Level 2 Chi Kung.
Before Jack was born, when we first started thinking about trying for a baby, we followed the advice in some book, to buy a digital thermometer and take my temperature each day, so that we could see (from the slight spike in temperature) when in the month I typically ovulated. In solidarity, Nick took his own temperature as well, and we thereby discovered that he runs on average half a degree above ‘normal’ while I run at least half a degree below normal (so in Twilight terms, he’s Jacob to my Edward, except I’m a girl). This makes him an ideal sleeping companion in the winter months and, over the years, he has become stoical about me treating him like a man-sized hot water bottle (with benefits). A couple of weeks ago however, I identified that this was part of the problem with my ongoing sleep deprivation: Nick is a night owl but there is no point in me going to bed before him, as I just lie there shivering. I hit upon the idea of buying an electric blanket, and following extensive perusing of reviews, chose one from John Lewis. It arrived earlier this week and worked so well that I immediately renamed it ‘the electric husband’.
During the preparations for the pikkujoulo yesterday, I began to feel the first inklings that I might be coming down with Katie’s cold. By the time the guests decided to leave I was feeling a bit under par, and by the time they actually left (after the obligatory 45 minutes of rousting multiple children, and the losing and finding hats, coats, gloves etc) I was feeling pretty dreadful. By the time I had put the leftovers away, brushed my teeth and washed my face, it was all I could do to crawl into bed with the electric husband on 5 and lie shivering uncontrollably until joined by the real husband. I woke up this morning feeling utterly dire, and croaked a plea for Nick to do the morning for me, rolled over and, aside from breaks to take paracetamol and go to the loo, slept until 1 pm. Feeling slightly improved, I did Chi Kung, ran a hot bath (in which I immediately fell asleep again) and then went downstairs to be ready for Jack returning from school. The kitchen, with post-party mess overlaid with breakfast chaos, was a depressing sight and, in low-productivity mode, it seemed to take hours to clean it up. By the time it was spic and span and the kids had been fed, I was ready to collapse on the sofa and have family movie with the kids.
The thing is, that sounds like a bad day, but actually, it was total luxury to feel sick and be able to STAY IN BED, instead of dragging myself into the office, or (since several members of the family usually get sick at once) cleaning up someone else’s vomit!