As a mother there is NOTHING I wouldn’t do for one of my boys when he is sick. I don’t like to be sick myself, but when one of my boys is sick I would give anything to be able to take it away for them. Right now, my baby has a swollen eye. Luckily I don’t think he it’s pink eye, but I can tell it is bothering him. At three, he is of the age where he still wants to be babied, but only on his terms. I often ask him for hugs and kisses during the day, and to me it is the sweetest sight in the world to see him running toward me with his arms outspread. So anyways, today I am standing in the kitchen and I ask him for some ‘baby love.’ He comes running towards me, with this huge smile on his face and suddenly his face just falls…I see the tears welling up in his eyes, and he comes limping towards me. “Mommy, my foot hurts!” he wails, and my heart just breaks. I am thinking, “oh he twisted his ankle!” But I pick him up, and he wails, “Ohh….my blood!” He cut his foot on a lego piece and he saw the blood before I did. It is a decent sized cut, won’t need stitches, and I stopped the bleeding quickly, but I can’t stand to see one of my boys in pain…no matter how insignificant that pain might be.

However, I don’t take kindly to being duped! My oldest son has pulled the whole…OHHH..my stomache hurts, I need to rest today. I don’t want to send my kids to school when they are sick, so at times you want to err on the side of caution, but I don’t like finding out they are fine and just didn’t want to go to school. My mom would let us take a ‘mental health’ day once in awhile. If I was overworked, my grades were good, and just plain exhausted, she was all for letting us take a day to rest and recover. She would then make sure we made up anything we had missed. I tend to think the same way. Sometimes life gets away from you, things get crazy and you have no control over that…and to recover sometimes a day off is the best thing you can do for yourself. I just want my kids to be honest with me. Don’t tell me your stomach hurts, when in reality you are just worn out! Be honest!

ON a side note….and this is completely off topic…I am watching Top Chef, and I LOVE these types of shows. Food Network-Iron Chef is a favorite, Top Chef, etc….and I have to say, some of the things the chefs serve…just sound yuck! Roasted Pork Belly….sure, maybe it’s good, but it just sounds nasty. Even their desserts have to be something…extra. I am sorry, what’s wrong with a beautifully done molten chocolate cake…no, they need to add some strange foam to it. I cook for four growing boys (three of whom are PICKY!) and a man that loves his meat and potatoes, I am sure that has something to do with it…I cook huge pots of chili, pick pots of spaghetti, and though I try to experiment a bit I know I have to stick to a relatively simple formula. Maybe this means I have an ‘unsophisticated palate’ but I don’t think that liver with a chocolate foam sounds good…hell I would venture to say that dish should just NOT be made by anyone!

Sooo…in closing…kids be honest with your mom and dad! Let us know the score, let us know what is going on. And chefs of haute cuisine…..what can I say…I don’t get some of it!