No one enjoys getting sick, but when
you're a mother, illness is one of the worst things that can happen. Seriously. Life is already busy, challenging, and exhausting, and being sick adds cruel and unusual punishment to the mix.
When moms get
sick, we are forced to experience the following five stages:
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Isn't coffee considered a Super Food these days anyway? |
3. Bargaining: You
begin to repeat solemn promises and devout prayers in your head;
we'll call it Internal Bargaining. Promises such as “I will never
order a venti mocha Frappucino ever again if I can just get over
this stomach bug!” and “Please Lord, let me wake up
feeling better, and I'll take the kids to any park they want. We'll
explore all the parks in the city-- every single one!” You will
probably also resort to more begging, er, External Bargaining,
than usual, as in, “If you stop fighting with your brother for 10
minutes, you can have the entire bag of Skittles,” and “I swear
when I'm feeling better I'll play hide-and-seek with you all day.
Anything you want! Just let me lie down for 5 minutes.” And the sad thing is that you
really believe it too.
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I try REALLY HARD not to feel guilty about extra screen time. |
4. Depression: There's no
joy in life, no happiness to be found. When your mom advises you
over the phone-- from 300 miles away-- to “get some rest,” you
simply whimper at the impossibility of it. Crueler words have
never been spoken, you think, staring longingly at the couch
where your 3 year old is busy eating Goldfish in her pajamas and
your 5 year old is busy hitting her with a sword/pillow.
5. Acceptance: The final stage. A sad, lonely place, best faced by
drinking extra coffee and encouraging your children to indulge in
extra electronic time. The recommended limit of two hours of screen
time per day now feels laughable. We reach that limit by
breakfast, you think, shrugging your shoulders, blowing your
nose, and handing over the iPad to your 4 year old. At this point in
the struggle, you are advised to avoid looking in the mirror or
checking Facebook; nothing good will come of it.
You see, few things are quite as hard
as life for a mom when she is sick. How are we expected to take care
of everyone else when we can't even function? Repeat after me: It's
not fair! It's NOT FAIR!
This message brought to you by Julia herself, presently wallowing in Stage 2.
~Julia @ Frantic Mama
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Consider giving this book to a mom friend this holiday season! I'm in it! It's hilarious! It's available on Amazon. |
The stages are just right just so! I just went through ' acceptance' of course followed by the great ' depression' And I always do get it last, after having nursed everyone to health. And I get it harder! I saw my little ones eat a tub of ice cream and get up I just could not. Oh the guilt the misery even when we are sick!
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