How Mom Does Sick

Of course I took my temperature when I got up, and while I noticed it was higher than usual, I didn't really register its difference; I just shrugged it off as another spell of middle of the night sleeplessness.

Saturday: swimming lessons.

"Monkey2, who do you want to swim with?"

"Mommy!"

"Monkey1, where are your goggles?"

Monkey1, now comfortably taking her swimming lesson without Mom or Dad in the pool, "a Mermaid in a class of Frogs" as she clarified to the instructor, jumps in the pool and cuts through the water like a knife. At the end of class, the instructor told my husband and I that she needs to move up to Salamanders. "We've got another Michael Phelps," she laughed, "I just can't keep up with her."

Meanwhile in Seahorses, Monkey2 will not get her face wet for anything, but she really enjoys the independence of the flotation barbells.

After picking out some flowering plants at the nursery, the Monkeys planted them with Dad in our backyard while I set up the Easter egg decorating. I had a kit of colored tablets and stickers. We dissolved the tablets in warm water and vinegar, adding the hard boiled eggs and rolling them around in the cups. Then we stuffed plastic eggs with Peeps (yellow marshmallow chicks) and stuck stickers all over the plastic eggs. These would be for the egg hunt. We took the hard boiled eggs out of the color cups and admired them.

Then I flopped on the sofa and the Monkeys commenced fighting over a toy, then fighting over me, so I dumped them off and went to bed. I slept for two hours. When I woke up I took my temperature. 100.0 Ugh. Then I remembered my morning temperature, the beginnings of a fever.

During my unconscious state, Dad had fed the Monkeys lunch, and now Monkey1 was looking for something to do, and suggesting places to go, and Monkey2 was having a temper tantrum. She turned three, and suddenly she has full blown, all out screaming, hitting, kicking, and biting rages, and she can bust 30 minutes. Dad got her to take a nap, while I got out a fashion origami book to entertain Monkey1. Monkey2 woke up too soon and had another tantrum. I went back to bed. Later Dad consulted me for ideas for supper. "Spaghetti," I groaned.

And at the end of the day, while Dad orchestrated teeth brushing, pajama finding, and book reading, I cut up some fabric for grass for the Monkeys' Easter baskets, put in a couple plastic eggs and a book each, and set out their Easter dresses and new shoes.

Swimming lessons, egg decorating, origami, Easter baskets, dresses, and shoes. I didn't load the dishwasher, but I did vacuum the living room and under the dining table. Yup, that's how Mom does being sick.