Reminder (especially for the holidays): you’re not sick

You're not sick. You're not unwell. You're not 'coming down with something'

(Well maybe you are, I'm not a doctor)

But if THEY tell you that you're unwell, you're not

It's a tactic to make you worry and their way of trying to make you dependent on them

My nmother got very jealous as I was wrapping presents for other family members, so she started acting like she was ill

She kept grabbing the counter suddenly and telling me she was dizzy

And yet, miraculously, just a few seconds after she realised I wasn't responding to any of that, she turned her attention to me and my health

She gasped - like a genuine stage gasp - grabbed my face and tilted it to a certain angle, doing a sort of serious, thoughtful 'hmm' but not telling me what she was looking at or had apparently noticed on my face

I didn't respond to that either so she eventually dropped it

When I went back upstairs I looked in the mirror to check if there was something on my face (I figured it was either dust or mascara)

Nope, it's a mole

It's a mole that I've had in that exact spot on my face for... oh about 15 years now

And in that time, it hasn't grown, changed shape/colour or moved. It's just a mole

For the last couple of weeks she's been going on about how I sound like I'm coming down with a cold and have a sore throat and look like I've got tonsillitis again

None of these things are true. It's just a tactic

So if they try to tell you that you're ill, don't listen to them