Confession

So here is the question I pose -- is it better to do one thing well and a bunch of things poorly or is it better to do a bunch of things at a mediocre level? This was my quandary this week.

Amanda had a fever starting on Tuesday. I worked from home that day and thought that she was OK with Noah, but really he was just wandering around our bedroom while she lay in bed. She was not in good shape. I took her temp that afternoon and it was 101. She told me to go to class, which I did.

Wednesday I was kind of stuck because she was still in bed. Frankly, I was kind of angry because I felt like she could have seen this sickness coming and stopped it (I'm not saying this was rational). She knew something was wrong and I told her that. Big mistake. I ended up taking Noah to spend the day with Aunt Tiffany. It was another long day.

I'd like to qualify a few things at this point. I only have 2 days of vacation left for the year, so I was hesitant to stay home for the day. I also was woke up at 3:00 AM on Monday and Tuesday nights for work. That didn't help my cognitive abilities any either.

Thursday morning found Amanda still sick, but not feverish. She said that she could cope with this day and she actually went beyond coping. When I got home from work I heard her talking to Tiffany and talking about she was "still very upset." Stupid me I didn't realize it was me that she was upset with. That's a guy for you.

We had a good talk about this. She felt like I was putting everything else ahead of her and she was right. I normally pride myself on not doing that, but it is just what I did. What a fool I was!

I had to do a lot of driving yesterday evening and that gave me time for thought. What I realized was that pride was getting in my way yet again. One of my coworkers has a wife with lupus and he has to stay home with her a lot. I kind of resent this sometimes, but I notice that our team lead makes no outward show of that being a problem. Why couldn't I take similar liberties when this happened with Amanda? Pride of not being "that guy." What a fool!

This was a good learning experience for me. It especially reminds me to take heed lest I fall.

Can I get an amen from a brother out there?