Sick Little Girl

Okay, I'm not a little girl but I am sick today.  I had to leave work early due to a bout of some nasty stomach stuff I had going on.  Not a fun morning, to say the least.

I'm not one to say that I want my mommy when I'm sick; I'd really rather be left alone. Which was what she did.  I would lay on the couch in the Family Room downstairs, and she would sit in her spot on the couch in the Living Room upstairs; she could see me from there if she stood up.  She would come down to check on me from time to time, and to offer tea or toast.  When my dad called during the day, she would tell him that I was sick and he would come home with something - a small toy, a book, something he knew would cheer me up.  One time he brought home a red lamp because he knew it was my favorite color and I wanted a red room - since my entire room couldn't be red, this was his compromise.

When I was in college, I can remember wishing I was home at least once when I was sick. Well, I say "sick" but it was probably more like "insanely hung over from too many free drinks at the bar without a valid ID the night before".  I can remember laying in my dorm room, wishing she was there because I was just so miserably sick.  I wanted her to make me toast, and chicken noodle soup from the red box with an egg in it.  I wanted the comfort that she gave me, albeit not that great in the grand scheme of things.

My mom would sit outside the bathroom door when I got sick, she would offer a cold rag for my forehead when I emerged.  To this day, I hate it when someone comes into the bathroom with me when I throw up; if someone joins me, I won't shoo them away but it is uncomfortable for me. It's something I've had to adjust to,  now that I live with my boyfriend.  My mom wasn't very 'hands-on'.  It's funny because now that I'm a mom, and my daughter has been sick a few times, I can't imagine her ever being the woman that sat on the couch with a sick toddler sleeping on her chest. That just wasn't my mom.  She didn't hold me when I cried as a tween or teenager (God, the term "tween" didn't exist when I was one), she only started telling me that she loved me once she got older...I think it started after one of her heart attacks or surgeries.  She just wasn't the Suzi Homemaker mom. She did make a great chocolate chip cookie, though.  :)