Finding the Silver Lining in the Man Cold

If you’re nodding your head, I know you’ve lived through the dreaded Man Cold; solidarity, sister.

As D left work for this morning, he mentioned that he felt weak. [He didn’t know it, but I knew the Man Cold was coming. And I just held onto hope that it would be a milder wave this time.]

He had a busy day planned, so he popped some extra Vitamin C pills and grabbed a DayQuil on his way out to work.

And as I watched him walk out the door, I knew that the Threenager who’s been fevering for five days and fighting the last bit of Hand, Foot, Mouth virus would be a joy compared to the 30-something husband of mine who was on the brink of coming down with the dreaded Man Cold.

Man Cold: Debilitating virus that affects men 10x worse than women, if not more.

Symptoms: Whining, groaning, moaning, inability to do anything besides the above, mild fever and cold symptoms that show up as signs of the worst disease known to human kind.

In my husband’s defense, he’s usually a champ or tries his best to fight it. Especially today, he fought through it for most of the day and worked when he came home. He works a grueling and demanding job and truly is the rock of our family. I knew he probably just needed some sleep and rest. And so I obliged while he passed out at 5pm. I got the kids fed and ready for bed. Nothing extraordinary, just our usual nighttime routine with one less set of hands.

I’ve done bath time and bedtime solo many, many times. Usually, I just rush through it, as I wistfully think of crashing on the couch and turning on my Netflix binge show of the week. But, today, after a leisurely bath (to draw out some time, since we started early), the three of us snuggled together on our lone nursery glider.

I read a book to both of my babies, as they tickled each other with their little piggies and feet. And in that moment, in that tiniest of moments, I chuckled out loud with overwhelming joy. “Umma, why you laughing? What’s so funny?” “Nothing baby, you and your brother just make me so, so happy.” “Hahaha, I laughing, umma, because you make me happy too!”

These are the moments in motherhood, however small they may be, that make it all so, so sweet and worth every sleepless night and every cold cup of coffee.

The sigh of my littlest as he nuzzled his head under my chin. The sweet “Amen” of my first born telling me who I’d left out in his nighttime “God bless yous.”

These are the moments that are etched in my heart and memory. And for that I’m grateful for the silver lining that the MC brought to my day. The chance to feel true joy in our everyday moments that I otherwise let slip by all too often. I needed this reminder today, the reminder of the simple and pure things in life. Because truly, they are so fleeting in these times of raising our littles.

What made you smile today?