Sunday, February 13, 2011

Love in the Time of...

Image by Gúnna on Flickr
Not cholera, thank God.  Just gastroenteritis.  For some reason (I suspect vaccines, but it may not be related at all), our seven year old is knocked out by every tummy bug that comes our way.  The rest of us can bounce back quickly, but it takes her forever to get over it.  This last one hit her especially hard.  Hard enough that I took her in to the after hours clinic yesterday, and was grateful for the meds that they gave us, and I am much more the wait-it-out and don't-medicate-unless-you-have-to kind.

In our life many years ago BC (Before Children), my husband and I would enjoy romantic weekends.  We might take a little trip or just stay home, but regardless, it would be a time of leisurely passion and enjoyment together.  It might involve a special meal or flowers or chocolates or special gifts.  One year he wrote the most beautiful love letter, and typed it out into the shape of a heart!  My Beloved has always been incredibly romantic.  He is also creative.  This weekend was considerably different from the BC ones, but nonetheless, he made it romantic.  Some highlights:

* Getting up at 3AM as our daughter was vomiting.  Knowing that she was pretty dehydrated by this point, I kept her awake so that I could have her drink Pedialyte every few minutes.  The baby's radar went off as soon as I got up, so Carlos comforted her while I took care of Ariana.  Then, instead of going back to bed, he stayed up with us and watched movies on Netflix together.  Drinking coffee in the dark at around 4:30 AM and snuggling close together while taking care of a sick kidlet is romantic if you want it to be.

* Taking care of phone-related chores that I have been letting go.  I mentioned in my phonophobe post that I really dislike talking on the phone.  Somehow, some creep got ahold of my phone number and has been spamming me with porn.  Ick, ick, ick.  I've called several times, and the phone company has been very kind, and even offered a blocker program for free.  Except it didn't work.  I got another pic from the blocked number a couple days ago, but was too busy taking care of the kidlets to bother with anything.  Yesterday he spent a long time with customer service, but was able to get things taken care of once and for all.

* Adjusting our TV service.  We cut back several months ago to the most limited package available to save money, but we also lost nearly all of our favorite channels.  He negotiated with them yesterday and was able to get all of the favorite channels back (I can now watch Food Network and Top Chef again, and Elena can watch her beloved Yo Gabba Gabba) for less than we were paying for the basic package!

* Snuggling together and watching an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay, thanks to the aforementioned negotiation.  Laughing together at how, regardless of whether he is making brownies, ice cream, moussaka, waffles or anything else, Bobby adds chiles.  (As chile-lovers ourselves, we can sympathize).

* The way he noticed how our two-year-old has been feeling left out and displaced with all the attention required by the other kidlets recently.  He has gone out of his way to tenderly and patiently fill her love cup, making sure to include her and let her know she is special to us, too.  Yeah guys, tenderness is as sexy as it gets.

* Grabbing a delicious dinner to go, and going for a walk in the shopping center while they fixed for us.  The perfect opportunity to have our arms around each other, to walk holding hands and talk about plans for the future and yet still not be away from the sick little ones for long.

* Fixing me his famous banana smoothie for breakfast.

* Finding ways to make me laugh, even when I am loopy from lack of sleep, worried about our sweeties and in desperate need of a shower.

* Taking care of biohazardous laundry without being asked.  I don't blame people for not reading my mind, but I sure appreciate it when they do!

* Taking advantage of every opportunity to hold my hand and give me that look.

Don't get me wrong--I loved all the special times before we had kids.   They were very nice.  But the energy and creativity to make me feel in love in the time of gastroenteritis?  That is amazing.  He is amazing.  <3

2 comments:

purple_kangaroo said...

What a nice hubby. I hope you all feel better soon!

Staci said...

That is truly beautiful! There is nothing sexier than a man who is madly in love - with his children.