I am as stoic as the next gal. I know regular aches are the price to pay for exercise. And recognize scarier pains as warnings to make an appointment with a professional. I also know I am a very good cook. I glide around the kitchen preparing a several course meal while making it look far too easy.
So when my morning sickness took hold of me hard, I was slightly taken for a loop. Whereas with a flu, there a promise of redemption from the pukey feeling in 48 hours, morning sickness may last all day for as many days as the pregnancy lasts. Yet I know this is the price I’m paying for my deepest wish and prayer coming true. Endure it I must.
I was making breakfast several weeks ago, when I had to leave the hot pans on the stove, go throw up, and return to finish cooking. That was the only actual puke I’ve had but it brought these thoughts to me.
My usual cooking is a walk in the park; pleasant and satisfying and I get a little exercise and then a shower. Pregnant cooking is like climbing a steep ugly hill. I look up at the hill and know the journey’s going to suck. And consider if the climb is really worth it.
In my case, I can not afford nor would I want to eat out constantly. So I think of cooking as something I must endure to the end and with an alto brief enjoyment of the meal and the leftovers. I am sure that enduring chronic pain and discomfort of any degree is something we will all experiences at some point in our human existence. Mind over matter means we ask ourselves to endure for the greater good.
Eventually, we will need to put up with ourselves and soldier on headed for the ultimate benefit of what we’re after. Whether that ultimate goal is chicken tacos, a day hike up some cliffs to view the ocean from up high, or time spent with a grandchild playing a game that challenges our arthritic fingers, sometimes we have to see beyond the discomfort of now for the benefit of the future. And possibly have a good self-pity cry in the kitchen between tasks. Or was that just me?
4 Comments
mmm….sounds delicious! (NOT). What if you just did something like say – “ok, family – yogurt and fruit for breakfast, banana peanut butter whatever make your own lunch, and salad bar for dinner till your little sister comes, then we eat well again.” And if they don’t like it, they can cook up their own sweet corn. But see, I don’t know…this is one of the reasons I didn’t have kids……in any case – go YOU. You rock.
They are not the reason I cook. I am the reason I cook. My husband is extraordinarily grateful, my kid isn’t. And I want to eat that which is edible. Had homemade masa made tacos for lunch today. Mama wanted to eat. Please let my new child love food like me. Please please please.
Hmmm, I’m trying to figure out the “ultimate benefit” thing. You once said to me “well your morning sickness wasn’t that bad!” and I wanted to say ‘it was every bit bad as yours but I’ve had a lifetime of training in chronic grossness from IBS’ but it wasn’t a good moment. Maybe that’s it…soldiering through chronic gastric issues made morning sickness easier and definitely has made me tougher and wiser about food choices. Who knows. Back to you…good on ya for sticking in out in the kitchen so you continue to eat healthy! And I bet you still make it look easy, pukes and all!
I want to say so sorry for not knowing how sick you really were. Yes, endurance and stoicism go to you. And then I want to bash you over the head for holding the grudge. Bad friends we are then. Hope to talk soon.