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On Friday afternoon we got a phone call from school. Darius had been acting strangely at lunch and then during afternoon story time he fell asleep. It's not entirely unusual for him to still nap sometimes at 5 years old, but he never does at school. The assistant teacher took his temperature and it was 102°. So that prompted the phone call to come in and pick him up. Also, apparently several kids in the primary school have strep throat including one of his best friends from another class.

The rest of the afternoon and into the evening he slept, did not eat much and the fever continued. He claimed his throat did not hurt. We gave him Tylenol once and plenty to drink. At 4 am he got up and went to the bathroom by himself ( a first for the night time) and when I checked on him he said he was tired of sleeping. I figured he was better.

Later on Saturday morning the fever returned and he put himself to bed and slept some more (another first). This continued for the rest of the day and he still was not eating much, but kept insisting his throat did not hurt. At this point we are struggling with a question that we always struggle with. When to wait and when to call the doctor? We've known people that run to the doctor or emergency room at the first sign of a sniffle and others like my own mother who always took the "let's wait and see view".

Now it's Sunday morning and the fever has subsided some, he's awake and watching television. However, I always make pancakes on Sunday morning and he loves them. He did not eat any. He is still claiming that his throat does not hurt. So we've decided to give the doctor a call. How do other folks handle the decision of when to call, or when to wait?

From Green Dads Blog