When Mommy Goes AWOL

I've realized, over the past couple weeks of feeling-horrible and fighting (a losing battle against) a nasty cold, cough, sore throat, etc., that I might as well not be here when I'm sick. (I know. If only that were an actual option, right?)

To be sick is to be relatively invisible. Oh, I've been here, all right, plopped down on the couch in comfy (read: ugly) pajamas, armed with tissues, cough drops, humidifiers and the like...but really, when I'm that sick, it's almost as if Mommy As We Know It falls off the face of the earth for quite a few days.

Some signs: 

-dinner (if you can call it that) in front of the tv almost every night.

-giant playroom mess left unattended for days and days (and days...)

-giant messes in virtually every other room in the house left unattended for days (and days...)

-a perpetual sink full of dirty dishes (whilst clean dishes inside the dishwasher remained untouched)

-floors stickier than hard candy

-a Christmas tree left up until halfway through January

-letting the kids watch unprecedented amounts of television

-groceries unbought, meals unmade...

 -etc, etc.

all accompanied by

-a feeling of apathy about it all.

Craig was a hero and stayed home/worked from home for most of last week. He is wonderful. He is dedicated. He is loving. He is patient and gentle. He serves without complaint. But he is not Mommy. (Which means that none of the things on that list happen to bother him.)

Some things I learned:

-to lose your voice when your kids already barely listen to you is torturous.

-Savanna thinks that whispering is called "secreting."

-my kids will never tire from cereal for dinner, or Scooby-Doo episodes

-an asthma inhaler is a solid friend during a miserable cold.

I hope I am over the worst of it. And, as soon as I finish the book I'm reading, I plan on tackling the mountain of mommy-tasks that await.