Today was a sick day for Curtis. At 6:00am I am awakened to the beloved sound of him barking like a seal. This sound is so distinctive that it has allowed me to jump from my bed to his bed in a single movement. He has croup. I am not as scared this time as in previous times. Is this because of experience? Have we encountered this situation so much and survived that I can remain calm. Now I am able to act, following the protocol. Give him cold medicine to treat the symptoms, start the humidifier, take him into the bathroom after a steamy shower, call the doctor so he can start prednisone, pace all night to make sure his airway hasn’t completely closed. So far this time we have been lucky. Curtis hasn’t coughed a lot today and I think we caught the croup early enough that he will be back at school tomorrow. He hasn’t had croup since last February, so hopefully we will get lucky and this will be it for this year.