actions speak louder…

i have this nagging little problem with losing my voice. a lot. like every time i get sickly, it happens.  one minute its there; the next i sound like a demi-moore-wannabe, then nuthin. merely a set of squeeks. and there’s no harsher form of punishment for me.  cause i like love LOVE to talk.

i knew this bout of ‘crap’ was coming on when waking early in the morning- my throat was filled with goo.  you know what i’m talking about.  the kind you can’t cough up or burn out with scalding tea.  not that i didn’t try, mind you.  i always feel it necessary to show the ‘goo’ who’s boss at my house.  now, i appreciate in advance all your kind thoughts or suggestions, but this stuff will hang for a couple of days.  then one morning, i’ll wake up and boom, back to normal.

so for the time being, my life is a series of charades. and i’m not trying to be metaphorical here or even mysterious.  i’m talking about honest-to-goodness gestures. hand waving. stomping like my 3 yr old. the venerable rolling-of-the-eyes.  the glare. pointing and shaking the head vigoriously from side to side, indicating ‘NOOOOOOO’ in the most over-exagerrated way i can.

my children are ELATED- mom can’t hollar scream like she always does.  so then they proceed to having a little fun with mom- “what mom? i can’t HEAR you”… cheesy grins galore.

the baby looks in my mouth to see where my voice has gone.  cole runs around incessantly talking about the fact that i can’t talk (much less ask him to quiet down).  the noise level in my house rises dramatically except that i’m not adding to it.  my husband will tell you how bad he feels, how he hates it that i can’t talk, prolly with a wink. 

and i try, honestly, i try to convey what i need without resorting to violence.  but mostly, i just resign myself to the fact that for a couple of days, i’m thankful for work where i don’t really talk alot. and that sure, i can strain and get a few hollow words out to convey danger to my little ones.  i can even write what i want and cole can read it.  the problem then is that it becomes a game where he wants to write back.

of course, i’ll be back to form in a couple of days.   so i’ll let my family be thankful for my little bout of laryngitis.  but only for a little while.