Pain in the Head

Do you ever get headaches?  The unfortunate members of my family are prone to headaches, and not the type you get from yanking your hair out from the root when your son emerges from the bathroom with a tampon hanging from the back of his pants like a tail.

No, the headache I'm talking about feels on the inside the way my boys' bedroom looks on the outside.  Disastrous, disheveled and in a state of emergency.

But as a mom, when you are sick or not feeling well, there are no sick days.  No opportunities to lay down and take a nap while someone else picks up the slack.  In fact, if you have a headache in my house, this is what you get.

"Mommy, what's wrong?"

"I'm okay, honey, I just have a really bad headache and need you to make your voice quiet."

"So you don't want me to yell?  LIKE THIS?  AHHHH!"



"Cael!  That is not nice!  You should use a quiet voice anyway because we're not outside."

"But why does your head hurt?"

"I don't know, it just happens.  Sometimes because of the weather, or what I've eaten."

"I think I'm starting to get a footache."



"Your foot aches?"

"Yes.  A footache.  Oh, OH!  It hurts.  It hurts because I ate a muffin this morning."

"I'm sorry your 'foot hurts', but would you please stop shouting?"

"I can't.  It hurts!  IT HURTS!"

"Wow, if your foot hurts that much, I guess you should go lay down in your bed."

"Oh, well, it's not that bad.  It's still worse than your head, though."

"You think so?  I think maybe I should go lay in MY bed."

"I think you should make my lunch instead."



It seems that, along with the health of his foot and his sense of compassion, my son's respect for women has disappeared.  And while I'm hoping that some ibuprofen will cure my pain, I can't help but wonder if a nice, big dose of Benadryl for Cael would achieve the same result...