Fatherhood Friday
I learned a tough but enlightening lesson in daddyhood these past two weeks: when it comes to being sick, there's no sympathy for daddy.
About two weeks ago my nine-month old got an ear infection. About a week later my six year old got strep throat. I felt unusually lucky as I had been spending a lot of up close time with both of them, even when they were feeling lousy, but I felt just fine. Until, that is, their illnesses passed.
Soon after, I started getting chills and a sore throat. Now, I've had my share of illnesses, some serious, most not. And I knew that this wasn't exactly pneumonia coming on. But at the same time I felt semi-miserable. No matter what I did I couldn't get warm, and my throat continued to feel irritated.
And here's the thing: Absolutely nobody cared. Well, that's not to say they didn't care at all. But once it became clear this was nothing too debilitating it was clear I was on my own. I'd make my own chicken soup, I'd get my own extra blanket and if anyone was going to feel bad for me it was going to have to be me.
This was the first time I had gotten sick since kid number two came around, and eventually it hit me. Sympathy was a commodity that has gone up in value as we had more people who would need it at times and less availability to give it out as life has simply gotten more complicated. This isn't to say that we're not caring about one another and sensitive to the needs of all the people in our house. It is to say that the threshold has changed.
And when this point hit me I decided to join the others in the house and stop having sympathy for myself. While the chills and sore throat were still there (though already getting better) I got off my tush and said enough with being sick, time to go on with everyday life.
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