Today, while in my seventh day of illness with a stuffy nose, body aches, and a hacking cough, I:
-Went to bed at 12:30 a.m. after being up with sick, coughing child
-Was awakened at 4 a.m., 4:30 a.m., 5 a.m., 6 and 8 a.m. by sick, coughing child, who was sleeping in the bed with me, while my husband slept in another room
-Made my son breakfast
-Convinced my son to eat breakfast*
-Brushed my son's hair*
-Got my son dressed for the day*
-Picked up all the toys my son scattered around the house over the past week while I was sick
-Vacuumed the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, the office, my son's room, and the hallway
-Mopped the kitchen floor
-Cleaned the coffee table, the sofa, and two living room chairs thoroughly with a lint roller
-Washed two loads of laundry
-Scrubbed the stove and the kitchen counter
-Wiped down the dining room table and chairs
-Scrubbed a toilet and a bathroom sink, cleaned two bathroom mirrors, and washed and dried a bathroom rug
-Sorted and organized all of the mail, coupons and circulars in the house; filed bank statements, etc.; tossed out expired and outdated things
-Explained key parts of the economic stimulus package to my Republican father-in-law over the phone
-Consoled via email not one but two friends having emergencies
-Called my son's future kindergarten to register him for orientation
-Cooked my son's lunch
-Convinced my son to eat his lunch*
-Put away a load of dishes from the dishwasher
-Loaded and washed a new load of dishes in the dishwasher
-Wrote two work emails
-Downloaded and installed new music software for my son
-Wrote an entire blog post (that I am bumping until tomorrow because I'm writing this one)
-Emptied and washed the vacuum cleaner filter
All while caring for a sick preschooler who was annoyed at being kept home from school.*
*These things are not as easy as they sound when the child involved has a sensory disorder.
Today my husband:
-Handed me the phone to talk to his Dad since he was on his way to work
-Drove five minutes in no traffic to the office
-Sat down in a chair
-Listened to political podcasts
-Programmed some stuff
-Listened to science podcasts
-Programmed some stuff
-Maybe went to a meeting
-Came home slightly early
-Did one load of laundry and folded another.
-Helped my son install some more music software
-Played on the Nintendo DS
-Watched TV
-Started to feel a little sniffly and tired, like he might maybe be coming down with the virus the kid and I have had for an entire week
-Gave me puppy eyes about being sick and tired
I've suggested he make a tofu stir fry.
9 comments:
You are an awesome, awesome woman. Very few people would be willing to put the needs of others before their own, but you always do.
I believe you have a buttload of positive karma surrounding you. (I have no idea how to measure a buttload, but I think it's one step below infinity.)
Uh yeah it is funny how they always seem to get sick and it is soo much worse than the sickness you just went through. I also love it when my husband complains about how he never ever gets the computer to play on and then acts surprised when I can exactly tell him how many hours he has been on and it is always way more than how much I have been on.
You are awesome. I'm really impressed.
Thanks for telling me I'm awesome, but, really, I was sort of forced into all that cleaning today because my in-laws called in the morning and said they'd be coming over, and my house was in a bad state because I'd been sick all week. If they hadn't been coming I would have cut that chore list in half, at least ;)
And all that other stuff is just the stuff moms do. Mothers of small children do not get sick days. It's one of the hardest things to get used to once you have kids. But at least once the kids are old enough, they start doing sweet things like bringing you tissues when you sneeze.
men are babies.
and thank you for reminding me why i have no desire to get married ever again!
for the record, that sounds like a completely full and complete day for a healthy mom and a non sensory-disorder kid.!!!!
Ah, but Farrell, my husband DOES make pancakes for the whole family every Saturday, without my even asking him to ;)
I agree with Jeanette - you are the awesome.
i hear you! a couple of weeks ago, when i was sick, i asked my husband to get up and watch the baby so i could go back to bed after feeding him. he complained that he was tired and didn't get enough sleep. this was only the *second* time in the 7 months of our sons life that i'd asked him to do that.
Men.
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