Postponed: The Humor Awards (and My Sanity)

Surviving the triple challenge: my immune system, my toddler's day-care, and the corporate humor awards.

I’m a baby whenever I get sick.

Whether it’s the flu, a headache, or even the sniffles, as soon as my body is fighting off something, I don’t want to do nothing (not even edit out double negatives). 

I don’t want to do any work, I don’t want to go anywhere, I don’t want to talk to anyone (so not all that different from a Friday night after a long week).

All I want to do is lie on the couch, binge-watch a Marvel or Star Wars series, and sip soup from a can—shout out to those Campbell’s lazy person soup sodas.

Growing up, my “being sick” strategy worked well. My mom would let me take the day off of school, she’d prep the comfort foods and snacks, and I’d couch potato myself back to health.

Once I started working, and particularly when I started my own business, my strategy stayed largely the same… after I sent an email canceling any and all meetings, pushing back any and all deadlines, and fishing for sympathy from any and all people.

When I got married, Pretzel (my wife) replaced my soup sodas with “real soup” made from “real ingredients” (her words, not mine) and then I’d still couch potato myself back to health with symptoms so mild. In fact, Pretzel accurately theorized that if our gender roles were reversed, and I was the one having to deal with the hormonal changes she has to deal with, I would, in fact, get nothing done… and I’d never shut up about it. I don’t know how 49.76% of the world population does it, you have my undying admiration and respect.

The lazy away illness strategy worked until my daughter was born, particularly once she started going to day-care.

For a long while, it seemed like one of the three of us was sick nearly every other week at home. It’s hard to cancel any and all meetings when you’re not feeling well every two weeks. And despite the sheer number of Marvel + Star Wars shows out there, you do run out eventually.

Also, it turns out that babies/toddlers don’t really understand the concept of you being sick. Yes, you might be coughing up a storm, but these Duplo blocks aren’t going to build themselves. Plus, if you’re lucky enough that both you and your miniature human are sick at the same time, only one of you gets to be lazy for the day - it hasn’t yet been me.

I share all of this background because, sadly, we had to cancel the Corporate Humor Awards show this past Wednesday.

I woke up on Tuesday feeling less than chipper, grappling with a few doubts. I wasn't exactly bedridden—I’d put myself at about 75% battery life. Pre-wife, pre-baby me, would have swiftly initiated Operation Do Nothing. But with a to-do list as long as my arm and my wife, Pretzel, away on business, it was just my little sidekick and me holding the fort. As they rightly say, "the show must go on."

That didn't stop me from firing off a speculative text to Bianca that evening, toying with the idea of postponing the awards show. Ever the voice of reason, she suggested we forge ahead, provided I could rally enough to perform at three-quarters strength.

I couldn’t.

I woke up on Wednesday earlier than usual, feeling refreshed and close to 90% normal. I started to put some finishing touches on the Awards Show and was happy to see my daughter was sleeping past her usual 6am wake-up.

I kept working on the script as time rolled on 6:30… 7:00… 7:30 and still a sleeping toddler.

As it got to nearly 8am, my joy at having additional time to prep turned to dread.

My fears were confirmed when she finally woke up at 8:05 and I checked her temperature: 37.8 degrees Celsius. I’ll be honest, I don’t actually know what that means (I grew up on Fahrenheit and only now googled that it’s 100.04 degrees), but our thermometer shows green, yellow, and red, and anything but green equals “no day-care.”

And so, 55 minutes before scheduled go time, with a sick toddler, no day-care, Pretzel out of town, and our babysitter unavailable for another 3 hours, we made the call to postpone the Humor Awards Show.

Now I recognize that our show isn’t exactly the Oscars when it comes to viewership (although if we keep growing and they keep declining, you never know), I still hate to reschedule, particularly an event like this. Some people may have rearranged their work schedule so they could attend. Nominees are likely eager to want to know the winners. The judges had made time out of their schedules to be involved (my apologies to

Good Humor by CK Steefel

Julie Vick

and

Carlos Greaves

.) I also wrote a great pun I want people to hear!

So I want to say I’m sorry to all of you who were excited about the awards show, we’ve rescheduled them for Wednesday, May 8th, 9AM EST/CDT, I hope you’re able to make it. 

If you need to blame someone, it was probably some three-year-old at my daughter’s day-care who came in sick when they shouldn’t have, so direct your anger towards them… I’m kidding (partially).

Special Bonus for Live Attendees

To sweeten the pot (and apologise for the delay) immediately following the awards, we'll do an exclusive mastermind session where we’ll unpack the secrets behind our winners' success. This is your chance to discover the common threads and creative strategies that you can apply not just in your work, but in enhancing daily interactions and team dynamics.

Oh, and so I don’t laze away my sick days in the future, if you have any strategies or rituals you do when you’re sick, let me know in the comments.

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PS. If you want to join us for the awards show, you can RSVP here.