You Give Me Fever

I wish this were a post about how hot Joe is, but when Kiddo is running a temperature of 102+, that's just about the farthest thing from my mind.

If you peeked into our house, you'd see some disturbing things. Like my hair. It's 12 noon and I haven't yet showered today, so I'm wearing a hat, so as not to scare myself when I pass mirrors. I was alone as nursemaid from 7 a.m. until 9p.m. yesterday, when Joe came home from work. I had a better attitude yesterday, partly because I had a mission to get out and pick up videos* and soup, and because I only had one person yapping at me. The adults switched shifts around 10 or so; Joe slept with Kiddo until 5, when fever #3 dropped in. We gave him Motrin, which completely hit his "ON!" button, and by 5:15 he was begging to go downstairs and play. Temporarily playing the role of Angel of Mercy (not a character people usually associate me with), I took Kiddo downstairs and kept him fed and busy reading books until I was nearly falling asleep at 7:30, and so we switched, and I went back to bed until 9.

My second act of benevolence of the day was coming back down at 9, because believe me, I could have slept longer.

Yesterday, Kiddo was relatively tired and docile, which I personally appreciate in a sick kid because it makes my job easier. I'd rented a Reading Rainbow dvd on the topic of "Music!" and the original "World of Beatrix Potter" Volume One. Lavar Burton, how I miss thee! That show was one of the best on PBS. The scene with Peter Rabbit being chased by Mr. McGregor was a bit overblown in regard to tension, but Kiddo seemed to enjoy it. Today, though, Kiddo says he wants to take a "not mean video" upstairs and wants nothing to do with either one, which means that we are back to Mr. Rogers again. sigh. (I love you, Fred Rogers, but mind-numbing repetition is not a friend of the nursemaid!)

And the dishes await, but this is the first moment I've had to myself in a while. Joe's at the store, picking up yet another new digital thermometer-- do they make them from used goods, or what!--and a short list of Trader Joe's necessities. Like hummus. We can't go out tomorrow for our date, but I can have some hummus and pita, which makes me extremely happy and satisfied in some weird way. Hard to explain.

Sometimes I wish for another reality. Like, say, my kid would blow his nose well, instead of sniffing constantly and coughing on it. How gross is that? Or if he only liked spicy foods like hot and sour soup or Kim Chi. Perhaps this is very flawed thinking, but they always helped me feel better. He's even reluctant to eat chicken noodle soup right now, or drink water, and I'm actually bribing him with 2T servings of kefir (thanks for the suggestion, Alisha!) to get the other stuff in his stomach. The kefir is a big hit, even if he only takes 2 sips of it, I'm going to milk this one until I can't. And serving after serving of applesauce with powdered probiotics mixed in.

As I mentioned before, Joe and I had planned a date for tomorrow-- one of Kiddo's Honorary Aunties had offered to watch him, but she's also living in a house with very new twins, so we can't have her carrying the plague back to the babies, now, can we?

Add to this, I am ready to just disinfect myself. I have been coughed all over so many times it's like I have a protective coating of germs on my face and hair. When he's snuggled up next to me I duck down when he begins to cough, which I am sure is contributing to the big Fashion Don't Coiffure on the top of my head.

Best stop posting now-- don't want to use up my entire sense of humor on this! Having a sick kid can be misery at times, but he's still sleeping, so I'm going to Woman Up and get them damn dishes done. Even if a clean kitchen has no affect on Kiddo, it'll do me some good.

*What does the nursemaid pick for vids? The Social Network, which I am dying to see if only to reinforce my bias against Facebook, ha ha;  Patti Smith: Dream of Life because Patti is one of my #1 Hero-Goddesses and is such an incredible inspiration of what can happen when a person with integrity and creativity pursues their passion; and the first season of The Ricky Gervais Show, simply because I am in dire need of "having a laugh", and he makes me laugh so hard. Just about one of the funniest, most genius guys out there. "Let the mocking begin!" (acknowledgements to Tia for that one!)

Comments

Julia said…
Hi H, I came across an old email of yours the other day and wondered how you were doing. A google search and.. AHA! How are you? As for me, I'm married and have 2 daughters, Josie and Elodie, and I'm living in Lynchburg, VA. (We're here for my husband's job-- I'm not crazy about this town). I have a blog which I created for my family's benefit, but I really only put photos on it.
http://2littlegirls.tumblr.com/

Julia

p.s. I just saw the Social Network. A good movie, but lacks the sweep of the usual oscar nominees. The point of it seems to be how much of a jerk that guy is.

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