Things that are obvious to more experienced parents...
I am in the process of getting over what I have dubbed "DeathCold '12" since "common cold" does not describe the agony of this particular virus. Maybe flying all around and taking part in a wedding made it much worse, but Mashashi actually had to carry me up the stairs last night since walking up them was simply not an option. It sucked.
But the thing is, if you are sick and you have a baby, you cannot just crawl under the covers for eternity or until you feel better. Hubby will do all he can to help, but eventually he must go to work, and Baby still needs to eat, bathe, be changed and be kept busy so he doesn't start building a doomsday weapon to destroy the world. And even if Hubby is home, if Baby decides it's Mommy that he wants, he damn well better get Mommy or that doomsday weapon is coming out of mothballs fast.
It's interesting looking back on my childhood, because I remember thinking that when you were a "grown-up" you didn't get colds anymore. My parents seemed pretty immune to it. Now I realize that OF COURSE they got sick. They just had to suck it up and pack my lunch and take me to horseback riding and scare away the monster under my bed (who was named Captain Jerk and was only frightened if you shook a can of pennies at him to the tune of Jingle Bells - I was a very strange child).
I don't think that children should have to thank their parents for everything they do - adults choose to have children and they know sacrifices are involved and it's not an enterprise where you should necessarily expect a return on your investment. But if my parents had to deal with my 3am craving for apple juice while feeling like a slime-thing with claws was using their lungs as a stressball, I definitely owe them one.
But the thing is, if you are sick and you have a baby, you cannot just crawl under the covers for eternity or until you feel better. Hubby will do all he can to help, but eventually he must go to work, and Baby still needs to eat, bathe, be changed and be kept busy so he doesn't start building a doomsday weapon to destroy the world. And even if Hubby is home, if Baby decides it's Mommy that he wants, he damn well better get Mommy or that doomsday weapon is coming out of mothballs fast.
It's interesting looking back on my childhood, because I remember thinking that when you were a "grown-up" you didn't get colds anymore. My parents seemed pretty immune to it. Now I realize that OF COURSE they got sick. They just had to suck it up and pack my lunch and take me to horseback riding and scare away the monster under my bed (who was named Captain Jerk and was only frightened if you shook a can of pennies at him to the tune of Jingle Bells - I was a very strange child).
I don't think that children should have to thank their parents for everything they do - adults choose to have children and they know sacrifices are involved and it's not an enterprise where you should necessarily expect a return on your investment. But if my parents had to deal with my 3am craving for apple juice while feeling like a slime-thing with claws was using their lungs as a stressball, I definitely owe them one.
