You’ve all heard of the man cold, right?
That’s when a man gets a cold. Anyone who has shared a home with a man knows what I’m talking about. To listen to him you’d think he was dying.
Well, I have a man cold.
I am dying.
It feels like my sinuses are going to cave under the pressure, and I sound like I’ve been singing along at a K.I.S.S. concert.
Staying at home with the kids while Chico is away, it’s hard to take the time I need to rest and get well.
Mom guilt kicks in whenever I lie down for a bit, instead of doing the one million other things I think I SHOULD be doing.
Like preparing a healthy dinner for the boys, or applying for another job, or getting some exercise, or folding the laundry, or, or, or…
You get the picture.
So here’s a message to all the mamas out there suffering from a cold:
YOU CAN TAKE THE DAY OFF.
Well, you know what I mean. You still probably have to get the kids off to school, but it is TOTALLY OKAY if you want to get back into bed when you get home.
Your kids will not fail to get into Harvard just because you didn’t take them to the library this afternoon.
(Let’s face it, they’re probably not going to get into Harvard anyway…)
That extra episode of Sesame Street? Yeah, it won’t kill them.
They didn’t get much exercise today? Whatever. They’ll be fine.
Self Care Starts with Me
There’s a whole industry out there that tries to sell me products labeled as “self care” products. Things like manicures, scented candles, bath salts, facial creams, a glass of wine…
But if you ask me, that’s all horse hockey.
Self care is taking care of my mental and physical well-being.
When I have a cold, that means giving myself permission to take the time I need to recover.
This week, I’m setting the example to my boys of what it is to take care of myself when I don’t feel well.
I’m eating healthy foods, drinking lots of tea, bundling myself up like a babushka and resting as much as possible.
The Boys Kinda Love it…
The Bug and the Bear are so much enjoying all the extra TV time that I suspect they’re going to TRY and get me sick as much as possible.
Come to think of it, it WAS the Bug who gave me a full-on kiss on the lips and then sneezed into my face.
Clever boy…