I hate being sick. It started as a scratchy throat just before Easter. Now it's a full-blown cold with a bad cough. Charon came down with it yesterday, but she's handling it a lot better than I am. She keeps telling me, "I'm okay, Mom." What a sweetheart.
Last night, when she woke up coughing, she asked me where the cough came from.
"You've probably caught my cold. That cough needs to leave you alone."
Then she addressed the cough directly: "Cough? This is Charon. You move over to the big bed [our bed] right now!"
When my mom found out I was fighting this cold and struggling with finding good foods to eat, she talked through what sounded good to me. She made up a huge batch of chicken soup for us, plus enough beef stroganoff for two meals. Isn't she sweet? It feels so good to be mothered.
My dad is great at mothering, too. After whining to both of my parents about our messy house, they came over yesterday. While Mom played with Charon, Dad vacuumed everything in sight, including my car. Isn't he awesome?
Pete's mothering style is similar to my parents' - a "what can I do to fix it?" style - except that car vacuuming isn't at the top of his list. This past week, he's made us supper every night, done all of our laundry, cleaned out the refrigerator, gone grocery shopping, come home early from work, entertained Charon pretty much constantly, on top of completing his review at work, getting the yard ready for cement work... There's more, but I think you get the idea. Isn't he the best?
This weekend, we were all supposed to get together at my parents' townhouse for a "welcome back" gathering with my immediate family. Mom and Dad just got back from their winter in Texas, and we've all been looking forward to being together again. I called that morning and got my mom.
"Mom? I'm still sick."
"Oh honey. I'm so sorry! You should stay home and rest, okay? Rest is what's going to get you healthy the fastest."
"Oh Mom... But I really want to come!" (said through tears. Her sweet, kind voice can make me cry.)
"I know, sweetie. But you won't miss anything. Send Pete and Charon and then you just rest in that quiet house." Then she went through all of her herbal teas, reading the ingredients and picking the ones her pregnant-and-paranoid daughter okay'ed for her to send home.
Okay, I'm off now to take Mom's advice and rest. :)
