I have laryngitis.  Horribly, awful, laryngitis.  The sort where even whispering is difficult. This has led to a couple of hilarious things happening around my house.

First, I have noticed that since I can’t talk above a whisper, everyone gets really close to talk to me and they whisper right back.  They are way more attentive to what I am saying.  It makes me think I should just incorporate talking softly into my life.  Though who am I kidding, I am a loud mouth at heart.

Second, because I sound horrible my kids think that I must feel really, really sick.  So they keep saying things to each other like, “Don’t make Mom talk, can’t you see how sick she is!” And they have volunteered themselves to do all sorts of things around the house for me.  It makes me think that all the talks of being kind, helpful, and teaching them how to do chores has paid off.  Even thought there have been times over the years that I have been tempted to throw in the proverbial towel and allow them all to go feral.

Third, somewhat related.  One of my young sons asked me if I was sick because I “have puberty.”  Not sure where he heard the word but it was hysterical.  I told him I was fairly certain I was long over puberty.  Of course this led to more questions about what puberty is.  And I got to whisper all about it while they sat right in my face.  And whispered back.  In the end we all concluded that their teenage brothers are the ones who are “sick with puberty.”