Mom Sick versus Normal Sick

A couple days ago, I got a really, really bad sore throat. It was all swollen, I couldn't swallow or breath without it hurting, and eating/drinking were pretty much impossible. I felt horrible and all I wanted to do was sit in bed eating ice cream while watching TV.

But I'm a mom, so I didn't.

Instead, I got Ashtyn, got her food, got food for me, changed a messy diaper and gave her a bath. She made a mess in the tub, so I cleaned that up and got us more food. Then I sat and watched her play until lunch, when I got more food, and then her nap.

During her nap, I did get ice cream and TV. Then it was time to figure out dinner and entertain Ashtyn some more until we went through her bedtime routine and got her in bed. Then I got to go to sleep early too.

It got me thinking about when we're kids and we get sick. We get pampered and do get to lie around, eating what we can and watching movies all day. Then we get older, in college, and we have to do other things like write papers that are due in an hour or go to class because you don't want to fall behind. But, you get to decide and prioritize and if you're really feeling horrible, you can just sit around and do nothing all day.

Then you have kids and that all changes. Because they need you. They need you late at night and in the early mornings, even if you're tired. They need you to get them food when they need it, even if you're pregnant and starving and will get sick if you don't eat in the next two minutes. They need you when you have a headache or a sore throat or a stomach bug. It doesn't matter if you're feeling better than you have in weeks or worse than you have in years, they still need you.

As they grow older, this tends to slow down. And they stop needing you as much for physical things, like waking up at night to rock them, and more for emotional things, like staying up till all hours of the night talking with them.

But I don't think they ever stop needing you, no matter how you're feeling.

The thing is, though, as a mom, you don't really mind, even when you're tired or sick, because you love that they need you.

And you need them too.