The Rural Voice, 1981-11, Page 301
1
GISELE IRELAND
Everything stops
cuz Daddy is sick
This is the season when kids bring you home all kinds of things
from school. One of the Tess desirable is the cold virus. Every
spring and fall we go down with it with monotonous regularity
The youngest usually starts the barking and sneezing first and it
progresses to every member of the house
hold. The last to get sick is usually Dad and by
the time he gets it is a dreadful disease, n j
longer a common cold. Admittedly he seeftS-s
to suffer more than anyone else, but we
wonder if it is the same thing the rest of us
had when he tells us he is consumed by
consumption.
The first thing we have to do is get him to
admit he's a lost his zap and get him retired to
bed. This means armfuls of papers have to be
hauled up the stairs to keep him occupied. To
make a point I have been tempted to bring
him a colouring book and crayons too. From
that time on everything we do has to be low key. The heavy rock
music cannot reach the upstairs, the fights must be very quiet. All
this because "DADDY IS SICK".
The vaporizer blocks the bedroom doorway and you can't get
in anyway because the papers are knee-deep on the floor. When
you make the bed and fluff the pillows you have destroyed his
comfortable position and nothing you take him to eat or drink
tastes right. The medicine invariably tastes yucky, the pills make
him dizzy and the other stuff upsets his stomach. So far he's
proven without a doubt that men make the worst patients when it
comes to common viruses. I move in with one of the kids because
sleeping with him would be like bunking with a harpooned whale.
1 assure him that yes, I can handle the chores alone and try to go
at it. He gets lonesome and that means 1 have to sprint from the
barn to the house at regular intervals to keep him posted on what
is happening outside the bedroom. He has me trained like a robot
to run to doors and windows and tell him who just drove in, what
they are doing, or run out and find out what they want. When
Brian has the cold it is my period of training for the Winter
Olympics, sprints and fast jogging all over the place.
In spite of himself, we anage to pull him through these colds
and on the fourth day he Wes his boots on and informs us there is
a pile of work waiting for him. We don't bother telling him that for
the most part we have already taken care of it, and with other jobs
someone came in and lent us a hand. That might make him feel he
wasn't needed. The worst thing you can do to a man recovering
from an illness is tell him how well you got along without him.
We're all back to normal now. The kids play heavy rock music
and fight as soon as they get in the door from school. The dogs are
allowed to bark at the cats again and good humor has been
restored all around. A man is made to overcome all kinds of
obstacles and crises that threaten his tamily and livelihood but
somewhere along the line they were left without the tolerance to
fight common viruses and illnesses that the kids just seem to
breeze through. You want your man to turn into a cranky, petulant
six year old? Just give him a cold.
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IN HURON COUNTY
We have 44 colours of velour in stock and Tots of
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See our complete line of White Elna Sewing Machines
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WE REPAIR ALL MAKES OF SEWING MACHINES
For more intormation contact
MARY'S SEWING CENTRE
Clinton 17 Victoria St. 482-7036
Is your kitchen ready
for a face lift ?
CUSTOM
=5'1 KITCHENS
AND
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BALL-MACAULAY
SEAFURTH
527-0910
LIMITED
CLINTON
482-3405
HENSALL
262-2418
THE RURAL VOICE/NOVEMBER 1981 PG. 29