Physical Fevers and Emotional Fevers

I've been reading Simplicity Parenting with some other homeschooling moms. Lately I have been thinking (and wondering) more about the authors chapter on Fevers. He begins to share how we know when our children are physically sick. We see their glassy eyes. We feel their burning foreheads. We sense their lethargy. And then we flow into action. Fluids, rest, extra love. We clear our schedule and give those dear hearts time to get well. We let the sickness run it's course. We wait. We don't force them against their will (as if we could!) to get well faster. We let their body do it's work.

Then the author, K.J.Payne, suggests that we should treat our children's emotional fevers the same way as we treat their physical fevers. Those days when a child just doesn't feel right in their hearts, when each event in their life causes them distress, when simple tasks seem like mountains to their simple minds....those are the days we need to give time, space and love. We need to clear our schedule on those days too. Give the emotional distress time to heal itself. Let it run it's course. Don't hurry the discord within their souls. Let them enough time for their heart and mind to do it's work.

When I first read this idea a few weeks ago, I was encouraged. Wow. This is important. I should really do this! But then the rubber meets the road. I get a cold. I get an emotional fever. Can I do this for myself? Can I clear my schedule to allow my body to do it's work? I wonder.