I have to thank my parents for teaching me to be a rather self-sufficient person from a young age.
I started doing my own laundry before a lot of my peers did, I could cook myself egg sandwiches and grilled cheeses whenever my brother's baseball games ran long and I couldn't wait until dark for dinner. I know how to properly paint a wall and skim coat a ceiling.
I can write a proper thank you note even if I tend to procrastinate while doing so.
I know how to do a lot a useful things but all of these skills tend to fly out the window when I get sick.
When I catch a cold or a virus, I let my parents baby me endlessly. My Mom will make me ramen noodles and bring me endless cups of sleepytime tea while my Dad will sneak me fun size chocolate bars from his stash and say vaguely comforting things in a way that only Dads can.
So here I am, hit with my first illness while away at school and there's no one around to baby me anymore. I have to remember to make myself soup and keep drinking liquids in order to remain a functioning human. My main diet is now chicken broth, tea, and citrus flavored cough drops (I'm partial to the grapefruit flavored ones even though I have never tasted an actual grapefruit before). Beyond this, the congestion got so bad tonight that I knew I couldn't avoid taking medication for any longer.
So I stood in my bathroom tonight and laid out two teaspoons of Robitussin in a plastic cup and my toothbrush, pre-moistened and coated with extra toothpaste and I took on the role of the adult, taking steps to insure my own wellness for the first time. It tasted awful but when my nose stops running, I'll probably feel proud of myself. I'll let you know.
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