Shakespeare, sickness and children

I thought I was dying earlier this month.

I was sick, sick, sick and SO COLD. I had two pairs of socks on and my pyjamas tucked into the socks to try and retain heat. I was in bed and covered in duvets and throws and starting to feel doomed. For some bizarre reason, I kept thinking about the bit in Henry V where Mistress Quickly describes the death of Falstaff. “This is it,” I thought to myself in that detached way you do when you are feeling really unwell, “I’m dying from the feet up, perhaps I’d better get Mr D to bring the boys in so I can say goodbye to them,” only I was feeling too sick to do anything about it.

Anyway, I appear to have survived and for a day or so I had a stomach that was so flat it was practically concave. The last time it was like that was the day after I’d completed the Three Peaks Walk. However, it’s not a way I would recommend losing six pounds.

One of the few moments I will cherish from this unpleasant episode is the memory of Eldest Son coming in to play his recorder to me. He hasn’t been playing long, and even if he had, I can think of more soothing instruments to play to someone on their deathbed, but hey, he wanted to share.

I lay there helpless, with my eyes shut, managing to whisper: “That’s really good darling.” Eventually Daddy came in and said that he thought Mummy had probably heard enough for the moment. . . .

It’s made me think about some of the things that I really love about my children:

• Eldest son’s legs in his shorts as he runs along the pavement to go to school: not skinny; not chunky; just beautiful
• Youngest son holding hands with Daddy and running. He’s wearing chinos and he’s moved on from the toddler’s run which is really a fall in slow motion but he’s still got that slightly out of control look
• Eldest son’s cuddles – you don’t get them so often now which makes them very precious
• Youngest son’s cuddles – much more frequent and invariably accompanied by “I love you, Mummy”
• Serving up something new for their dinner and them eating it without protest (it does happen sometimes)
• Their skin
• Listening to them playing together and laughing (it does happen sometimes)
• Chasing them and hearing them squeak!
• Watching them grow