Me: (Following a brief silence to gather the best way to respond) "Good! I am glad you are feeling better! See you Sunday!"

Well, I guess I just didn't know that coughing up phlegm and spitting it out had to be taught. I bet that just like when he learned to "pee in the woods", I will have to teach him when not to do it though. Heh. Just when you think, that they think, they know everything...

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