Suffer the Children
I have to admit that one of the things about having a child that I was not looking forward to was their propensity to bring fun new illnesses into the house. We've actually been quite lucky in that regard. Maybe it's because she isn't in day care with other sick kids, maybe it's because she was breast-fed for much of her first year, maybe it's compensation for her terrible eczema and teething, maybe it's just simple luck--but, knock on wood, Mädchen has been an exceptionally healthy child.
Last weekend, however, she came down with a bad cold when we were in New York. The beauty of having a small child with a cold is that while you want to cuddle with them and do anything you can to help them feel better, they haven't figured out the whole cover-your-mouth thing, so you end up with a steady dose of wet coughs and sneezes right in your face.
You can probably imagine where this is going. Last Wednesday I was at work and started to feel a tell-tale tickle in my throat. By that night it hurt so bad I could barely sleep. Now, a week later, I still have a sore throat, have completely lost my voice, am coughing up copious amounts of God-knows-what (which Gretchen finds incredibly attractive, especially when combined with my croaking voice...I make Yoda sound sexy by comparison), and have had to miss a day-and-a-half of work (which I rarely do). I finally broke down and went to the doctor yesterday, and she said it's just a really bad cold, and that this season's colds seem to be worse than usual (when I said I usually don't have a cold for this long, she said she's been seeing people feeling sick for two weeks--great!). The best thing is, tomorrow afternoon I have to board a plane (always fun when your sinuses feel like someone has rammed two fistfuls of cotton balls up your nostrils) for a couple of days of meetings in Mexico City--hopefully by then I'll get my voice back.
In retrospect, I can't believe what a trooper Mädchen was with us dragging her around Manhattan if she was feeling like this. I should probably also count my blessings that it's only a bad cold and not the flu that's going around. And Gretchen has been spared so far, although she had a bad cold a few weeks ago ('tis the season, evidently). So thank you, Mädchen, for the gift that just keeps on giving--and let's keep working on covering your mouth for the next time around...
Last weekend, however, she came down with a bad cold when we were in New York. The beauty of having a small child with a cold is that while you want to cuddle with them and do anything you can to help them feel better, they haven't figured out the whole cover-your-mouth thing, so you end up with a steady dose of wet coughs and sneezes right in your face.
You can probably imagine where this is going. Last Wednesday I was at work and started to feel a tell-tale tickle in my throat. By that night it hurt so bad I could barely sleep. Now, a week later, I still have a sore throat, have completely lost my voice, am coughing up copious amounts of God-knows-what (which Gretchen finds incredibly attractive, especially when combined with my croaking voice...I make Yoda sound sexy by comparison), and have had to miss a day-and-a-half of work (which I rarely do). I finally broke down and went to the doctor yesterday, and she said it's just a really bad cold, and that this season's colds seem to be worse than usual (when I said I usually don't have a cold for this long, she said she's been seeing people feeling sick for two weeks--great!). The best thing is, tomorrow afternoon I have to board a plane (always fun when your sinuses feel like someone has rammed two fistfuls of cotton balls up your nostrils) for a couple of days of meetings in Mexico City--hopefully by then I'll get my voice back.
In retrospect, I can't believe what a trooper Mädchen was with us dragging her around Manhattan if she was feeling like this. I should probably also count my blessings that it's only a bad cold and not the flu that's going around. And Gretchen has been spared so far, although she had a bad cold a few weeks ago ('tis the season, evidently). So thank you, Mädchen, for the gift that just keeps on giving--and let's keep working on covering your mouth for the next time around...
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