Yesterday morning I woke up with a wicked cold. It was one of those colds that came out of nowhere, but I could feel it before I even opened my eyes. You know what I mean – your sinuses are pounding, your muscles are aching, and your throat feels like someone jammed 42 knives down it while you were sleeping. I knew that I needed a day of complete and total rest in order to quickly defeat this nasty bug, and with my eyes still closed, I started picking out soup and movie combos. Then my kids jumped on me. Oh yeah. Them.

The worst part about being a mom is the sick days – because there are no sick days, are there? I mean, we can’t call in sick and have someone else run the show for the day while we indulge in a little R&R. Now, I was actually lucky because my mother had already agreed to watch River and that gave me a chance to take a much needed nap in the afternoon with my baby. The rest of the day was still devoted to soup and movies, but the movies were more G-rated than I had originally planned. But really, who doesn’t love Toy Story?

I got to thinking later that I should be better prepared for unexpected illnesses. Maybe I could keep some toys aside for occasions like this, things that would entertain my daughter for a long time so that I can lay on the couch as much as I can.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

• Sticker books are always a hit in our house.
• Pictures cut from magazines and a glue stick. Also a big hit here – maybe because they’re like DIY stickers?
• Story books with an audio recording. (I’m a big fan of and ambassador for Barefoot Books, and many of their books come with audio CDs – a lifesaver when you can barely talk and your child is begging you to read a story. You can even download some stories for free as podcasts – great for car rides!)
• Some fresh playdough and a couple neat playdough accessories.

And that’s all I’ve got so far, because I’m still sick and can’t really think straight. It doesn’t matter too much what I put in, as long as the toys are a novelty when they’re needed. So help me out – do you have any ideas of what to put in my Special Sometimes Box?

Thanks to anitakhart on flickr for the photo.