Mommy, I sick, I tie-red, I hung-gey.

Kids. You try to get them to sleep enough, eat right, exercise, be smart about exposing themselves to germs, wash their hands, and not do too much.

But, as we all know, kids will be kids, even when they are really BIG kids. Like...almost 24 and living in Washington DC on their own, or kids in far away countries, or in Utah.

Today I had a voice mail from my youngest son, Kyle. It went something like this, (think - sickly voice) "Hi Mom, this is Kyle. Happy Memorial Day. I had to go to Urgent Care today, but I am not going to die. Bye."

Hmmm.

I called, and yes, Kyle was sick and I heard all about it. (Erin was sick too, but I didn't hear as much about that). It sounded like a rough week. I loved talking to him and enjoyed listening to his tales of woe. He finally went to Urgent Care after over a week of misery. He told me it felt like when he was so sick at school and cried because he felt so bad as the nurse called me to pick him up.

This time, rather than picking him up and bringing him home, I gave him the motherly talk over the phone about being more careful, heading to the doctor sooner (not that I practice any of this), drinking fluids and resting. Mostly, I was glad that somewhere in that grown up psyche was a lingering memory that little boys want their Mom's when they are sick.

I am glad he is better.

This call reminded me of a call I received several years ago from my middle daughter, Kelly. She was in her first year at college, in Utah. I lived in Washington state. One day I received a call from her - (imagine - sickly voice) "Mom, I am sick. I can't even get out of bed. Could you please bring me a glass of water?" (Being a Mom means being creative and so I called my older daughter Karynn who lived in the same town and asked her to please check on Kelly - and take her a glass of water. She did. :) )

And then, just recently, when Kalen "Skyped" (is that a new verb?) me from Brazil, complaining (imagine - yep, sickly voice) of a sore throat and white dots. She, without hesitation, opened her mouth as wide as she could and leaned nearer to the camera, upon which I grabbed my handy dandy mini-flashlight and (pretended) to shine it into her mouth, pointing it at the computer screen. :) See picture above for verification of mutual insanity.

Sometimes Moms just have to play along, no matter how absurd.

And kids. Ya gotta love em. If not, who would they call when they are sick?

Julie Andrews "A Spoonful of Sugar"/Mary Poppins