Thursday, September 16, 2010

All The Single Mommies... and other tangents

On Monday afternoon, while Max was napping, and Gabe was doing his 45 minutes minutes of reading on his bed, I went to do some reading for work as well.  And then a bus hit me.  Not a real one, but it felt like one.  And honestly, I was feeling just fine and dandy before that moment.  All of a sudden, I started melting into my bed, my body started hurting, and I couldn't move.  I ended up dozing off for a few minutes- drool and all- only to have Gabe bring me out of my stupor.... "Lauren, it's been 48 minutes, can I go watch tv?"  So I wiped my drool, pulled myself up, and blearily told him yes.  (I'm sure at this point, Gabe knew I was sick, because I never let him watch tv during the day, ha!)

My bffa (as in the word, not the letters) Ruth and her hubby, Jonathan, had graciously offered to come keep the boys that night, so Chad and I could have a date night.  We never get date nights-- well actually, it's probably more like, we never TAKE date nights-- 99.9% of the time, we would just rather have the boys with us- but on this rare occasion, I just could NOT be sick.  I had to soak it up.  So I pressed on.  I got the boys fed and Max bathed and I got all ready for our hot date.  (I actually forgot to put make up on, darn it! But Chad remember flowers :) )  As soon as R & J showed up, we handed over the boys and headed out on the town. We went to dinner first, and before my meal even arrived, another wave of crummy settled on my shoulders-- I barely ate.  And then I was ready to go home-- lame date, huh?  We did stop for dessert, and brought some back for a sweet friends.  We chatted it up with them a bit, and then headed to bed.  I was catching zzzz's before 10pm--how romantic!!

On Tuesday, when I woke up, I was certain that death was just over the horizon, but with a million things on my to-do list, I finally made it into the shower, confident that it would perk me up and once I made it to my desk, I'd be fine.

Wrong.

By 10am, my body hurt so bad I couldn't even stand up straight.  I had a fever, my throat hurt so bad that I would've rather swallowed glass, and this was surely the end.  I stopped by the clinic- something about "pus pockets on your throat" and "down for the count", then "may I have your co-pay?" and I headed off to bed.  Chad came home and took car of the boys.  He also brought me juice.  I slept and then would get up and come downstairs, feeling like I was missing something, only to find that all the cuteness wasn't worth the agony, so I would go back to bed.  I repeated this many times.

I went to bed again, for the night, by 9pm.

As I wallowed in my sickness I kept wondering how in the world single mommies do it?  My heart goes out to you all!  You are way stronger that I am!!  If I didn't have Chad, the boys would not have eaten!  I just cannot imagine what life is like if you're on your own- and I don't care whether it's a tragedy or broken relationships or even I traveling spouse that led to your singleness-- I can not fathom or understand what life is like for you- and what burdens you carry.  I pray that you are surrounded by family and friends who are willing to help.  And if you're my family or friends, and you need something, call me, I got your back!

But I'm better now- except for a few sniffles and I may require another nap or two-- but I will live.

But now, a couple tangents:  first of all, please check out our photog's blog of Max and his one year shoot-- and also, leave her a comment to let her know how great she is (and how adorable Max is, but that's a given!)  Do it now, before you forget: http://brandelynlee.com/theblog/ Did you melt?

Second tangent-- during my sickness, while my body molded to the couch, Max stood up and walked. And not just a step, he walked- TO ME!  Then Gabe cheered and I cried and he did it again and again.  Then last night, he walked 4 steps, then stopped, and then walked 4 more steps before diving into my arms.  Seriously, this is happening.

Max is funny- I may've already explained this- but he doesn't try anything until he's certain he can do it.  He's not even 13 months old and he's already fearing failure or he's a perfectionist- one of the two-- and I most certainly am the gene pool to blame for that trait.  So he didn't really dabble in crawling, he just waiting until he had mentally figured it out and then he did it.  And now, the same for walking-- he has been standing up in the middle of the floor for a while now, but would NOT even attempt a step-- and then he just walks.





And my last tangent is a funny Chad story and I did ask his permission to share this-- on Tuesday, when my throat was KILLING me, and he had taken Max out for a while so I could sleep, I asked him for some OJ and grits-- both of which would be easy on the throat.  He told me he would pick some up on his way home- no problem.  And then he got home-- but no grits or oj-- he had forgotten to stop at the store.

No problem, I actually needed some tylenol too, so would he now run around the corner and pick up those 3 things?  So off he went. He then called from the store, about which kind of tylenol to get-- we settled that, and I said "don't forget the oj and grits" before I hung up.

Then he pulls in the driveway, I get out a spoon and get myself ready for grits- yum.  BUT he forgot the grits.  I'm not kidding!  He had gotten the right kind of tylenol and really good oj- but no grits.

Ok, well once Gabe got off the bus, he was going to take the boys out and about to the library and the park, so that would be a good time to run back by the store for my grits.  By this point I was hungry, but my throat would not allow for just any food.  They headed off, and I went back to bed and dreamed of the grits I would have when I woke up.

Barely an hour later, I hear the garage door open.  A few minutes later I hear Max babbling but no other noises-- weird.  So I come out of my room, and see Gabe sitting on his bed- he's clearly in trouble- and I walk to the living room to find Chad sitting in silence while Max played on the floor.  The short version:  They had been at the park when Gabe did not get his way and he LOST it-- Chad had never seen this kind of behavior before, so they left the park:  therefore Chad sat analyzing and Gabe sat in trouble and Max played, oblivious.  So Chad and I talked for a bit about what happened, then we talked with Gabe-- all while my head is pounding, my back is aching, my throat is screaming, and my stomach is growling- and then I ask about my grits....

STILL NO grits because they were going to stop at the store on the way home, but because of the incident, there were no extra stops.

By this point, it is almost dinner time, so I walk Chad through dinner prep, verbally, and then head back to the couch.  Once he has everything on the stove, I ask if he'll go get my grits.  He agrees and we discuss that I don't want him to get the pouches-- just get the kind in a bag- like flour or the kind in a box, like cream of wheat.  He says "Ok, no packets-- just a box or a bag" and heads out.

SUCCESS!!  He came back with plain grits- just like my heart desired.  BUT they were pouches-- I kid you not!!  He had read the box- and avoided the kind that talked about the different flavored packets- but didn't see where this plain box said pouches. HAhHAHAAA!! So I just microwaved 2 pouches of plain grits and gobbled them up.  (The reason I didn't want packets is because I really didn't want him to accidently get any with flavors-- so the plain pouches worked just fine-- I was just so hungry by this point that I needed double!!)

Ok, that's all for now.  I'm so thankful that I'm feeling good again, and I'm so grateful for my husband- and the entertainment he brings to my life-- I just have to do a heart check sometimes to make sure I appreciate the blessings and the laughter!

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