amazing! down but not out ...

the wife got sick.  abused herself doing lots. trying to do so many things at the same time. multitasking so to speak, especially housework.  she might have thought she was as able as before.  well, she might have forgotten there was already a march of years and she's not that able-bodied as before.  our bodies can only allow so much.

now, this is what's commendable with mothers/housewives.  they always have this superhero mentality.  they think their husbands and children always need saving.  and so, they push themselves. they are always on the rescue mode.  they don't need to don a cape and a mask to assume their superhero persona.  they just manage to eke out a little more burst of energy from some hidden reservoir in their bodies to accomplish more than they need to.

it's amazing how they have this super vision where they see things that need attending to which us, husbands, daughters, and sons, fail to see.  where we see order, they see disorder and restore it.  where we declare as accomplished and done, they  insist unfinished and undone and  complete the doing.  99% of the time, they are proven right.

what's sad about this is that we often take these super efforts for granted.  it's probably because they're doing these regularly that we think these are not out of the ordinary.

so the wife got sick.  i have to tend to her.  high fever, almost 40 degrees C.  i have to administer a sponge bath to alleviate the fever.  well, i remember seeing her do this during the times when our daughter was having bouts with high fever.  hahaha, what's funny is, although she's down, she's still in her superhero rescue mode.  trying to teach me how to administer the sponge bath.  of course, my way is different.  despite her protestations, i did complete my own version of sponge bathing.  i think i managed to do it right since the fever somehow subsided and she said she actually felt better.  i don't know whether she said this just to humor me and make me feel good that i've helped her.  perhaps, this is another way of expressing her superhero mode.  trying to project that she's well and fine, when in truth she is inconvenienced.

mothers/housewives, i think, were designed this way -- always to project a strong, healthy image -- so that us husbands, sons, and daughters can go about doing our own business, without the least worry about them.

she was able to catch some sleep a short while later but i'm sure her face does not show a relaxed sleep. well, i told myself: this superhero needs help and i'll accompany her to a doctor first thing in the morning ...