Olympic Sick Day

It was only a matter of time. I actually thought to myself that it was a miracle – a miracle! – that we hadn’t been sick so far this calendar year. It was especially miraculous because the kindergarten class has been a petrie dish of violently coughing five year olds. Coughing into the sleeve isn’t really an effective measure against the spreading of viruses if said sleeve is one inch from someone else’s face.

So Mark developed a cough this week, and then a fever, along with the whining and clinging that such illness generally brings, and so I kept him home from school yesterday. I came across an article entitled “Sick Day Strategies”, aimed at entertaining sick little people. It advocated for, among other things, cuddles, stories and quiet games. Does it feel like parenting articles are just a little too obvious at times?

But of course cuddles, stories, and quiet games did constitute a large part of our day, along with freezies, a homemade batch of playdough, and copious amounts of TV. Hilarity ensued when Jake, rummaging through a backpack that had been unused for two years, found a pull-up diaper. He immediately pulled it on over his jeans and ran around the house saying “Goo goo ga ga, I’m a baby!” This entertained Mark for some time. Still, by mid-afternoon mind-numbing boredom kicked in for all three of us, so when Mark asked if he could use the camera – a request that is repeated several times a day and often results in some pretty strange photos – I agreed. He and Jake went downstairs for a while, and the following pictures are the result.

As an aside, I should mention, again, that my husband is a huge fan of the Olympics – in fact he left for Vancouver this morning – and he watches Olympic coverage near-constantly while at home. That theme song is haunting me. Instead of feeling left out that he has gone for a couple of days, I’m actually somewhat elated that I’m not going to hear that music. Tonight I’m planning on eating a pan of kale chips, drinking wine, and watching Season Three NYPD Blue, the combination of which has me so excited that I’m starting to wonder about my own mental stability. I blame the breakdown on the theme music.

Without further ado, here are Select Olympic Events, as modeled by Jake, photography and artistic direction by Mark.

Hockey:

A Gold Medal Ceremony:

Biathlon:

Not medaling:

And finally, luge: