Youngest girl is home sick today. Since I am currently working from home, it falls upon me to be the nurse. It hasn’t been too hard on me today. Heck she slept until I woke her to dose her with Tylenol at 11:00. Teenager combined with true sick equals LOTS of sleep.
She rarely gets sick. Alexandra is normally tough as nails. She’s the “enforcer” on her soccer team…the one who decks opposing players who take cheap shots on her team mates. Normally, if she is playing “sick” we know it is really some big social upheaval typically involving a boy, but today was the real thing. The real nurse, the mom, took one look at her this morning and put her back to bed. That was around 5:30. So, Alexandra, aka “Evil Child”, got to stay home and annoy the dad today. Thankfully, she has not lived up to her moniker.
When I woke her, I asked if she’d like some chicken soup. Quick, “yes”. Dad, unlike grandma or mother, does not open an envelope of Lipton or can of Campbell’s. Dad whips up a pot of homemade and she does love homemade. Luckily I keep all the essentials on hand. Whenever a dish requires boiling of meats or veggies, but the liquid is not retained for the recipe, I reserve the stock for later. I have an entire freezer shelf of broths. With such fixin’s readily at hand, I can throw together real homemade quickly…just add the solids. “Evil Child” showed up just as the noodles had become soft enough…her nose knew.
Wee spot of lunch done, she dutifully helped clean up and actually thanked me. It was more like the old days when she was little. It was a relatively pleasant experience. That is, apart from her being sick. I know that when she’s feeling better tomorrow I’ll be back on the bad list, but it’s nice to know that somewhere under that evil teenage exterior that thinks she’s twenty-something, there is the little girl who knows dad is still there to protect her.
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4 comments:
It's nice to know under that tough exterior . . . is a doting dad. ;-)
Hope she feels better.
JL,
You are a good, nurturing patriarch. I'm impressed, home made chicken soup! Yes, I think we shall keep you...
Erica,
Like I said, she's tough...back at school the next day.
Yep, crusty exterior, mushy interior!
Muse,
Back when I was a bachelor...I didn't marry the first time until I was thirty...I was determined never to eat poorly. Food is very important to me...good food that is.
My mother often complained that her daughters had no interest in learning to cook and her son was a better cook than she was. To this day none of my three sisters can beat me in the kitchen. I do have a neice who thinks she might be able to beat me baking pies...she readily concedes all else. She's trying to arrange a "bake-off".
Good words.
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