Every parent has to deal with it, being stuck at home with a sick child. Yesterday it was my turn.
My daughter stayed home from school yesterday because she was sick and running a fever. This was my one weekday off for the month and I was looking forward to spending some time with my wife while my daughter was at school. So much for that idea!
We knew she was sick Sunday evening so it was not a big surprise in the morning when we decided to keep her home. I got a short break to do some grocery shopping and then I came back home.
My wife then got her turn away from the house to get some things done, this is when the horror started.
"Daddy!"
"Yes?"
"I'm bored."
"Well, read a book or watch TV."
"I don't want to, I want you to entertain me!"
Entertaining my daughter often involves doing things that my aging body no longer wants to do. It's not that she wants to beat me with a stick or anything rough like that it's just that she wants me to do things that cause pain when done for long periods of time (mental or physical).
For example, we made a fort out of chairs and blankets. This on its own is fine. The back breaking part is making me scrunch up and sit in this fort at an awkward angle. We did this for about twenty minutes before I had to get out and stretch.
We then moved on to her picking a game for me to play on the Wii while she watched. Now, you know I'm a big Wii fan but, it's not nearly as much fun when someone is sitting next to you complaining about how you play or which game you are playing. I can only play so much Super Swing Golf in a day before even I get tired of it. Besides that level two Scout character just keeps beating me!!!
Then we went back into the fort to play Game Cube! It would not have been so bad except the TV was too high and I had to strain my neck to play the game from within the confines of the fort.
Eventually my wife came home and rescued me for a while. It was only for a while though as she had to go back out and run the brownies meeting. The same meeting my daughter would have gone to if she were not sick.
So, after she left I had to go back to being the entertainer.
Eventually my daughter went to sleep and I sat down to watch some TV. Now it's my turn to be entertained!
