Sick, But I’m In Good Hands
March 4, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Charlisms, Health, Parenting
I have a caught a mighty cold, complete with laryngitis, and two things have been on my mind: I hope that Charlie does not get this (Jim already has a milder version), and how can I pull together enough energy to take care of Charlie after he gets home from school?
Jim spent all Saturday with Charlie and most of Sunday, with the two of them having a fine dinner in a diner a few towns over, while I stayed home drinking cup after cup of tea and lying on the couch. In the past, Charlie has been understandably puzzled when we’ve been sick; indeed, the sound of us coughing or blowing our noses used to make him very upset (when we lived in our old house I used to run down to the basement to sneeze). As I went through a pile of Kleenex today, Charlie’s main response was to make noises that vaguely mimicked mine and (glancing my way) to send me a knowing smile. We did make it to the grocery store and, to the surprise of the clerk who asked if I needed a shopping cart to carry out the bags, Charlie took hold of three good-sized ones and walked easily with them to the car. He’s seem mostly perplexed by the absence of my voice: Charlie may not be the most verbal of children, but he likes to hear speech and talk back as much as anyone (and why not?).
Most of all I feel grateful that Charlie is able to be so flexible and to adapt not only to changed surroundings, but to familiar people acting in unfamiliar ways. Being sick does make me worry about what might happen in the future when I’m much older and not able to do as much for Charlie as I once could. And then, days like the past few remind me about how much Charlie can do and about how he learns to do more each day.
Including, taking care of me.
Jeff Stimpson
Jill Cornfield
Hope you feel better soon.
It’s good to hear your big, strong son is lending a helping hand.
You are in good hands!!
Hope you feel better soon.
Feel better… It’s great to hear how flexible Charlie can be. Gives me hope.
You poor thing! So many of us are sick with the cold/flu. Thank goodness our boys have grown up a bit and can let mom recuperate. Hope you feel better today!
So sorry to hear you are unwell. But thrilled to hear how Charlie is not only coping but pitching in in his own ways to help take care of his loving mother.
It is contagious for your son to help you; contagious not in the sense of him catching your cold but contageous with Charlie liking the idea of helping and wanting to do it more. It is therapeutic for the roles to reverse. When the usuual recipient of help gets to be the helper it is empowering.
At times I would feign illness or weakness in order to let the children be the hero. Therapeutic for both parties!
I’m struck by how Charlie shows how much he loves you. Glad your big strong boy can help you out. Feel better soon!
Our schools were closed for 2 days due to illness! It’s everywhere! Talk about an epidemic - that’s a REAL epidemic. Hope you feel better soon. Charlie is so sweet.
feel better. we have another round of stuff going around here. it was 75 here on Sunday and today we have a snow day! grrrrrrrr.
Oh no! I hope you are feeling better real soon! Sounds like Charlie knows how to take care of his mom! So cute. Things have become easier when I am sick. M will surround me with stuffed animals. Very sweet. I hope today is restful for you.
Hope your feeling better already!!
Kristina,
Take care, I hope you feel better soon.
We just had the flu whirl through here and after caring for everyone, I came down with it–hard.
Eleanor has been a trump, bringing tissues and saying “bless you”. I asked her to check my forehead and she gave a grin because that’s what I was doing for her the week before.
The upside to being sick is that’s when we talk about what being sick looks like, that that’s the word for the feeling, and what you do. It doesn’t work nearly as well in a picture or when everyone is feeling tip-top.
Again, take care.
Thanks so much to everyone—–I’m usually able to drag myself through a cold, but this time I’ve had to take the past two days off from work (which involves full-time talking) and hope I can make it in tomorrow. Charlie’s been imitating my coughing…… His teacher has been out and a speech therapist friend who works at a different school in the district was sick for a whole week—I’m wondering if I caught it when I went for Charlie’s cello lesson last week (sadly, had to cancel that this week). That’s so sweet about Eleanor! Glad she is better and take care.
Off to make some more tea.
Well, I hope you’re getting better. Not exactly fun stuff, indeed.
Personally, though, I have to admit to having had very little in the way of winter illnesses. I’d guess that will change, though.
Cliff