I came down with a pretty bad cold during the week my kids were away.
The symptoms progressed something like this:
Monday
“Hmm, why does my whole body feel a little sore?”
Tuesday
“Is something going on with my throat? And why am I so tired?”
Wednesday
“Nope. I cannot stay awake.”
I spent the entire day sleeping on and off. I had no appetite, and this was definitely the worst day.
Thursday
I felt a little better, but I was still far from normal.
Still, I had recovered enough to manage a few household chores, including some cleaning.
Friday
“I feel so much better!”
Then I suddenly realized:
“Wait… I can’t smell anything. Could this be COVID?”
That was pretty much how the week went.
On Wednesday and Thursday, I did not have much of an appetite, so I ate yogurt and made simple umeboshi rice porridge with some leftover rice.
I also drank a lot of mugicha, Japanese barley tea.
Even when you are sick, feeding the cat and cleaning the litter box are non-negotiable.
I somehow managed to take care of those things despite feeling exhausted. At the same time, I kept thinking that I was lucky to get sick during a week when my kids were not home.
At least I could stay in bed and sleep as much as I needed without worrying about school schedules, rides, or meals.
It is strange how much you can sleep during the day when you have a cold.
I could sleep for hours and still feel like I needed more.
At night, however, sleeping was much more difficult.
It was summer, so the room was hot. But when the fan blew directly on me, I felt cold.
If I covered myself with a sheet, I became too warm. If I pushed it away, I became cold again.
I also had to keep getting up to use the bathroom, so the entire night became a cycle of sleeping, waking up, getting comfortable, and becoming uncomfortable again.
And that was how I spent most of my child-free week: sick in bed, drinking barley tea, eating rice porridge, and taking care of my cat.
I was grateful that I had time to rest, although it did feel a little disappointing to spend all of my rare alone time recovering from a cold.