In someone else's shoes

It's a beautiful day today. My wonderful husband goes back to work tomorrow. We're down by one kid tonight. Life is good.

I wasn't feeling so good yesterday and made the mistake of saying so. Now, remember, everyone in this house has been sick so far except Trace and I. I've been feeling congested for the past week which in it's self can be a little more tiring than normal. So I may have mentioned not feeling great a couple of times. I haven't collapsed on the couch or stayed in bed for days on end, just casually mentioned I wasn't feeling great. Well yesterday I said it again. This time I really was feeling extra tired and achy. All of you wives out there will appreciate this when I say I wanted to wring my dear husbands neck and it was all I could do to bite my tongue when he replied, "You haven't felt good for a week! You definitely don't have what I had." (interpretation: Get over it already you could never be as sick as I was!) OK, maybe I wasn't dying. Maybe I didn't need to say anything. Heck, maybe I really will be stuck in bed by next week! Does it matter though?! I wasn't feeling great, is it too much to ask for a wee bit of sympathy? Let's see, within two weeks, I had one child with seven teeth pulled, a "dying" husband (who followed the flu up with a "horrible" head cold), a child with a long term infection that finally got diagnosed only to have it seem to be returning (same child with seven teeth pulled), another child with 2 teeth pulled (thank goodness he is a trooper and required little from me), and the last child be sicker than she ever has been in over two years. Of course at three that meant I needed to be holding her every waking minute. Naturally that makes it really hard to keep up with laundry, changing beds, cleaning the kitchen, etc, etc. Add to that crummy weather and being cooped up at home and you've got a complete recipe for depression. So what's the harm in needing a little extra attention myself? Does anyone ever notice how mom's just give and give and give? Sometimes I just want to yell - look at me I'm giving up something to make my child happy! Unfortunately no one will probably ever know (or care) but I have to believe they will be changed in some small way. Because if they aren't I'm going to really regret missing out on all those Italian sodas I've sacrificed in order to pay for happy meals! Or, the ultimate hope - when I'm gone they are really going to miss me.