No milk!

I had to keep Zoë home from school today because she was sick at school yesterday. I won't go into detail about the kind of sick it was, but the school rule is that kids have to be sickness-free for 24 hours before they are allowed back at school.

Took her to the pediatrician after picking her up and the doctor handed down a terrible sentence for my poor child. No milk! No milk for at least 4 days! No milk! That is like telling most adults no coffee. When Zoë wakes up in the morning the first thing she wants is milk. The last thing she has at night is milk. She loves milk above all other food or beverages and possibly most people.

Last night at bedtime my husband tried to pass off rice milk as regular milk, but she wouldn't even drink it. Luckily, she was too tired to question why it tasted so funny. This morning my husband and I semi-argued over whether or not we should tell her why she can't have milk. I was in favor of being honest and he was inclined to just tell her we didn't have anymore. I didn't think that could hold up for 4 days. He conceded and after a short crying jag, she seemed to recover and understand. The good news is that we seem to have found a somewhat acceptable substitute in chocolate soy milk. I am calling it "filk" -- as in fake milk. Zoë likes that name too. As a matter of fact, she just asked me if she could have more filk.

I don't think she will be able to go back to school tomorrow either. She was sick again this morning and again a little bit this evening (I don't mean throwing up -- the other one). Despite the fact that she has as much energy as usual and you would never know she was the tiniest bit unwell, I wouldn't want to send her and then get another call to pick her up. That would be bad. Her class is having a Halloween party tomorrow and I had signed up to bring cookies. I don't have to still bring them, do I?