My Real Life

Today’s question comes from reader, Heather.

She asks:

Injury or illness ?
I believe we all as moms handle one better than the other….for me, its injury. With the exception of major stuff (which we’ve mostly avoided so far–notice I said mostly) I find injuries to be much more concrete (no pun intended) and much more easily dealt with than illness. Skylar once decided to turn on a halogen desk lamp and proceeded to put her 21 month old finger on the lens til she got a 2nd degree burn. Not fun, but I knew what to do. Illness in my house means incessant whining, tissues all over the house, and battles over nose blowing etc. Not my cup of tea. And you?

Injury.

I am a phenom in an emergency situation.

I immediately become the calmest person in the room and just kind of switch into soothing action mode.

I don’t know where I learned that, as neither of my parents are particularly good in an emergency.

(Sorry guys, but you know I’m right.)

I’m pretty lucky, because the monkeys are rarely sick, and when they are sick, a little medicine perks them right up and they are fast healers.

I can say that when any of them vomits (which is less often than once a year, which is VERY lucky) it’s just like the scene from Stand By Me…Barf-o-Rama.

I hack and gag my way through the whole thing, but like I said, the monkeys are rarely sick.

So, I don’t have to really test myself.

However, if I’m completely honest, (and if he was completely honest, which I think he would be if you asked him), I’m a terrible, terrible nurse when Real Man is sick.

Because, if he’s sick, half of the team is down for the count, and we need all hands on deck around here.

So, I’m appropriately sympathetic for the first day, but by day two, I can be heard saying things like, “Maybe it’s time to call the doctor,” and “Did you take anything for that?” or “Wow, you’ve been sick for awhile…maybe you’d feel better if you got up and did something.”

It’s not pretty.

I think I might be missing the sick husband sympathy gene, and I feel badly for that because he’s just an awesome man and can’t help it if he gets sick.

(He is the only one of us who never gets a flu shot, but I won’t go there right now.)

So, injury is my area of strength.  Illness…not so much.