Ohhhhh, How The Mighty Have Fallen

After weeks of playing nursemaid to my brood, I myself have fallen spectacularly, egregiously, undeniably....sick.

Alas, the mantra I have been chanting for the past several days...I am NOT getting sick, dammit....has not been an effective talisman against the evil that is influenza. Nor, apparently, has the Tamiflu that I have been taking "preventatively" since Pre-Pubescent one fell ill.

So I am sick, and also, resentful.

Because for weeks I have been mopping fevered brows, dispensing medicine, ferrying one child or another to the doctor, plying one child or another (and a husband) with soup, popsicles, smoothies and other sick food, staying up around the clock to make sure that fevers are kept at bay with alternating doses of Ibuprofin and Acetaminophen, bearing witness to spewage and cleaning up the resultant mess, running to the pharmacy for Pepto Bismol, cough syrup, decongestant and lip balm....while still running my household, and meeting the needs of whichever child happened to be well at the moment.

But now that I am sick, I cannot simply wallow in my misery as I would like. Because parenting doesn't stop when one is sick.

I am resentful of the fact that everybody else got to simply be sick. But I have to endure being sick and maintaining the status quo here at Casa de Antagonist as well.

Oh sure, I have a spouse. And he is a very good spouse. But he has a very demanding job and is deep in the throes of a very important project, the success of which is quite crucial for his company and upon which, a very large sum of money depends. He can't be two places at once, after all, and we do enjoy luxuries such as heat, electricity and food.

And, of course, the needs of my children do not cease and desist simply because their mother is stricken ill.

So today, instead of staying in the house, basking in my slovenliness, sipping hot tea and watching cheesy movies as I am wont to do...I must take Diminutive One to baseball practice. It's not a big deal. I can just drop him off. Pre-Pubescent One's practice goes from 11-1 and Diminutive One's practice starts at 1. Husband will already be at the park and will take it from there. I probably won't even have to get out of the van.

But it is still IRKING me.

Not to mention that Diminutive One has a HUGE school project due on Friday. This is our last full weekend to work on it. The weekdays are simply too hectic, so we are behooved to complete as much as we possibly can today and tomorrow.

I don't want to do it. It's just cutting and pasting and proofreading what he has written, and oh yes, designing a costume and coming up with a fabulously inventive idea for souveniers to pass out during his presentation and creating a visually pleasing desk display. Sure, I had a month to do it, but I've been dealing with sick people for a month.

I want my Mommy, I want chicken soup, and I want to just be sick.

Why can't I just be SICK???

I have not been bearing my cross with good grace today.

But then a while ago, Diminutive One brought me a wildberry toaster strudel (shut up, it is too real food) and a glass of orange juice. It was still frozen in the middle, but the shockingly blue frosting was carefully zig zagged on top.

I ate it with relish and gulped my orange juice obediently as he stood watching.

"You need that Vitamin C" he said soberly.

He put a hand to my brow and said, "Hmmmm. You feel a little warm. We need to keep an eye on that."

I feel a little better.

Oh and also, I have been tormenting Pre-Pubescent One with request after request; ice water, then a straw. Then cough drops. An extra blanket. The remote. Turn off that lamp please. I need tissue. Slippers. My book. A Muffin, please. Afrin, I need Afrin. Dear God I'm so thirsty, can I have some more water?

Of course, after each request, I let him go back to what he was doing before making a subsequent request. He was a good sport, but finally with exasperation he exhorted..."GEEZ Mom." and then..."Wait...you're messing with me, arent' you? You're saying I acted like that, right? Isn't that it? I was SICK, Mom!"

But he grinned. Point made, point taken.

Now, if only one of them could drive.

Sigh...............