Feb 16, 2011

It's my turn

My household has been sick for what seems like an eternity and just one week ago today we were bracing for more ice and snow.  Isn't it weird that it will be 74 degrees today?  No wonder we are all sick.  WAIT - I didn't mean *we* because I haven't gotten sick yet and I'm crossing my fingers that I don't.  But if I do I'm going to milk it so hard after what I've been through!

My husband has not EVER been sick since we've been together.  It sounds funny I know.  But, honestly with the exception of a minor sore throat or a little diarrhea, he honestly has not been sick.  I've never even seen him throw up! I say it's because he's got MAJOR OCD about germs.  He doesn't even put his toothbrush in the same toothbrush holder where my toothbrush is for fear that a germ may jump from mine to his. Plus, we all have to have different shelves in the refrigerator to house our opened soda cans or water bottles that we haven't finished because he doesn't want to accidentally put his mouth where someone else's has been!

But alas, he's succumbed to flu and now he's sick.  And, I mean *really* sick.  He has been in the bed for four days coughing, moaning, groaning and blowing his nose.  I have brought him his breakfast, lunch and dinner to our bed for four days.  I have washed every towel once it hits the bathroom floor for four days.  I've done the dishes two times a day for four days.  I've taken the garbage out twice a day for four days.  I've rubbed his back for four days.

I'm fucking exhausted!

I cried the first night into it because I knew it was going to be hell on me.  Also, I was a little scared.  I mean, I've never seen him look the way he did.  He was shaking all over the place.  Drooling and babbling words that were totally incomprehensible. He was all pale and had no strength whatsoever.  I even had to get him in and out of the tub. For. Four. Days.

It's not my fault that he spoils me OR, that he has OCD so bad that he has to at least do two loads of laundry per day and put the dishes in the dishwasher the minute they hit the sink.  This kind of stuff really bothers him to the core of his being.  I thought he would totally ignore it and not worry about it so much being that he looked like shit and probably felt a lot worse than he looked.  At first, I was all gung-ho about covering his duties.  But dude, yesterday I was all:

"listen, the dishes aren't going anywhere and we have seventy thousand towels so there's no need to really wash all that often, right?  Would you mind if I just took a break from all this work and maybe cleaned up say, tomorrow?"

I thought he was going to have a massive coronary.  I could see in his eyes that he was trying to find out some way to muster up the strength to do it himself.  He was in the center of an anxiety attack when he whispered "pleeeeeeaase".

FINE DAMN IT!!  I'll do laundry!

So, with a loving smile on my face and not one SINGLE complaint I have kept up the household.  Laundry, dishes, cooking, homework, baths, games with the boys, cleaning, mopping, sweeping, ironing - and let me tell you what, I don't iron.  If I can put it in the dryer with a damp bath cloth and it comes out less wrinkled than it was when I threw it in there - that's good enough for me.  But I sucked it up and did it for him.  He even irons our boys jeans and t-shirts.  They're in grade school for God's sake!!!  I ironed 7 shirts and 4 pairs of pants for him (not 7 because he only has 4 that he likes so you can guess what he does - HE WASHES THEM OVER AND OVER AND OVER).  I ironed 5 shirts for Birdie and 5 shirts for Weezer (my boys).  Then I ironed 10 pairs of jeans for them.  I was so proud of myself and really felt great that I was able to step up and help hubby out.  And guess what?  I didn't iron a SINGLE thing for myself.  Today when I was ready to get dressed I threw my clothes in the dryer with a damp cloth and a dryer sheet because, that's how I roll!

Today, Hubs went back to work.  Would it be really evil if I went home sick today and laid in the bed for four days just to watch him wait on me hand and foot?

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