When my son was 13 days old, we had a bad day. He peed through his diaper at least 7 times (I think we needed to move up a size). I was exhausted. Ray was supposed to come home from work early, and I was eagerly awaiting some assistance. I heard his car in the garage, my spirits lifted. And then he walked in the door and said "I don't feel well, I'm going to lay down."
And then it hit me. I didn't feel well either, but for the next 18 years or so, I wouldn't be taking a sick day.
As a chronic headache sufferer, I'm used to soldiering on. Ray gets a headache, moans and groans and has to lay down, takes 2 Advil and feels better in half an hour. Puh-lease. If Advil fixes it, it doesn't even count as a headache in my book. He asked me once how I can keep doing everything when I have a headache. The answer seemed simple, when you have frequent headaches, you can't stop everything every time you get one, so you push through for as long as you can. When they get unbearable (and they do) you go to bed.
That's not to say that Ray doesn't try to give me some peace when I have a headache, but he isn't here that much. In 17 months I have once called my mom to come up and once asked that Ray come home early (which just happened to be doable that day) when my headache was at it's absolute worst. Mostly I just muddle through, because that's my only option. And a 17-month old doesn't understand that I need to rest. If I lay down, he just thinks I'm a jungle gym.
No more sick days for me.
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