With Chanukah and Christmas over, we have the New Year celebration and then.... back to regular life. Everyone can start counting down to Spring Break. I thought when I finished school that I would be done living from holiday to holiday, but it has continued on for me and pretty much everyone else, I think.
I had a most lovely Christmas despite the illness that is ravaging my entire family. I'm hoping that this will be the last post where I bitch about being sick, but I actually have a relevant topic to discuss that pertains to being ill for a change. I'm moving beyond the complaining.
Two days before Christmas, I crawled out of my car after my last appointment and dragged myself into my house and declared, "I need a doctor." So off we went to the local urgent care place to see what my deal was. After four long months, I've finally decided that I cannot wish myself better, talk myself into being "unsick", deny that I was illin', all of the stuff that I was doing other than woofing down medication. It was time to give into western medicine.
Turns out I had what looks like a smidgen o' pneumonia. Imagine that. It was a wee bit of a shocker when she said, "I think we'll take an X-ray to be sure." But like a good girl, I am diligently taking my "Antibees, roids and gas" (antibiotics, steriods and inhaler) and I'm feeling much better. Well, at least I can breathe deeply without choking. That's still better!
During all of this drama, I discovered a very interesting development in my maternal bond with Allie. I really kind of needed it because lately I've been feeling a bit left out of the parental situation. She wants Justin for everything. He even gets a more emphatic "I love you" than I do. So, I needed to feel connected. Here's what I discovered.
When Allie is sick, she wants ME. Just ME.
So, I'm sure you're saying, "Big effing deal. Why is that so odd?"
It's odd because of the two parents, Justin is WAY more nurturing than I am when it comes to injury and illness. I'm not cold hearted and I try to help take care of him when he doesn't feel well, but he blows me out of the water. The guy should've been a nurse. Not a doctor. A nurse, cuz nurses are more warm and fuzzy.
He does the boo-boo voice ("Oh, honey....I'm so sorry! Can I get you something? Let me feel your forehead. You feel warm. You're sick. If you need anything, just let me know, okay?"), he checks on me constantly ("Do you need anything yet? Orange juice? A snack?"), and he is majorly accommodating ("Let me pick you up and carry you to the bathroom.....now don't push. I'll squeeze you gently until the pee comes out. You need to rest!")
LOL. I'm just kidding about the last one, so you can put your eyeballs back in the sockets.
Actually, he will run around and do whatever he can for me when I'm sick, even if it's killing him. He is a natural caretaker. I was horribly sick on our honeymoon and he took such great care of me. He went to hell and back to find medicine to help me function. I remember crying and saying, "I'm so sorry I'm ruining our honeymoon. You're so good to me. I could never take care of someone like you take care of me. I'm sorry I'm not as good at this as you are."
So, with that being said, if you were three and felt sick, who would you run to?
That's why it's a bit surprising to me (and him) that she only wants me. She will push him away if he tries to fuss over her. If he tries to help so I can rest, she demands that I help her. She finds some sort of comfort from being near me that she doesn't get from him. It totally backs up the nature part of the "Nature vs. Nurture Theory" that you hear about. Her natural instinct is to want me. And when I tell people this, they all seem to think it's completely normal. "Of course she does. You're her mother."
Well, WHEW! FINALLY there is something she likes better about me! SCORE!
To be honest, while I feel bad for Justin when he gets pushed away since I see how hurt he is by it, it feels wonderful to be needed by Allie in a way that no one else will be able to fulfill. And while it usually annoys me a little to take care of people who are super needy, it doesn't annoy me at all when she is insanely clingy and needy. On Monday night, her ears hurt (she has the same cold) and the one thing that she wanted was for me to rub the inside of her ear with a Q-Tip (or "ear tip" as she calls them). She nudged me every five to ten minutes until 430am saying, "Mommy. Please rub my ear with an ear tip." And I absolutely didn't mind.
I have a feeling that Allie will be like me and my mom. When we are sick, we want to be with someone, but we don't want to be bothered by it. My mother is the only other person besides Allie who never annoys me when she's injured or ill. She could whine and bitch until the cows come home and it wouldn't make me crazy. Of course, I"m just guessing because she doesn't do that, so I don't really know if it would be agitating or not.
When I went to the doctor earlier this week, something else unusual occurred. Allie does NOT care for doctors offices. We have the most awesome pediatrician and she does nothing but cry from the minute she sees him. When she goes with Justin to some of his appointments she is miserable there too. But for some reason, she insisted on coming into the doctor's office with me. Like, full fledged freaking out in the waiting room, begging me not to leave her kind of insistance! Now I have no explanation for that one, but I am kind of curious what it was all about.
So, I hope that this is the last entry I make for awhile that says anything about me being under the weather unless I have another momentous discovery. I would just like to thank all of the moms, young and old, who commiserated with me and offered sympathy. It really made me feel better to know that this happens to so many other people when their kids go to school. I was trying to outsmart it and be tough, but the germies were gonna get me no matter what. That's just how it is. I concede.
I plan on being back beforehand (I've got a doozie of a topic, but I need to calm down before I can write about it without sounding like a lunatic), but should something happen and I get sidetracked, Happy New Year, everyone!
 |
| I saw this on Facebook and thought it was excellent. Game on! |
If you clickity click on the banner below, it will seem like nothing happened, but it did! You can close the window as soon as it opens if you like. T'anks peeps!
