Skip to main content

Such babies.

*Cough cough*.

 I keep typing.

 *sniff sniff. ehkkhu kehkkhu..kehkuu* 
The guttural coughing sounds are getting louder. I smile inwardly and continue looking at my laptop screen. 

 *COUGH! EHKKHU KEHKKHU. COUGH!*

 I stop typing. Look over my screen. "Are you ok love?"
From the recesses of the bed, muffled under a few thousand blankets, a tinny voice comes. "I don't feel too good". 

 "Aw, baby. Do you want some warm water with honey?"

 No response. Just sniffling noises. Then a hoarse "No."

 "Ok, how about some creamy tomato soup? You love tomato soup!"

 "No, I don't want soup. Tummy hurts now." 

 "Look you got to eat something! An empty tummy will make you feel worse. You know that."

 Silence. Then more (theatrical) coughing. "Ok, maybe a bit of soup?"

 "All right, love. You rest now. I'll go get you some soup."

 I get up and stretch. Feel my forehead. Yup, still running a temperature. But because I'm a mother, somehow the fever doesn't impact me much. I still do my daily chores, I still wipe snotty noses, I still kiss crying faces. Illness doesn't mean any time off, really. (My personal theory- somewhere along the line, evolution has armed all mothers with extra strength and reserve. I mean, the original cave woman couldn't really afford to take a sick day off, especially if her cavebabies were coughing/crying up a storm, threatening to attract every predator within a mile. No, she'd have to rock the babies and shush them and blow cool air on their foreheads with palm fronds or whatever. And hope the jungle cat lurking outside would go eat her caveman husband instead.)
So I walk to the kitchen, a little slower, and come back with a hot bowl of delicious soup, on a tray. Avoiding the forest of used and crumpled tissues, I set it on a low table and go to the bed. I can hear video game sounds from under the blankets. Not too sick to play with the iPad, I think snarkily. 
"Food's here. Come and eat before it gets cold."

 "One more level, then I'll eat", says the voice, sounding perfectly and miraculously healthy. Then silence. Then more enthusiastic coughing, a little too forced in my opinion. 
"I still feel sick, ok?"

 "Yeah, I can see that", I say, rolling my eyes. 

 Soon the head emerges from under all the fabric and eats the soup. Followed by a lot of manufactured sniffing and coughing and sighing. All the while making sure I'm paying attention. I don't know whether to laugh. So I smile, take a painkiller and keep typing away. I have a deadline to meet and I need to finish my article before my fever spikes.

 A little while later - "You're always looking at the laptop. Can you cuddle with me, please?"
The voice sounds sulky. Petulant even. 
I ignore it. That tactic works sometimes. 

 Not this time, I guess.
"Please Please Please Please Please", the voice begs in an increasing crescendo. In the excitement of the moment, all pretense at illness has vanished.

 I sigh. Finish my final edit and hit send. Done. Deadline met. 

 I close my laptop and stretch again. My eyes are burning and my muscles are sore and achy. My throat is hurting. 

 "Fine, I'll cuddle with you. But just for five minutes ok?"

 The click of the iPad getting locked.
"Ok, five minutes only" agrees the voice, sounding positively healthy. 

 So I dim the lights and climb into bed. Find my squishy pillow. Feel hands coming in my general direction. "No!" I say weakly but firmly. "I am really sick, unlike you!"


And as my big baby of a husband pouts and sulks, I curl up into my warm blanket and fall into a dead sleep.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pocket of happiness.

This past week, our house underwent some fumigation and so we spent 8ish days at our in-laws’  cottage in Monterey, California. For those unfamiliar with that part of the world, Monterey and its surrounding towns are right next to the Pacific Ocean. Miles of beautiful, unspoiled beaches, not too touristy and of course the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. The weather is never too hot; the beaches are set against a backdrop of lush hills and the sand is always perfect. My idea of heaven on earth. The kids had lots of fun, but because of a sudden increase in downtime (no school) they started having bouts of “I’m so bored/I love the Ocean/I hate the Ocean/I’m angry for no reason”. Typical younger child behavior and something I’d expected would happen. They both thrive on structure, so we tried to keep things as streamlined and predictable as possible.   Of course, my Zen, earth-mother mood didn’t last too long. Between the cooking and cleaning...
Post a Comment
Read more

Soul sister.

It’s past midnight. You’re in bed with your thoughts.   Limbs achy and heart heavy with worries.   Of course, you feel that way, you’re a mother.   You wish you had someone to talk to. Someone to breathe in sync with. Someone who’ll nod at the right places and tell you, you’re doing your best. Your husband is snoring away, the kids are sleeping and no one awake for miles around. You contemplate calling your mother/sister/bestie. But you don’t. You just lie there in bed, feeling small and lonely and not sure why everything hurts so damn much. But you’re actually forgetting someone who has been there all along. She’s watching, listening, making sure you’re still breathing. She loves you more than anyone else, even though she never tells you that. She’s your staunchest ally but can also feel like your worst enemy.   Talk to her. Tell her you’re scared. Show her you’re hurt. She’ll hug you. Maybe yell at you a bit. Even completely distract you and talk about Ra...
Post a Comment
Read more

20 perfect kernels of popcorn.

Button has always been a picky eater. No.... scratch that. How about super-sensitive-and-guaranteed-to-refuse-any-new-foods. That's a much better description. It's not just an autism thing. Part of it is probably the sensory defensiveness that comes under the autism umbrella and part of is it anxiety about new tastes and textures. I mean - this kid hasn't eaten candy in his entire life!! Could care less about ice cream or pizza! I know, I know - he sounds like an ideal 6 year old who only eats healthy stuff, but man, this is way worse than that. He accepts 6 foods and that's the 6 food choices he's been sticking to for the past 4 years. Its a constant cycle of dosa-pasta-rice-pretzels-chips-fries. So no....not healthy by any means. And his dislike of non preferred foods is so strong, that he will actually gag at us eating a meal. Its that bad! Eating at restaurants means taking his meal along with us and he's that one kid at the party that's eating his ...
1 comment
Read more