In Sickness and In Health

For those of you married you know those words all too well and you try hard to live them - although sometimes (at least for me) the "in sickness" part means quarantining Bill to the basement guest room to try to keep myself and the kids in the "in health" part. :-)

Now in all honesty I think these vows are even more applicable to when you become a parent. I talk to my friends and they all concur, when you become a mom there really isn't such a thing as a sick day. So you care for your kids regardless of the condition you are in. I guess a small price to pay for being a parent.

This weekend was a great example. I started feeling under the weather on Thursday night so started popping Zycam. Friday morning I awoke feeling worse and achy all over, but work was waiting and with it several important deadlines I needed to help my clients meet. I set off to the office with intentions of leaving after lunch. Well for me that amounted to 5:30. Do you already see where this is going? And when I finally arrived home I was staring at a jam packed weekend from start to finish complete with house guests (mom, dad and Aunt Marg).

Friday night: Check in and practice runs for Ryan's annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. What we thought would be a quick check in and practice run turned into over an hour of fiddling and tweaking his car to try to get it under .35. It was to no avail -- we had wobbly wheels this year so we left with hopes of a miracle on Saturday.

Saturday: Ryan's race started at 11 so we were off by about 10:45. I woke up and actually felt better and was actually dumb enough to laugh in the face of this illness attempting to invade my body. I continued to pop Zycam thinking smartly "take that you illness bug." Oh how could I be so foolish?? (Bill was faring worse. He woke up looking and sounding horrible. I told him to call in sick to work, put him back to bed and told him not to leave our room -- he didn't protest.) Ryan raced and consistently came in third in every heat but one. He took it in stride but he and grandpa are already plotting for next year. Then it was off to Target to buy a birthday present for Ryan's friend, home for a quick lunch and then off to drop Ryan at his party. Dad went to the boat show and the girls headed out on errands. I was determined to make a good dinner complete with pumpkin pie so we ventured to the new Super Target in Maple Grove (gosh I LOVE those stores). We enjoyed a great dinner and pie, caught the ladies figure skating championships on TV (live from our own Excel Center) and then it was off to bed.

Sunday: I awoke with a scratchy throat and the feeling like something was sitting on my chest. A quick check and I discovered there was nothing there. Ugh - so much for Zycam. Bill woke back to the land of the living and declared himself "much better." Plans had been to head to Twins Fest with the kids and we both felt like we couldn't disappoint so we headed downtown to the Metrodome. After about two hours I warned Bill he could be carrying me to the car if we didn't leave. It worked and we left. One thrown together dinner and five loads of laundry later I collapsed into bed feeling like I was hit by a truck. Bill was faring worse - he was sure two had hit him. So much for feeling "better."

And so it goes, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health - marriages and parenting -- the vows are pretty darn similar.