Just when I thought we were recuperating nicely, Michael has fallen ill. I like that phrase "fallen ill." He never gets sick. Never. So he calls me at 1:45 and says "I have a headache, come get me."
He is now asleep in his room. He says his body hurts. He either has my bronchitis or Alesia's flu. This doesn't bode well.
Since the only productive thing I've done all day is take Mother to get her hair cut, I thought I'd entertain you with a few stories.
When I was a kid getting sick was not bad. Being sick meant I could lie on the sofa and watch TV all day, something normally not allowed. Well, not all day anyway. I watched it every chance I could get, though.
Now you know why I am so averse to TV. I am a recovering TVaholic.**
Once I became a teen, Mom used to pull me out of school for various reasons, usually related to going on trips. Absenteeism was not a big concern of hers because I could make good grades regardless of how much I missed. Once I got to skip an entire day to go pick out fixtures for a new house we were building. Dad gave her 1 day to pick out every fixture and cabinet for the entire house, a daunting task even to someone as decisive as Mom.
I hate for my kids to miss school, because it's such a challenge for them already. I just took a call from Alesia saying she has to stay after school several days this week because of missing 1 1/2 days last week. She is lost in Algebra now.
When my mom was a kid she hated school, and used to routinely skip every Monday. She still made good grades, and her parents didn't care if she went or not. I have asked her not to tell that to my kids. Granny was a wild young 'un. Let's not discuss it.
Once when I was a kid everyone in the family got sick, right around Christmas. It was surreal.
I worked for an attorney years ago who told me for every day I stayed home sick I had to make up all the time. She really wanted me to stay until 9 or 10 each night, and was irritated when I didn't comply with that. She was a Workaholic. She called me when I was sick to tell me all the work I was missing and warn me I was going to lose my job. She called me on vacation to berate me for her files being out of order - and she was the one who always messed them up, not me. She called me one morning at 5 a.m. to tell me she wasn't flying down to South Georgia because there was a storm and it wasn't safe. I pointed out that I couldn't call the travel agency at that hour and she got mad. She had me so paranoid I went to work sick as a dog numerous times. One time I made another attorney in the firm mad because I was so sick and he started yelling at me that I was going to get everyone else sick and I started crying.
Good times.
I quit smoking because of bronchitis. I got it all the time when I smoked. I finally got it so bad that I went thru 3 rounds of antibiotics and it hung on, me coughing my lungs out all the time. Then it got where every time I took a drag off the cigarette I started coughing and wet my pants. I remember sitting there on a towel thinking, I have to either give up the cigs or start wearing Depends. It was a real come to Jesus moment.
Then I became addicted to Juicy Fruit gum. That's another story.
** Here's how I knew I was a TVaholic. I dropped out of the Knoxville Choral Society because the rehearsal schedule conflicted with Murphy Brown. I would also refuse to answer the phone during Chicago Hope or Friends. If Seinfeld was pre-empted due to a presidential speech or something I was seriously irritated. I started forcing myself to cut down. I started reading a lot more. I started writing on the computer a lot more. I cut down gradually and finally weaned myself.
I went to Publix today after picking up Alesia from school. I grabbed a bottle of Nyquil thinking I need some help with my coughing at night. Alesia noticed it and asked me why I bought it and I told her. Skip ahead, and we're sitting at the dinner table.
Alesia: "Can I have some of your Nyquil Mom?"
Me: "Why?"
Alesia: "I need to go to bed early. I want it to knock me out."
Michael: "You don't need to take that stuff. I'll knock you out!"
Spoken like a true little brother. LOL
