Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Today is my actual shopping day

Yesterday, Ben woke up all shivery and Daniel was warm, so I did what any mom desperate to go to Wegmans would do. I gave them each a dose of Ibprofen, sent Ben off to school, and bundled up Daniel so we could venture to the land of donuts and bulk candy.

The place was mobbed with people stocking up on beer and bread (that was exactly what the guy in line in front of me was purchasing- copious amounts of beer and bread) so they could load up on carbohydrates for the storm. Every elderly woman I passed cooed over Daniel, who was looking especially cute with his Elmer Fudd hat and feverish pink cheeks, and Ella, newly revived from her bout of cold/ hand, foot, and mouth disease/ impetigo/ sinus infection. The elderly women then made mention of the impending snow apocalypse, and I retorted with,

“This is my regular shopping day.” Which wasn’t exactly true. But I felt compelled, probably because I was irritated with the crowd, to insist that was the case. My normal shopping day is Wednesday, but I went yesterday because of, well, you know why.

I don’t know why I am the way I am.

John called me as I was about to check out. The school nurse wanted one of us to get Ben. She was kind of wondering why I sent him to school with a 102 degree fever. To which I retorted,

“Well, today’s my regular shopping day. And we were all out of beer and bread.”

By the end of last night, all three boys were shivering on the couch watching episodes of “Little Bear.” John is insisting they all watch “Little Bear” more often because Little Bear is so well-mannered and Father Bear is “kind of a bad-ass.” I love “Little Bear.” He’s so much better than that whiner, Caillou.

Daniel was by far the most pathetic, and John, who of course feared he was on the brink of death, forced him to drink ¾ of a bottle of Pedialyte. Daniel got up, stumbled around, crying, four times last night. In his state of sleepy, sick delirium, he knew something was very, very wrong, but wasn’t quite sure what.

I’ve never seen a kid pee so much in my life.

Today is a snow day, though the boys wouldn’t have gone to school anyway. Caleb, who has a headache and fever, remains stoic, determined to make the most of the snow day. He is stubbornly willing himself to wellness. Ben, on the other hand, is content to languish on the couch and treat me like his slave.

We’ve never had a winter like this- with so much sickness. And I fear, this morning, that my throat is a little sore, my head a little achy, and my hair is a bit heavy on my head. That’s how I know I’ve got something- my hair begins to hurt my head. Suddenly, instead of regular old dead cells clinging to my scalp, it feels like I’m being jabbed with thousands of tiny needles.

I could either be stoic, like Caleb, or languish on the couch and demand that John bring me popsicles and toast with jam- all of which I have- because yesterday was my regular shopping day.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is how my head feels when I am getting sick too. Popsicles are the best for a sore throat:)

hokgardner said...

I vote for languishing on the sofa.

Hope you all feel better soon.

Elizabeth said...

Geat well soon! Being sick is the pits and its even worse when you have to do the shopping ;-)