…and what happens when mummy, the live in nurse, gets sick? Chaos and calamity; an upheaval of what everyone in the household has come to regard as the natural order of things. The house stops functioning and, everyone waits for mum who is ‘invincible’ to turn around and say she’s better! What if, she caught it bad this year and doesn’t get better over night? And what if, after two days, the whole household gets it too? BEDLAM! Who looks after whom?
Well these past few days have found me bed bound and living the dreaded flu. I seriously cannot remember the last time I got struck down by it. I probably brought it on myself, especially after boasting to a friend that the children hadn’t caught a bug all winter. In Cyprus we believe in the evil eye and it is acknowledged by many that sometimes we bring on the evil ourselves. That’s exactly what I did!
Lying in bed next to my daughter and my husband and waiting for the antibiotics to kick in I thought I’d write about this experience with the achy, feverish, bed ridden body I’m trapped in. What a way to spend carnival week? And even worse, what a way to miss your little sister’s big birthday bash. Topping the list though, is missing out on her exciting engagement news and the impromptu celebrations. This was definitely not the week I should have got ill! But I did! we did!
When a friend told me she loved getting ill just to be admitted into hospital, I could not for the life of me understand why. As a mother of two, she said she looked forward to this twice yearly event because it was the only time she relaxed and was treated like a princess. Nurses at her beck and call was a big break from her Hectic ‘I- have-to-do-everything’ persona. I laughed and found her hysterical. Being ill is the only sudden break you get from your routine. So, thinking about it, to take a real break in such circumstances would be to follow in Nafsika’s footsteps!!!
Truth be said now, being bed ridden for three days, is in one sense relaxing. It is as if time stands still. Alas for me there is no nurse at my beck and call because we have all succumbed to this bone aching, head pounding flu. Picture this 3/5 of us are in bed, my oldest son is on the mend, and my youngest has had to flee the house. The up side of this is we are watching endless films and series and drinking enormous amounts of teas together each looking out for the other while coughing, sneezing and pill popping. We have taken bonding to another level! We are indeed the ‘Three Musketeers!’ ‘All for one and one for all!’
Summer needs to come knocking quickly, even I, lover of winter, am fed up of this long stint of cold weather that has hit us hard this year. All we hear about is virus this and virus that!
But right now, it’s time for my herbal, ginger, lemon and honey tea to be brewed whilst I take a long hot shower and try to rejuvenate my sore body! The ultimate remedy for the moment. On a brighter note, roll on March, with the blossoming of the beautiful almond tree blossoms, the days getting longer and the making of the red and white bracelets ‘Martakia’, all of which mark the beginning of spring and the washing away of these vile viruses. Oh boy am I waiting for you!
