Thursday, January 27, 2011

Pepto and Pedialyte

I have had a very sick husband this week.

Which is very odd, considering my husband is never sick. As in never. Comparatively, he’s normally the king of good health  throwing perfect football spirals outside while I’m stuck inside with a tissue box and a bottle of Benadryl.

But this week, fate was not so kind to him. And while I have been spending my days navigating the normal ebbs and flows of the work/school week… he’s been navigating the path between the couch and the bathroom.

Lovely, I know.

As this week has shown a shift in all things normal and expected… I have found myself learning a few new things about this ill-fated husband of mine that I thought I would share:

::1:: Like any sick 3 yr-old child, He remains attached at the hip to his blanket (what we call “softie”).

::2:: Being sick to his stomach doesn’t seem to affect his usual insatiable desire for Oreos. However, his stomach doesn’t feel the same.

::3:: Just as I expected, he is ridiculously stubborn when it comes to taking medicine and keeping stocked up on fluids if I’m not there to force them down his throat… so much so that he almost got dehydrated (Thank the Lord for Pedialyte).

::4:: And lastly—and the most nauseating might I add—he actually semi-likes the taste of Pepto Bismol. Sick.

Yet, even in all these things… I think I love him even more. Maybe it was spending a very wonderful weekend with our friends and their daughter Aniston, but I found my maternal instincts kicking into overdrive this past week—and it felt really good to be needed in a new and different way. I think that is one of the most beautiful (and sometimes a little gross) things about marriage… the openness… the vulnerability. The fact that you really can’t hide anything and shouldn’t try… because cuddling up on the couch together with your blankie and bottle of pedialyte is far better than going it alone.

Thanks for needing me, this week, sweet husband—even when you’re stubborn and pretend you don’t need the medicine I’m forcing you to take. Thanks for being open and vulnerable and laughing with me even when you feel like you’re about to toss your cookies. And thanks for not throwing up on me. Yeah… definitely that one too.

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