I have cursed my son. My youngest baby. The runt of my litter. My poor, defenseless little Nicholas has been cursed by his own mother. I am not proud.
When I left work today, I posted the following on Facebook:
All I want to do is go home, put on my pajamas, eat ice cream straight from the carton, and watch the debate tonight. But...my kids think they need dinner and Lucas has homework and Sophie has Girl Scouts and the gas light just came on in my car. I can't even begin to tell you how much I hate stopping to get gas! Damn, I'm tired.
I was exhausted. The very last thing in the world I wanted to do was go to Girl Scouts with Sophie. I love Girl Scouts. Really, I do. But I was tired. I did not want to drag Nicholas and Lucas to St. Paul to stay at my sister's house, take Sophie all the way over to Linden Hills in Minneapolis for Girl Scouts, drive back to St. Paul to pick up the boys, and then back to Minneapolis to go home. I did not want to eat dinner in my car. And I had to stop and get gas, of all things! I despise having to stop mid-trip to get gas. I was simply crabby and saying silent prayers to the universe to please get me the hell out of the night I had lined up ahead of me.
Little did I know that the universe was listening.
I walked into my house to find Nicholas laying on the couch sound asleep. Odd. It was his usual Wii time, but he was curled up on the couch snuggling his blankie. Typically, Nicholas has to be dragged from the Wii console kicking and screaming. He would never willingly opt for a nap over Super Mario Brothers. Immediately, I was concerned.
My mom, who now picks my kids up from school and keeps them until I get home from work, said, “I don't think Nicholas is feeling well.” I bent over and touched his cheek to discover that he was burning up. A quick temperature check confirmed it. He had a fever of 103.
Immediately, I knew that we would not be attending Girl Scouts tonight. I could not, in good conscience, drop Nicholas off at my sister's house to infect her children with whatever elementary school plague he had contracted from his snotty-nosed classmates. And since Sophie is preternaturally fused to my hip during all waking hours (and many sleeping hours), she would not even consider attending Girl Scouts without me. My mom offered to let me drop the boys at her house instead, after witnessing Sophie's halfhearted pout about missing out on earning a watering can badge tonight. One look at her face, however, clearly showed that—after having my kids for three hours this afternoon—babysitting tonight was not on her agenda of exciting Wednesday evening activities. I let her off the hook and sent her on her merry way. My options were pretty limited. I was going to be stuck at home with a sick kid.
So here I sit. In my pajamas. Eating ice cream straight from the carton. Getting ready to watch the presidential debate.
Poor, poor Nicholas. Victim to his own mother's selfish desires.
Do I feel guilty? Somewhat.
Am I sad about missing Girl Scouts tonight? Hell to the no.
2 comments:
Sometimes the universe does hear the cries of the mothers. Sophie can still get her watering can badge I assume at a later date. Is she adjusting any better and making friends at the meetings? Hope your Mom doesn't get the sickness. Poor Nicholas.Hope he feels better. Strep is going on around here (LA). I left with a sinus infection but here in the NE the ocean air is clearing me out with the help of antibiotics. Now you can watch the debates.
Hilarious. Sometimes (especially this time of year) I pray for the universe to make it okay for me to not do the right thing, for a rain cloud to interfere with tee ball or a coughing, droopy-eyed kid to give me an excuse to skip a 3-year-old birthday party, or a power outage to give us all a respite from the crowded bleachers at gymnastics. How great that you can be grateful for those moments when those things actually do happen. I remember when Sam was little and a 103 fever would panic me. But a 103 fever and lots of sleeping now means mommy gets a break. :) Love the honesty in your post and I hope the little guy is feeling better soon.
Post a Comment