Role Reversal

Last night I tossed and turned and never could quite settle. As a family we had already agreed last night that we would not attend church in the morning. Knowing this ahead of time meant that I could allow my body to sleep in and then we could all make the most of the day at home. I suppose God was not real happy with my plans as I spent the entire night and well into the next afternoon writhing in nausea. I wasn't surprised as I had just finished nursing my daughter back to health after her 12 hour battle with a bug on Friday.

When I could hear that the family was awake I opened my door just enough to peek through and immediately my daughter whipped her head around in my direction. I hooked my finger back towards me signaling for her to come hither. One look at me and she asked, "Are you sick?" I'm not sure if it was the two day old mascara smears, the oily hair, or the palid and pained expression on my hangdog face that gave it away. For some reason I wanted her to stay in bed with me but she quickly edged over until she was way on the other side of the bed and then out the door telling me she did NOT want to get sick. But, before she left, she asked if there was anything she could get for me. I explained to her where to find the Emetrol (nausea medicine that if you have not tried it I highly recommend doing so...and then stocking up in bulk---safe for kids and grownups...even safe while breastfeeding...that's when I was first introduced to it....funny how nausea and kids go hand in hand...hmmmmmm.....). She came back and poured me my dose and then kept checking on me. I fell back asleep some time after 7:30 or 8:00 this morning and did not wake until 11:30! I sort of kind of felt a little bit better but I did not want to chance it so I just laid there talking to my dog who was licking herself. When I finally got up enough gumption to roll over I noticed there was a bottle of Sprite on my nightstand--it had a note wrapped around it. Immediately I felt better! That little mini-mama of mine left me a note saying that "Dear Mom, Here is this if you need it! I hope that you feel better!" It went on to say that she and her brother were outside exploring.

You know, there are times when your kids irritate the hell out of you, and then there are times, like these, when you realize that all of the times you did what you had to do--because you were the mom--really did make a difference. It is such an incredible feeling to have raised a child to the point where you can start to see them becoming their own person...and it is someone that you are proud of. The Sprite was one of the two bottles I bought for her when she was sick...I know she would have loved to have it as a treat today since we don't usually have sodas on hand. But, she sacrificed it because she knew that it would make me feel better...because she wanted to take care of me...because she loved me.