Random Sweetness from Sawyer

I'm in Day Three of my suffering with the most recent plague to fell me. Let me be clear:

I am not a good patient.

There will be the slightest glimmer of hope that I am on the upswing and I will overreach, and I find myself back in bed sicker than I was originally. At least that's how it happened yesterday.

Truly, after a day spent in bed on Sunday, with a lot of time devoted to convincing myself that I had a simple 24-hour virus, I was up and at 'em on Monday morning . . . well, by noon, anyway. And I did only the simplest of tasks--I showered, dressed, put on make-up, and played outside with Sawyer for a little while.

Apparently, that was my fatal mistake.

Around 2:45 I got that old familiar feeling, which of course I mentioned to Randy. Mistake #2.

"Why in the world were you OUTSIDE on a day like today when you're sick? It's 100 degrees out there!" Oh, yeah.

I ended up missing Tyler's baseball game last night because I was too busy lying in bed, shivering uncontrollably and obsessively taking my temperature over and over. On the bright side, I've experienced some really sweet moments over the last few days, provided by Sawyer (and if a child ever had a tighter hold on his mother's heart, I'd like to meet him).

1. Sawyer was in a particularly talkative mood yesterday and followed me everywhere I went (which was pretty much from the couch to the bed), keeping up a constant stream of amusing chatter. But when I was still suffering from the delusion that I might be feeling better, and as I pawed through the toy bin in search of the wiffleballs (after having put away the beanbags that we had just used), Sawyer asked, "Mom, do you know what my favorite toy is to play with?" "Which toy is that, bubby?"

"You. You're the best toy I could ever play with!"

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2. "Mom, do you know why I like you so much?"
"Why, Sawyer?"
"Because I love you!"
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3. Today I truly did spend the entire day in bed (but I wouldn't dare tell you I feel better for fear of jinxing myself) and around 2:30 I decided I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer. Trouble was, Sawyer had literally attached himself to my side and no matter how many games we played or books we read, it just wasn't enough for him. I finally told him I was going to set my alarm for 30 minutes and that I wished he would lay down with me and take a nap. As I was drifting off to sleep, I felt a small, cool hand pat mine and my eyes fluttered open. "Goodnight, Mommy. I love you." The way Sawyer was studying my face was so sweet, and his eyes were the last thing I saw before I succumbed to sleep. The next thing I knew, my alarm was going off and I found myself staring into those same blue eyes that had evidently been keeping watch over me as I slept.
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4. As I mentioned, we played a lot of games today--Yahtzee Jr., Battleship and Go Fish are current favorites. Frankly, I got to the point that I really would have enjoyed a little time to myself (time in which to wallow in my self-pity, I suppose), but Sawyer wasn't about to take any hints. He tossed the Go Fish cards on my stomach and said, "Here, Mom-o, play Go Fish by yourself." Seeing my chance--huh?--I said, "I don't want to play Go Fish." And then, like he was doing me some sort of favor, he said, "Fine, I'LL play Go Fish with you." Very clever, my son.
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5. After we'd finished dinner this evening, Randy went out to mow the grass. I suggested to Sawyer that he might put on his flip-flops and go outside for some fresh air, and he needed absolutely no prompting. He had his flip-flops on in a flash and was halfway out the door when . . .

"Aren't you coming, Mom?"
"No, buddy, I'm going to stay in bed."
"Oh, well, I'll just stay in here with you, then."
"No doll, you go outside and have fun."
"But I don't want to go without you!"

And no amount of persuading could change his mind.


I love this job.