WOTD: Propaedeutic

hello all!
the Word Of The Day: propaedeutic • \proh-pih-DOO-tik\ • noun : preparatory study or instruction.
i thought this was SO suitable seeing as my job is a propaedeutic to marriage and raising kids. "How?" one might ask....well, i spend my days catering to the whims(and they most often are whims) of a woman. don't get me wrong....i absolutely LOVE my job and what i do. it's just that i was thinking about it and, because of circumstances being what they are, Ruthie has become alot more childlike in her needs, thus putting me as her caregiver into role of mother.
Not that i mind.
However, it has given me so much more respect and admiration for the role of mothers. Readers: you need to call your mother right after you read this and thank her for all that she has done. i mean, just think about it good and hard.....what exactly has your mother given up, gone out of her way for you?
this past week has been a doozie. it never rains, but pours.
how true.
On Monday, Charles messed up his knee(or rather, his knee is messed up from something that happened 40 years ago in the military). at any rate, it started acting up again. On Tuesday, it was Charles' and Ruth's 36th wedding anniversary(WHOOHOOO!!) and Charles' knee was worse. which ended up making me the chauffeur for the evening. and it's not that it was awkward or anything....i had just woken up that morning with a sore throat and just frankly didn't want to go out to dinner with them. now, here comes the mother part: i did anyways because they needed me to, and i knew how much Ruthie wanted to go. and let me tell you.....sacrifice is HARD, dang it! but it ended up being fun and they really appreciated it, so i guess it was worth it. well, Wednesday my sore throat had turned into a full-fledged cold, and today, Thursday, Charles went and had an MRI done on his knee and my regular cold turned into a head cold. and so i leave you with one question:
If you HAD to pick one or the other....which would you choose: runny or stuffy nose?