Mum Flu

My body is fighting a virus. My joints ache, my head hurts. Through the night I couldn’t sleep for shivering, my teeth chattered, despite a hot water bottle. I fell asleep and woke in the night to peel off my pyjamas, soaked in sweat. I wake up so grateful that the kids are staying with Granny and Granda. I don’t know how I’ll get out of bed, but I do.

I count the hours between doses of paracetamol and ibuprofen, drink water, grab a sleep when she’s napping. The thing is, whatever it takes, you have to keep going.

#Motherhood #ScottishWomen #Feminism #Women #Shortfiction #CatrionaKeith #Adversity #Illness