Coffee Mug Wisdom

We had a number of cliche coffee mugs when I was a little girl, and some of the phrases really stuck with me. One featured an orange cat diving into a field of flowers, and the caption read simply, "Jim Dives." I thought the whole thing was pretty random, but whatev. (Looking back, I realize it was Garfield and the "caption" was the illustrator's name, Jim Davis.)

Another said, "I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan...I never do, but I can." What's the point of announcing to the world you never buy bacon? I wondered all through elementary school.

A third said, "I'd quit my job, but it's the only rest I get." I understood that one, but totally didn't get it. How could work be rest? And what kind of bitter, resentful person enjoyed leaving their house and family to go work instead?

Oh, silly young me. Silly me who had never spent 6 days being sick and caring for a sick baby. Let me say that we've had it no worse than anyone else, but that doesn't take away the suckiness of this past week. I very much look forward to being back in the office tomorrow, while mostly-better Felix gets a change of scenery with his daycare friends.

I thought I was pretty well recovered by Thanksgiving, but laryngitis and coughing fits started Friday. Obviously I can take meds, but my best remedy for Felix was distraction, which meant 4 hours of shopping on Black Friday and another 4 hours outside/downtown at local shops on Saturday. The activity kept him happy and the cool air kept him breathing well, but I was eking out the last smidges of energy I had both days. And I hardly bought anything.

Today we went to another event downtown and he was pretty snotty (literally, of course) and miserable most of the day. To get him to drink a bottle, I have to put saline drops in his nose (which he dislikes), then use a snot sucker a few minutes later (which he hates and screams to let me know it). That's followed by me gently holding the bottle in his screaming mouth until he accidentally drinks a little, at which point he realizes he can breathe through his nose, chugs the whole thing and falls asleep.

Picture of a picture: Felix and his cousins seeing Santa at the Festival of Trees today.

Our only saving grace has been sleep at night. Despite all the misery, my little guy is still a great sleeper. And tonight he played happily on his own for 2 hours, so there's light at the end of the tunnel!