Sick leave

It was a beautiful pleasant rainy Saturday morning today. It had been raining since the night and the air was filled with the dampness it brings along. The temperatures had dropped. A much needed respite from the scorching summer heat. I got up and got ready for work. Had my hurried breakfast noticing and ignoring a dull headache over my right eye frontal region. The kids were asleep being a Saturday and schools being off. Trying to figure out the differential diagnoses of the headache I was harbouring, I made my way out towards the porch. Could it be an ominous cerebral aneurysm waiting to rupture? Or maybe I inhaled some soap whilst washing my face through the right nostril? Funny right. Or a sinister brain glioma making its presence felt? Neurocysticercosis? Oh, petty things never make it to my mind. Soon I realised a runny nose with an aching throat screaming to tell me that I was catching a cold. Ah what a relief! I popped a crocin and weighed upon the possibility of me taking rest and skipping office today. And how much work I had planned to do today which would be procrastinated till the next. To rest? With the kids at home? While a father has this privilege, amongst all the others, to rest with kids being at home... I was skeptical about it. But then thinking of sitting for prolonged hours in the office chair staring at the computer screen wrecking my mind delving into the intricacies of my tasks all the while being battered by the cold breeze of the central office air conditioning would worsen the matters even more. So I texted my colleague ensuring her availability and then emailed my boss for a leave and here I am. On a sick leave. Took another cough and cold med and planned to doze off, when my younger one came loitering around. Just to see what mumma's doing. Because unwell? Hell no! Mumma doesn't fall sick. She just takes a leave to attend school PTMs, help in the behind the shoot dressing ups for functions, prepping for those big big exams of the tiny little kids, guests coming over or in some cases for those biannual or annual family trips. Then the elder one followed. We all love to act in front of an appreciating and reacting audience. So the accomplished actors began their act. Both of them began to fight. The younger one beating the elder one with all her might. And the elder one pleading me to intervene. And who was the one who once said "Size does matter" Does it? Because we have a small tornado at home. After some time the tornado calmed down and so did my headache with the crocin. But what remains is the sleepiness which ensues with a cough and cold med. So here I am with sleep in my eyes caught in a tornado all this while trying to go ahead in life. While the days are long the years are short, they say. And I know that to the core. But sometimes the days are really long... Life and all its mumbo jumbo...