In the last few weeks
I’ve had a big editing project on the go, and I’ve also had the pleasure of a
bout of gastro! So I’ve been either busy working – or sick. Now it’s just the
working bit that remains (thank goodness!).
While I was sick on
the weekend and in bed feeling quite awful, I had the thought that sometimes it
is quite convenient not to have children. Wow! This was followed by feelings of
guilt – how could I think that? What a terrible person I was! What a selfish
person I was!
But, let’s be honest –
when you’re sick and all you want to do is sleep in between bouts of (well
probably no need to go into detail), not having to worry about anybody else makes
it much easier to rest and focus on getting better.
Is that such a
horrible thing to think?
I don’t believe so.
It’s a reality.
I’m sure parents wish
for peace and quiet when they are sick. And, imagine trying to look after
yourself if you and your children all came down with gastro at the same time!
But, all in all, I doubt those parents would choose not have their children at all
for the sake of peace and quiet when they are ill. Of course the perfect scenario would be to
have both children and peace and quiet in times of ill health.
I wouldn’t have chosen
not to have them either. If Jacob and/or Ruby were here I would have managed
somehow and I wouldn’t have given them up for the world – even if I was sick
and they were constantly waking me up asking about this or that.
I have to say that I
admire parents (most anyway as some of them don’t deserve to be called parents)
in how they deal with being sick and still caring for their children. I don’t
know how they do it. Sure – they kind of have to – there’s no off switch on
kids that you can press when you want some time to yourself. Regardless – they are
pretty amazing!
2 comments:
Having been through six weeks with a cast on my ankle in a very awkward house, I frequently thought, "this would have been so hard with kids!" Though actually, then I thought, "if I had teenagers they could have cooked and cleaned and looked after me," as my husband was looking after his parents too!
It's certainly not a horrible thing to think. And you're certainly not selfish for thinking that. It's purely practical, and realistic. You don't have children, but you could see how difficult it must be to be ill and have to care for them. So taking a moment to appreciate this silver lining of a no kidding life is sensible, and practical. There's nothing wrong with a moment of gratitude. I know it can be guilt-inducing. But there's no need for the guilt.
Hope you're feeling better now.
Thanks Mali - you're a gem!
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