CURE ME...WITH HOMEMADE CHICKEN BROTH

It was just the two of us again. My little guy and me. He was home sick last week and it was just the two of us, like when he was a baby, a toddler...before "the girls", also known as his sisters, came along. While they were at school, it felt like 1999-2000 all over again.

I hated him being sick. But I loved the chance to coddle him, listen to the things he said undistracted from his sisters, to enjoy his company, which went from sleepy and sniffly to slightly irritating when the medicine was working and he was kicking a soccer ball off my wall out of boredom.

I couldn't help but remember what it was like with just one child to take care of, not four (we're four when my stepson is in town, and he eats more than all of the other kids combined, which I totally dig about him). With four kids ages 4 to 18, it's hard not to be reflective or nostalgic when you are alone with just one of them.

And even more difficult not to notice all the things that are so different than the last time it was just the two of you. For me and the little guy, it was 8 years ago since just the two of us were home during the day.

All of these changes seemed like nothing at the time, if I noticed them at all. And the things that are the same, I am certain I take for granted.

THINGS THAT ARE THE SAME:

1) He still watches Scooby-Doo, and we can both still fall asleep peacefully and happily watching it.

2) He still randomly says "I love you, Mom", especially when I least expect it - or can't hear him from the other room I am in.

3) He still wants his big, protective dog and a ball of some sort within reach.

4) He can still scarf down two bowls full of spaghetti and meat sauce, even appetite-compromised.

5) He still loves large, fuzzy, warm blankets - pulled up to his chin, feet showing.

THINGS THAT ARE DIFFERENT:

1) He now watches more than Scooby-Doo, including shows on The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon that are so annoying that they should be used to get criminals to crack during interrogation.

2) Reading isn't a fun sick day activity any longer. He doesn't want me to read to him anymore, won't pick up a book and read himself, or let me read a book, for that matter.

By the way, the above two things are the reason for much of my discontent.

3) He now enjoys going to his room, to be alone, and doesn't consider it a punishment.

4) He finally understands why we need to double-team acetaminophen and ibuprofen.

5) Avoiding homework is now the coolest perk of being sick, when it used to be having a bed made up for him on the couch.

I guess we all change. I am the same. I am different. I still keep up on vaccinations. I now also keep up with the CDC. I still make chicken soup when they're sick, I now make my own chicken broth. I still compare myself to Scooby and Shaggy in terms of hunger, I now also compare myself to the AT&T mom for frugality-driven mania.

Among so many other things.

He was there, under his blanket, petting the dog, and he might as well have been 10 months old, in a onesie, fighting a cold, and the things I do are different, but the way I feel is the same.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN BROTH

2 lbs. of bone-in chicken

pot full of water, enough to cover chicken

3 carrots

2 stalks of celery

1 yellow onion, quartered (leave the skin on, it gives a great color to the stock)

bay leaf

1 tsp. or so of peppercorns

Put chicken in a heavy pot. Cover with water. Add the rest of the ingredients, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a strong simmer, for about 90 minutes.

Strain into a bowl that can fit into the fridge.

Discard everything but the chicken, pull chicken off the bone and remove the skin, if any - shred this chicken and use for quesadillas, enchiladas, pasta, chicken salad, ravioli stuffing...

Let stick cool slightly before you refrigerate or freeze.

If it needs fortifying before you use it in a soup, poach about 1 additional pound of chicken in this stock again, simmering for about another hour. (Alternatively, add a cube of chicken bouillon, but the whole point was to make your own). But if you use enough chicken and simmer long enough the flavor should be just right.