{"id":699,"date":"2018-01-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.mabelslabels.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/18\/one-flu-over-the-cuckoos-nest\/"},"modified":"2020-12-15T19:11:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T19:11:50","slug":"one-flu-over-the-cuckoos-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mabelslabels.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/18\/one-flu-over-the-cuckoos-nest\/","title":{"rendered":"One \u2018Flu\u2019 Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Flu-Blues_1mb.jpg\"<\/p>\n

For my first five years of motherhood, I managed to avoid getting seriously sick. Sure, I got colds and coughs, but nothing I couldn\u2019t soldier through. Then, when my kids were ages two and five, I got the flu. The full-on, real-deal, knock-you-out flu. We\u2019re talking achiness, chills, fever, coughing, sneezing, headache, and congestion. If \u201csoaking several sets of pyjamas in my own sweat\u201d had been on my bucket list, I\u2019d have earned a big checkmark. Any effort to get up and do anything was completely flu<\/em>-tile.<\/p>\n

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It would have made a compelling commercial for the flu shot campaign: a close-up of grey-faced me, teeth chattering under three comforters, with a deep-voiced announcer intoning: \u201cThis mom didn\u2019t think she needed the flu shot. She. Was. Wrong. Don\u2019t end up like her. Get the flu shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although my case of the flu was straightforward, the real complication was that my husband was already down and out with pneumonia at the time.<\/p>\n

The two of us had never been simultaneously sick to this degree. The doctor advised him to stay home from work for a week. Our cars sat unused in the garage (no driving under the in-flu<\/em>-ence). We loosened our TV rules and let the kids watch plenty of movies, but it became clear that we needed reinforcements. My parents were out of the country at the time, but when my husband\u2019s parents heard of our predicament, they dropped everything and came to help. With them at the helm, all our worries flu<\/em> out the window.<\/p>\n

My father-in-law took my husband to the doctor, delivered our car to the mechanic, and brought in pizza from our favourite place. My mother-in-law swooped in like a superhero and saved the day. Three days, actually. While my husband coughed up a storm and I lay there in feverish con-flu<\/em>-sion, she took care of everything. She looked after our boys, cooked meals, cleaned the house, and did at least a dozen loads of laundry. She kept our toddler on his nap schedule and taught our kindergartener how to print lower case letters properly. Seriously, she deserved a red cape.<\/p>\n

Aside from the physical discomfort, the time in quarantine was hard on me emotionally. As a wife and mom, that\u2019s my purpose \u2013 to look after my guys. To be unable to do that was both frustrating and upsetting. I felt helpless when I heard my younger son at the bottom of the stairs calling, \u201cMom? Mom?\u201d I got teary-eyed when I overheard his big brother using the DVD remote to skip to a favourite movie scene, explaining to Grandma that \u201cthis is what Mom always does.\u201d I found myself eagerly anticipating the chance to get back to tasks that had previously seemed mundane \u2013 prepping their snacks, zipping their hoodies, picking up their toy cars and hockey cards.<\/p>\n

The experience taught me a few basics about coping with the flu, such as:<\/p>\n