You wake up to a melody of coughs, stoically head upstairs where you can barely open the door for the wadded up piles of tissues or if you are cheap like me you don’t actually own tissues you just wad up toilet paper which though effective has none of the loving caress of aloe or quilted squares, but I digress, yes you are battling your way through to the sight of your child eyes red rimmed and glazed, leaking nose, and body racked by coughs.  You will yourself to first feel pity but you don’t.  Your first thought is how is this going to effect my schedule and me and how much is it going to cost me. 

The thing is as you were looking at your calendar the night before you thought you could not fit another thing into your day.  You thought if you moved quickly and efficiently you might actually “catch up”.  Perhaps one day we humans will realize that there is no actual catching up.  Like a rat running on it’s steel circle the list of things to do just goes on and on until you die and then of course there’s the funeral to plan.

You thought that your plans were immutable; unchangeable no way you could fit another thing in or afford a glitch.  Wrong.  Sick day is big time glitch.  Your plans all the sudden ARE changeable and you find yourself calling employers, schools, doctors, rushing off to get crackers, prescriptions, books to read, ginger ale to sip.  All things not on your to do list.  And this I say to you: Surrender to sick day. Tuck your to-do list under a pillow, cook a nourishing meal, get out the checkbook, and lounge in bed reading to your baby.  If they are older then probably go ahead and skip the lounging and reading to them but at least don’t blame them for the one o’clock doctors appointment right smack in the middle of the day.  They will appreciate your kindness and hey I even got thanks when I brought home a seven-dollar smoothie to ease his sore throat.  The smoothie cost seven bucks and I thought I might whip out my insurance card and make a crack about my co-pay but then….finally…. I had the thought I should have had when I saw him lying miserably in bed this morning.  I thought, anything for my child even if it means tossing aside my to do list and breaking the bank all in one feel swoop.  See, I usually do the right thing….eventually.