My Knight In Shining Chocolate

Yes, I know my last hubby post was not the most complimentary. Shame on me - I should have known my knight would redeem himself, just as he has done numerous times throughout our 15-year marriage (which is why we're still happily married, BTW - men, start taking notes now).

Last week was brutal. Picking up from the weekend, Princess G got croup, resulting in several nights of little sleep. I, of course, also got a cold, and as a result of that and the lack of rest, was hit with a major flare-up of the genetic disorder I have, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. I have Type III (aka hypermobility syndrome), which means (short version) that while I can bend like a pretzel (Yes, I know what you're thinking. My hubby is very grateful. And y'all are so bad.), my joints aren't held together very well because my collagen is weak. Not only am I easily injured, but I sometimes have "flare-ups" which make my joints almost unbearably ache. Think you're worst body aches with a bad flu - it's worse than that. When this happens, I just want to lie in bed in the fetal position and not be touched, because the slightest pressure can make the pain worse.

Of course, I'm a mommy, so lying in bed is completely out of the question. Added to that, I'd like to keep my part-time PR job, and in this awful economy, we've all got to be in there justifying our existence or we're gone. So, I continued as usual with my week, albeit without the rather upbeat disposition I usually have. Sometimes I can fake smile my way through the flare-ups; this one was so bad it took all I had to stay on my feet. Being cheerful was simply beyond my reach, and by the end of the week, I was exhausted from the pain and getting increasingly frustrated with the princesses for no other reason than being spent.

Believe it or not, ladies, one call to dear hubby to ask if he could take over princess duty as soon as he got home so I could hit the hay was all it took. I got to go to bed by 7 p.m. Thursday night (heaven!), sleep all night long without interruption, and even sleep in a little (OK, 6:30 a.m., but still!). Saturday afternoon I got a nice long nap, and - here's where he really earns his armor - at dinner Sir Knight declares it "Happy Mommy Day" and whips out the most delicious chocolate cake you've ever eaten in your life. He said that if Hallmark can make up holidays, so can he. I wish I had gotten a photo of it, but you know the princesses and I around chocolate - you best just throw it at us and run if you want to remain out of harm's way.

So yes, he does "forget" to take out the bathroom trash until it threatens to bury the potty. And yes, he does sometimes sit there relaxing in his recliner and give me that "huh, me?" look when I ask him to help with housecleaning. And yes, he has the memory of a gnat. Sometimes I wonder how he remembers the way home every night.

But the man does know when to bring home some chocolate for Mama. And he knows how to stroke my hair during a flare-up when that's the only thing anyone can touch on me without screaming. And, despite all his flaws - and, more importantly, all mine - he loves me. In the grand scheme of things, is there really anything else that I need?