At the start of the week, I played a game that I had created with my nieces and nephews when we were all younger -i.e. when they were lighter, and I was stronger. It was dubbed “Aunty Gabby Spaceship” and was a space version of the “Jockey Ride” game where they climbed onto my back and I pretended to be their spaceship. They would “fly” me using my thumbs to turn, accelerate or stop as they navigated me around the house (including up and down the staircase).
Based on how I started this post you can guess what happened this time around. They had a blast! What? You thought that I wasn’t up to the task of transporting five children (one at a time) around the house without taking a break? Well, you’d be correct!
Midflight with the fourth of my sister’s five children, my back told me in no uncertain terms that it was retiring for the rest of the evening. So the spaceship crashed into a space rock (a couch) and my sister had to come to my rescue by being the spaceship for her youngest son. My nieces and nephews gathered around my prone form with varying levels of bemusement on their faces before leaving me to pursue other forms of entertainment.
On Monday I wasn’t in enough pain that I needed to stop being the ‘most awesome aunt that ever lived’. I was still all about that young, sprightly #auntylife - sitting in non-ergonomic chairs, curling up in couches while talking to the kiddos, holding my phone in the air while typing or watching videos, or carrying my nephews up to their room even though they all have perfectly working feet.
By Tuesday morning my neck, shoulder and back were stiff and in agony. I barely slept because of the pain. I can’t take ibuprofen so I loaded up on acetaminophen and alternated between icing and heating the areas. Thank God my sister gave me a few massages throughout the day while I rested. I even sat in an ergonomic chair.
But you know the most important part of the treatment for muscle injuries - resting the injured muscles! Before this year I would have risked the wrath of my stomach, taken the ibuprofens, and once the pain’s edge wore off, I’d get on with my work life. There’d be no room for rest, nor would I have had the inclination to allow it unless I was incapacitated. How do I know? Because I’ve had similar injuries and I treated myself the way I just described.
By Wednesday I was almost back to normal, and on Thursday I could’ve picked up that awesome young, sprightly #auntylife again. I haven’t though! The spaceship has been retired for now, at my brother-in-law’s suggestion. Hopefully I’ve learned my lesson.
Thank God for the quickest recovery time I can ever remember having for that kind of injury.
What good things happened to you this week?
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