Dayquil Was Right … Moms Can’t Take A Sick Day

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Sweet Potatoes, let me start by apologizing for barely blogging last week. It’s been hectic on my end. Igwe is currently out of the country, and the day he left was the day my body decided that it felt like having a cold. Like I mentioned in my last post, I was down with a cold.

This isn’t the first time Igwe has traveled and left me behind. Three years ago, he went to Nigeria twice, each time for exactly three months. It was hard, but I survived. This time, he’s not gone for as long, and I figured that since I won’t be alone anyway, this time will be easier. Well, yes, I was not alone, but it has not been easy.

All of last week, this cold limited me. My nose was so stuffy; I was breathing through my mouth and waking up to a dry throat and intense headaches. In addition to that, I was WEAK. I mean, it felt like my bones were melting and my joints were just going to give out and I’ll come tumbling down. The few times I had to go out, carrying Ada Verastic in her car seat up and down the steps felt like a near-death experience for me. All I wanted to do was stay in bed and let this thing run its course. But that was not an option for me.

Ada Verastic – who by the way was the person who gave me the cold – was oblivious to her mommy’s cold. She wanted what she wanted when she wanted it. Also, obviously as she’s growing up, her needs are changing, too. I remember when I’d be able to leave her on the couch and walk away, and she’d still be there when I got back. That is not the case anymore. I cannot leave her anywhere that’s elevated because she will fall. Because she’s a crawler now, she thinks she has arrived. She follows me everywhere. I can’t even have privacy in the bathroom. Do you know how distracting it is to empty your bowels while simultaneously doing the job of a bouncer? She wants to put her hands in the trash can and she wants to touch the toilet and she wants to pull down the metal shelf (I don’t know what it did to her).

Since Igwe has been gone, she has also become extra clingy. If she’s on the floor and I dare to be on the couch, she will crawl to the couch, stand by it (she stands now), and cry and tug at me until I pick her up to join me on the couch, While on the couch, she wants to stand on my belly or my breasts, and she wants to sit on my head, and she wants to test the sharpness of her two new mint teeth by attempting to bite my lips and nose off. And she gets pissed off when I don’t let her do it. She will stay on the couch with me and tuck herself somewhere by my side where she will stay until she’s ready to eat. Or until she decides to trample me again.

My living room currently looks like a tornado went through it. I’m tired of picking up after Ada Verastic because she’s determined to wear her Ada The Explorer hat, so I have let her be. As I type this right now (past 3:00 AM), I’m standing in the kitchen and I’m using my freezer as a desk, while Ada Verastic is sitting pretty on my back (and you don’t wanna know how long I have been typing this post). I can’t sit down because the boss wants me to stand while carrying her. I have picked my battles, and this one isn’t on the list. I let her win because I lost this battle before we started.

Anyway, the whole week, I have been defeated by the common cold. It wasn’t just a small defeat; I was beaten down. But all through it, I still had to be mom. I had to make myself available for everything Ada Verastic wanted to experience on me. I won’t lie, I cried. Just a little bit. It was out of exhaustion.

So, it was in my anguish that I remembered the Dayquil commercial that says moms can’t take a sick day. I used to think it was funny until I couldn’t take a sick day last week.  Unfortunately, I was too weak to go out and get some Dayquil, and the times I did go out, I forgot most of the things I went out for, so I suffered through it.

Oh. Ada Verastic is currently licking my bare back.

P.S. Although I desperately needed a break last week, I truly – ironically – enjoyed spending such intimate moments with Ada Verastic – not including my bathroom time though.

P.P.S. Because it’s past 3AM and my feet hurt and my eyes are tired and my back is wet from  saliva, I’m going to be posting this without editing. I apologize for any errors.