Three Kids and The Sick

I was sick last week. I had a cold, a bad one. My sinuses were clogged; I couldn't breathe at all out of the left side of my nose and barely out of the right side, and even though my nose was stuffed it still drained like a sieve; my head hurt - everything. I had The Sick. While the kids were in school I tried to lie down as much as I could to recuperate but when they got home it was business as usual.

I was helping with homework, listening to school stories, handling complaints, cooking, cleaning; I did all that and more, as most mothers know. You'd never know I was sick other than me complaining to myself that I felt like crap. I was in the bathroom every 10 minutes or so to try to blow my nose, too, but nobody took notice. Ack!!

Saturday evening Ty came to me and said his head hurt a little and he felt kind of blah. I figured he was getting The Sick because he never complains about anything. Sunday morning I heard him in his room coughing a little and he didn't even get up like he usually does. I took him temperature - 103*. I gave him some Ibuprofen and left him alone as requested. He slept most of the day and asked for some noodles that evening. He'd be home from school on Monday because of the 'your child has to be symptom free for 24 hours before returning to school' rule. He stayed home and lay on the sofa most of the day. His temp was down all day long. Great!!

Last night Zach came to me after school telling me he had a headache. Yikes! He was getting The Sick, too. Took his temp and it was around 101*. I gave him some Ibuprofen and sent him to bed. Ty was feeling better but now Zach wasn't. Zach would be staying home today because of the aforementioned rule. Dolly, knock wood, was fine. Phew!!

I got up this morning and took Zach's temp - 102*. Just for shits and giggles I took Ty's to make sure it was down. FUCK!! A 101* temp for Ty. He'd be home with me, too. Me and two sick boys home all day. I wasn't getting anything done. I took Dolly to the bus stop and told her she wasn't allowed to get The Sick for a couple of days so I could get the boys back in school first. She ignored me and at 9:00 this morning the school nurse called to say that Dolly had a temp of 101*. FUCK! again. I picked her up and brought her home.

Three kids with The Sick all home from school together meant that I really wasn't getting anything done. We all sat around watching TV together for a while when Zach went to his room and Ty decided to play on the computer. They were all fine until this afternoon at right about the time they'd usually get home from school. Zach and Dolly both started whining that they wanted chips. I don't have any chips but they didn't care. The whining got so bad that I came up to my room to get away from it.

A little while later I went downstairs, toasted them some rolls and put cinnamon and sugar on them; a tasty treat to help them all feel better. I'd heated myself some frozen chimichangas and was waiting to eat as soon as the rolls were done. Just as I was finishing the last roll Ty asked if they could all have some mac and cheese. They all wanted it so my dinner was put on hold while I made their dinner. I was hungry but I'm the Mama and we always take the back seat to our kids, especially those who have The Sick.

While I was making the macaroni it occurred to me that neither of the boys had bothered asking me how I was feeling last week much less offering to make me something to eat or get me a drink. Dolly, at least, had made me a cup of tea - once. I brought that to their attention - that I was doing for them while they were sick but I was mostly ignored while I was sick. When Ty apologized I told him I wasn't mentioning it for apologies, I was mentioning it because one day they'd be married. I made it quite clear that they can't expect their spouses to care for them while they're sick and ignore Spouse when he or she is sick. I told them they'll have to do their part to take care of Spouse and their households as it would be their job to take on extra until Spouse was feeling better.

I got an 'okay' from them but I'm willing to take bets that they'll forget my words of wisdom. I'll ask them in the future if they remember what I told them and they'll say no; they'll say they were listening, they'll say they were paying attention but they can't remember exactly what I said. My guess is they'll blame it on The Sick because it'll be the only reason they can think of for trying to get out of their responsibilities. It never fails.

While it's quiet right now, though, I'm going to try to relax in my room and enjoy the little peace I'll get until the next kid decides to start whining again. I'm sure it'll be about something they don't have or that I didn't do and that's okay. I've already decided to get a little payback so they better watch out the next time I get The Sick.

Until next time... peace to all.