Hello! I’m here! Hello!
I cannot believe I just lost nearly a month of my life to…whatever that was. Simone is better, though she still has a bit more nasal effluvia than is customary and the occasional cough. In the process of getting better she passed through a stage of Night Coughing violent enough to result in v-o-m-i-t (LAMBADA, as it is known here). Sometimes once a night, sometimes—if I’d heaved myself up, stripped the bed, and placed new sheets upon it—twice. Once in my hair, which was lovely.
The LAMBADA has ended, but the aftermath remains. Moments ago, just before I decided I’d better write something to reassure you of my continued existence, I was Googling methods of cleaning comforters, pillows, and mattresses. Our mattress very nearly made it through unscathed, because I am fanatical about waterproof mattress protectors, but Simone waited. She waited, biding her time until all our resources had been exhausted and then she struck.
In the course of Simone’s illness, I got ill—and progressed through the customary stages of sore throat, runny nose, congestion, cough, and renewed health/joie de vivre—TWICE. Two full runs of sickness, and for a while after the second one got underway I honestly thought it was going to be like a snake eating its tail and Simone and I would keep passing whatever-it-was back and forth and we would never be well again.
(I WANT MY MAY BACK.)
Anyhow, it’s over, and Simone has been dropped off to spend the week with her grandparents. She’s been there for more than 24 hours, now, and has yet to ask after us. Scott and I are trying not to feel rejected. The cats are delirious with joy at the SPAWNLESS state of the household. There is much laundry still to be done but I will be back to write more tomorrow (and again and again afterwards, for June, since May was unfairly stolen from me). I leave for New York Tuesday and yesterday I tried to buy jeans, which is a whole post in and of itself. (FOUR HOURS OF SHOPPING. AND DO I HAVE JEANS TO SHOW FOR IT? NO. NO I DO NOT.) (I do, however, have a dreadfully painful case of Shopper’s Elbow.)
I will leave you with the cell phone photo I received this afternoon, of Simone wearing new sunglasses, courtesy of her great grandmother. And missing us, as you can see, something terrible:
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh it is good to see that you are relatively normal again; i had begun to wonder if the flu fairies were ever going to depart your neck of the woods. I hate it when they forget to breathe.
Sad to see how bereft Simone is at Gma’s without you all; nice of her to smile for the camera despite her evident grief!
May the laundry goddess smile on you….
Wow, a whole week off! I’ve never had that. I hope you both have a great time.
Buying jeans post children is agonising, isn’t it? In my case the eventual saviour was Gap, rather to my surprise.
Holy shit! One whole week. Do it up woman!!
Late last night… I was musing that now Harry’s wretched 24-hrs-previous night of MUCH LAMBADA had blasted away all the lingering mucus from his perma-virus, perhaps tomorrow night might be the night John’s parents have been talking about for ages now: the night when Harry Goes To Sleep Over.
Harry evidently has ESP, because within minutes there was LOTS MORE LAMBADA.
Sigh.
Enjoy your week, dear. Enjoy it a little bit for me, too!
Once, when my son was 2, I woke up because he had puked. On my face.
I have to vote that you try to forgive her, because sometimes the lambada happens to me, because I have allergies, and post nasal drip causes me to awaken, cough, and vomit, and hopefully I make it out of the bedroom. Alas, I feel for Simone. And you of course, but I feel worse for your ungrateful spawn. Sorry about the pants. I’ve gone back to Jazzercise for similar reasons and each time I remember you and your knee and Jillian Michaels. Ow.
Glad you’re back and everyone is feeling better. Well thought out ruminations on this blogging stuff. Aren’t we humans intersting/funny? We seem to be continually looking for the why and what’s it for in everything, myself included. Thought today about starting to write daily again and then realized–oh wait…the photos I put up on Flickr with the comments ARE my latest form of writing.
One of the most helpful shared pieces of advice I ever received was the idea of a sheet lasagna. When a child is sick, their bed becomes a lasagna made with alternating layers of mattress pad, sheet, another mattress pad, sheet, and another mattress pad and sheet. When they get sick, you strip off the top layer, and there is another layer, all clean and ready to go, without the terrible middle of the night search for sheets and making of the bed. And now I pass it on to you!