Down for the Count

The cold and flu season is upon us. I don’t consider myself to have a super immune system. I try to prevent colds by practicing good hand washing and taking vitamins (when I remember). Typically, at the first sign of a cold, I pop extra vitamin C or those immune-boosting tablets you see advertised on television. Still, with all these precautions, I did find myself coming down with a cold this week.

Even when I succumb to a nasty cold, I find myself continuing with my daily routine. The advice “get plenty of rest” doesn’t apply to moms. If we were to suddenly plop ourselves down on the couch with a box of tissues and a cup of tea, who would drive the kids to taekwondo and baseball practice? Who would pack lunches in the morning, run five loads of laundry, do the food shopping and make dinner? Who’d crack the whip over the kids as they do their homework, find their AWOL baseball glove or the head from their Lego Star Wars clone trooper?

Yes, we ignore medical advice and continue with our daily routines because we know that if we didn’t, civilization as we know it would grind to a halt.

Or would it?

My husband has a similar ethic when it comes to being sick. Unless he is at death’s door, he will drive 60 minutes to work and put in a full day, despite looking and sounding like the creature from the black lagoon and potentially infecting every co-worker within a five cubicle radius. However, on those rare occasions when he is just too sick to work, he stays in bed for the entire day and sleeps, rousing himself only for bathroom breaks or a bowl of chicken soup.

Since my current cold presented itself near the end of the week, I decided to forgo my usual routine of blundering through my daily chores, embrace my sickness and take to my bed. Fortunately, my husband works half days on Fridays. He was home in time to take one of our boys to his taekwondo practice, and then drive the other son to his school dance that evening. But what about dinner? Under normal circumstances I would go ahead and cook, adding a smidge of germs to whatever dish I was making. This time, instead of picking up a skillet I picked up the phone and ordered Chinese takeout. A breakthrough! Besides, we all know hot and sour soup is good for a cold, right?

The next day was Saturday. One son had baseball while the other son was scheduled to participate in a service project at church (for which I had volunteered to drive). Luckily, my son caught my cold, and was sniffing and coughing as much as I was. As I was about to call the project coordinator, my husband walked into the room. “Can you call him?” I asked, using my diminished strength to hand him the phone (I hate making those calls under the best of circumstances). I added a few coughs for good measure. “Of course I can,” he replied as I fell back against the pillows and reached for the television remote. I was starting to get the hang of this.

I spent the entire day in bed, surrounded by tissue boxes, throat lozenges, magazines and my television remote. I watched “The Godfather” in its entirety and dozed on an off through a marathon of “American Pickers” on the History Channel. I drank orange juice and ate leftover Chinese food (“feed a cold”). I read an entire book, cover to cover. And when it came time for dinner, I sat back and let my husband whip up a chicken casserole. Who knew that being sick could be so therapeutic?

Still, all good things must come to an end. Tempted though I was to spend another day in bed, it was my turn to teach Sunday school. On the way home from church, I stopped to buy groceries for the week. As I type this I’m baking Valentine’s cupcakes and helping my son create cards for his classroom. There’s laundry in the dryer, the house needs a good vacuuming, and there’s youth group this evening.
Though I’m still sneezing and blowing my nose, I feel like a human being again. Had I not spent the entire day in bed, I’m pretty sure I would be feeling worse today, not better. Though no one likes being sick, I did enjoy absolving myself of all my regular duties for that one day. Still, I doubt I’ll have the chance to repeat it anytime soon.

Unless…unless I catch that stomach bug I hear is going around. Hmmmmm.