Raking, back pains, and witches

I think it was five years ago when my lower back started to bother me. After asking many questions, my doctor suggested that I delegate some more of the household chores to my family.

I am well aware of what triggers my back pain, namely, carrying heavy groceries, raking and shoveling.

I have found a solution about the groceries. I always bring several bags and I distribute the weight of my items evenly. I can usually get away with shoveling the snow. If I can’t, I do very little of it. I leave this chore to my husband although we sometimes fight about it. My sister usually beats us in shoveling the driveway, which we share, since she’s the one who has a car. I sometimes feel bad about it. So when Fall comes, I do tackle raking the leaves even though I know what’s in store for me. I would really like to leave this job to the kids, but you see, they won’t do it unless I start doing it.

And so Friday and Saturday of last week, I was out there with the rake, rubber gloves, several garbage bags and my three boys. Oh, don’t be fooled. It’s not their favourite chore either. They were just really being nice to their dear old mother. The store flyers are now full of wonderful things that remind them of Christmas and the wish lists are a-coming. I have started hearing “Mommy, can I have this for Christmas?” and I have started saying, “I’ll think about it.” Now, do you see what I mean? This is how it works well for all of us. I did only half the job and left the rest of the raking and bagging to them. I didn’t want to over-exert myself. And yet I still got this nasty back pain. It wasn’t as bad as last year though.

When I am feeling these aches and pains, I get cranky and grumpy. I can be in a lousy or foul mood. I can be a witch, not to everybody. Only to certain people. But I can easily be cured by a dose of TLC, an extra hour of sleep and a little trick-or-treating.