This has been “the worst Christmas Ever!” according to my 6 year old and I can’t blame him for thinking that either. He developed a fever on the 22, I brought him to the doctor on the 23rd and it was deemed a virus. Prognosis- 5-7 days of this infectious shit! I start coughing by that evening. I douse myself with every vitamin known to man, but by that evening I have a fever as well. The child by the way is also vomiting. NICE! We have about 22 people arriving for Christmas lunch. I’m glad I prepped some things earlier, but I need to keep going. I send my husband and one son to his aunt’s house for Christmas Eve lunch. I medicate myself so I can finish prepping for Christmas. My little guy spends most of the day sleeping. I can’t wait for my husband to come home so I can relax and he can finish the prep. As he walks in the door he announces, ” I think I have a fever.” I refuse to believe him because I just need to sit and I can’t. He wants to cancel and looking back I should have just said yes. I felt I had done too much work and we had to much food to just quit. Anyway, to make this long story short the virus lasted till the 29Th! The toys lay un-played with and we took turns sleeping on various pieces of furniture while spending time in between cleaning up my sons vomit. We missed Christmas. All of it. Lying around in a semi-coma of fever however, I learned a few things…..
This week I learned that:
10. people have very different definitions of what sick is. ( Telling me that you are sick too when you just have cold is not the same as, I haven’t left my house in 7 days because I have a fever and blurry vision kind of sick.)
9. even though people read my top 10 holiday stress list it still didn’t stop them from doing the things that stress me out. ( I was so sick that I didn’t even care when my kid showed me gifts that he opened without me being there.)
8. some of those stressors could actually be funny. ( Thanks Wally and Nick for hanging out in my kitchen-or I’m sorry the vestibule? What?)
7. when you expect certain things or behavior from people it only sets you up for disappointment. ( I need to let go and let the cards just unfold.)
6. my now 9 year old is awesome at taking care of us. ( He’s the only one that escaped the plague. He got us tissues, drinks, and behaved so well, never complaining that he was trapped here with us.)
5. some of my friends possibly have a Facebook addiction. ( I never noticed until I wasn’t on my computer how often my phone kept going off with notifications. Wow.)
4. even though it’s the season of peace and good will towards men people just can’t help themselves posting pro-gun crap throughout the holidays season. ( Give it a rest folks. After resent events people are suffering enough, give them a break.)
3. there is no re-do on Christmas. ( We missed it. It sucks, but we can’t get it back. There is always next year.)
2. I went through the many stages of grief during our sickness. ( angry, denial, etc, etc…..)
1. I need to start doing things because I feel they are right not because someone else has told me it’s the right thing. ( I’ve been getting better at this, but failed miserably on Christmas. I blame the sickness!)
I hope you all had a fantastic holiday (or at least better than mine!) Happy New Years!
mal mortell says
hope you start your year off with a bang…
Antoinette Kaus says
Im sorry to hear about your sick holiday:( Hopefully your new year will rock!
Ethel says
Glad Wally and Nick read and had fun with your post!!!