The darkness enveloped us this morning whilst the gusty wind nipped at our clothes as we made our way to the bus stop. In the distance, flashes of lightning broke through the darkness at regular intervals bringing with it the jolting thunder and the impending rain as Cinnamon and I watched from afar. Her brother would not be joining her on the journey to school today. As she walked towards the open doors, she whispered: "You have to take care of Sagey". The kindness in her heart was touching. She waved goodbye and climbed aboard.

It started as his reluctance to get out of bed, even after having gone to bed by 7:30 the night before. At breakfast, Sage was taking longer than usual to get started eating his vanilla yogurt with granola. He mentioned he felt hot but I imagined he was trying to get out of going to school - particularly since he voiced his dislike of school yesterday morning. I finally let him go get ready seeing how we had 15 minutes until the bus was to arrive.

Then the whimpering in the distance. At the top of the stairs. That's when I knew he was serious about not feeling well. Sage sat on the top stair not saying a word. "Do you have to puke?" I asked him. I told him to run to the bathroom. He didn't make it in time but luckily I was there with my hand. I realise how unpleasant that might sound to some, but when you're a parent you get used to these things.

A sick child is a fact of life at this time of year as children attend school and are exposed to other children who are ill. I decided to keep Sage home and spend time with him. My plans for the day could wait until tomorrow. I laid down next to him and we slept for a short while. As I was drifting off to a deeper sleep, I heard "Mama, look!". Sage was looking out the window at the rainbow - a double rainbow, as it turned out. The last time I'd seen a double rainbow was long ago in Ireland. There one can witness many rainbows.

"I want to touch the rainbow!", exclaims Sage. "I want to be in the rainbow", he continues. We walked outside on the porch to take a closer look. Children show us the beauty in the little things in life. Had it not been for him staying home today, I would not have noticed the rainbows as I most likely would not have been looking out the window.

When we walked back inside, Sage decided to play by the fireplace. Jenga was his choice today. In a matter of a few minutes he ushered me to come look again. I stood there in amazement and admired the structure he built.

As I raced upstairs to get my camera, he also grabbed his camera and started to photograph his creation. He proceeded to take more photographs of his stuffed animals and anything around the room. Then he sat on the blanket on the floor and reviewed the photographs he had just taken.

In the meantime, I mustered the energy to make scones for my breakfast. I decided on using the wild dried blueberries I normally put in the multigrain cereal. Turkish coffee and scones made for a tasty breakfast.

Sage and I retreated upstairs where I comforted him as he went back to sleep. Afterwards, I read him two stories. The first was "The Travels of Babar" which I had a difficult time reading without laughing - which also made Sage laugh. I've never heard of the Babar series until my children were given a Babar book a few years back. The stories and style of writing I found a bit bizarre for my taste. The second book was "The Dark" and is about a little boy who is afraid of the dark but starts to converse with the dark as a way to overcome his fears. This book is one of four books I brought back with me from my travel to upstate New York last year. The story was more to my liking than the Babar book. Regardless, Sage enjoyed our time together and was all that mattered.

Upon returning from Cinnamon's swimming lesson, Sage climbed back in bed and slept through dinner. Cinnamon readied herself for bed and chose a book for tonight's bedtime story. Ironically, she also chose a Babar book - "Babar and The Ghost".

Tired from swimming, Cinnamon fell asleep within 10 minutes. I returned to my room to write and heard Sage shifting around on his bed. He was thirsty and was searching for his bottle of water.

"I love you", I told Sage as he settled on his bed.

"I love you too", he replied.

"I love you more", I responded.

"I love you more than the Earth and the higher world", my Sage proclaimed as he drifted off to sleep.