It was cold last night, only a few degrees colder than it was the night before.  At least, I think so.  And the thermostat was not set particularly low.  But we shivered through supper and homework.  Julia had had a moderately challenging day—she was late for study hall, her stomach hurt during reading and she still couldn’t present her earth science project due to some IT problem with her powerpoint.  She had math and earth science homework and a Death of a Salesman test to study for, and it was admittedly harder than usual to catch her attention. Once she was working, she was fine, though her processing speed slowed to a half crawl at times.  But we got through it all. She was incredibly tired which has become the new normal more than half her days.  I’m not sure if it is that without the ADHD meds, her body runs down sooner, or that she is exhausted from working harder to concentrate on any form of work throughout the day, or something else.  

As soon as she was finished with homework, we both headed upstairs to change into pjs and climb into my very cozy bed to watch a sappy Christmas movie but even under the down comforter we were chilly.  So, I rummaged through my closet and I dragged out the heating pad that I had originally bought to deal with my sciatica, plugged it in and turned it on high.  Then we were toasty warm and Julia asked to spend the night in my bed after the movie.

By the time she was asleep, I turned off the heating pad.  I was comfortable without it.   Actually, the house seemed to have warmed up and I was ready for bed. I remembered that when I needed the heating pad for my lower back and leg, it was the only remedy that seemed to help.  Then, a year later, when I no longer needed it for my back, I used it again during a few weeks of very cold weather.  Julia was happy in her bed under her quilts but I couldn’t warm up those night.  I recall lots of self pity and a bit of embarrassment—the heating pad was my only companion on a cold winter’s night.  Now, it only seems practical.  After all, I could one day be partnered with someone whose cold feet can only be warmed with a plug in pad.  And then I would have a partner and a heating pad in my bed.  Not that there are any contenders at the moment, but it could happen.  In the meantime, I’ll be toasty warm without any self imposed ill feelings.