What to do when a real mother doesn’t feel good? I woke up today kind of queasy, with a headache that felt like Gene Krupa was performing a drum solo behind my left eyebrow . I thought for a moment – if I didn’t have 3 kids, a house to run and a job to do, would I just lay here and go back to sleep? You bet! And then, I got out of bed.
It’s an old and weary song – the “Mother’s can’t get sick” tune. But, it’s true. And not because we couldn’t find a way to have the kids taken care of or call in sick to work, but because recovering from the aftermath of a day or two in bed is so much worse than just toughing it out – no matter how bad we feel. It’s like coming home from a vacation with 300 emails (this is why I take my computer on vacation) and 3 stacks of mail (can’t avoid this.) It begs the question, is it worth it?
So subsequently, unless we are actually bleeding or unconscious, most of us will roll our sick butts out of bed and just shuffle through the day making phone calls, driving to appts… and getting things done. And I have come to believe that this actually speeds the healing process. I have tested it both ways. A day in bed leaves me feeling better, but a day out on the road doing what I do, leaves me feeling better also.
Maybe mother’s have figured out a secret to health? Just keep on keeping on. Get out of that bed and face the day. Either way, you feel better eventually.