BED REST: Fantasy vs Reality

After a week of fever, chills and fluid in my lungs, I finally went to the Dr. last week. After a quick exam she announced that I did indeed have pneumonia and really ought to be on........ BED REST. The Dr. is a woman and after saying this she added, "I know that is impossible for moms but you really should try".   I have always secretly wanted to be put on bed rest, even if for a day.   Bed rest conjures up images of lying in a cozy bed with pillows piled around, a good book in hand, water and snacks within reach and everyone else bustling around taking care of things so you don't have to.  I can almost picture a Downton Abbey kind of scenario where servants in crisp white aprons appear throughout the day to see what they can bring me. Kind of like this: FANTASY 

So I decided to leave out the "you really should try part" and tell my family that I was ordered to be on full BED REST!!! The problem is, no one was home when I returned from the Dr. They were all at school/work. I felt too tired to climb the stairs to the bed so I sat on the coach. Then I realized we had nothing ready for dinner and everyone would be needing to get picked up soon. So I threw something in the oven. Then it was time to drive 15 min to the kids bus stop. I told them about the "bed rest" on the way home and they said, "Bummer, so what are we going to do about dinner?" I ordered the stinkers to clear the table and load the dishwasher after eating and then headed out to pick up the hubby from the train station. He was sympathetic to the Dr's orders and agreed, "Yes just go straight to bed, the chores aren't important, they can wait". I ended up quarantined in the attic since my cough was so loud it shook the whole house. The luxurious bed retreat of my dreams was actually a roll out mat, surrounded by darts and Nerf guns.  I didn't have servants.. they all had too much homework and studying to do. But they did bring me a pot with a spoon to bang around if I couldn't breathe in the middle of the night (a fine substitute for a bell) . 

REALITY

I didn't get served hot soup in bed from a cute tray. Hubby did order take-out Indian food (the only restaurant within a 30 minute radius) and the kids did start a load of laundry. The problem is their standard of housecleaning isn't quite up to par with mine. After just one day there were little piles of dirty clothes seeping out of bedrooms. The dishes were overflowing. The sinks had toothpaste marks. "Just let it go, the chores can wait".. started to really stress me out. How long? Would I be able to wade through the mess to get fresh air? So I decided to do modified bed rest. Which meant I did as many chores as I could and then rewarded myself with a nap on the roll out mat or a good book in the middle of the day for hours on end.  The neighbors showed up every morning to walk the dog once hub and kids were off to work/school. One day I let the dishes go and Hubby did get to them eventually (midnight but who is keeping track?)  It really was kind of nice to let others help.  But bed rest itself was overrated.. unless of course I could be the lady in that picture above.