I couldn't be left out, could I? Friday morning I woke up feeling crap. Gee, thanks darling, just what I always wanted. At least I didn't get the sore throat - where each time he coughed he looked like he was swallowing razor blades. (I took him to the doctors on Thursday, and he's been on antibiotics.) But I've gone through the aches, the headache, the shivers (though not as bad) the cottonwool head, the nose running like a tap; I sneezed about a hundred times yesterday, and then to add insult to injury, woke up this morning with period cramps. Happy days. Ah, it could be worse, but I've felt better.


You'd think with both parents down and just about out, our lovely girls, being the age they are now, would shine through and take control. *Cough, cough, cough*. God, getting them to help is like pulling teeth. And when you're feeling like death warmed up it's not really the optimum time to suddenly do something about the fact that somewhere along the line you haven't managed to teach your kids how to .. maybe.. cook a meal.. and clean up? All those times I've tried to get Cait to learn how to make spaghetti bol, but she would grumble and moan, and rather be on the computer thanks very much. Friday night it would have been really nice if she could have stepped in and made dinner - but she doesn't bloody know how! Oh, they did do stuff, but had to be led through every little bit of it - not what you feel like doing when you're crook. They even fought over who was doing what bit of the salad, for heaven's sakes. Just for once, given that we both were patently unwell, wouldn't it have been nice if they'd just stepped up - told us to just sit there - and done what needed to be done?

Eldest, just now, has asked if she could make a cake. I said 'as long as you wash up after yourself' (something my kids seem to always get out of), and then I did express my disappointment that they didn't come to the fore when both Dad and I were crook. That worked well. She's decided to go 'hang' in her room instead - presumably to seeth over the injustices of the world, and a mother who doesn't think that the little she did do under duress was as magnificent as she apparently thought it was.

I can see I am going to have to do 'something' to redress these obvious inadequacies in my parenting skills. Something like each of them being responsible for a meal once a week?

Meantime, at least come Saturday, the rain stayed away, and the sun had the oomph to shine through. Today was perfect weather.. Beautiful blue, blue sky at last. We'd already pulled out of the 100 mile bike ride when I realised Marc really was sick. (They postponed it anyway, partly because of anxieties that the showers would still be around- despite Marc insisting that it would be fine by today - gotta hate it when he's always right.) I've lost count of the number of washing loads I've put through the machine and pegged on the line yesterday and today, but at least I've pretty much caught up with it all. A silver lining through the flu cloud at least.

Labels: daily, parenting, sick, weather