Every now and then I feel as if I'm being tested - by my kids, by my husband, by the powers that be - to see if I'm really cut out for this mommy business.
Luckily, I always pass. So far.
These past two weeks have been a little rough. Beckham had three days of being sick where he not only felt miserable with a fever of 103, but was also throwing up. Jordan happened to be working on-call at the hospital the entire time, which seems to always be the case when something is going terribly wrong at home. As I tried to keep my 4-year-old hydrated and cooled off and well-rested, I was toting around a happy baby on my hip. As soon as she would go down for a nap, there I was scrubbing vomit off of floors and walls and toilets and doors, and sanitizing the entire house in hopes that nobody else would catch the bug he had. I spent night after night caring for a sick child, feeling so absolutely helpless that he had to feel so miserable and wishing I could magically make him feel better. I slept by his side, I catered to his every need, and at one point got teary-eyed because I felt so overwhelmed with love for this kid. I really would do ANYTHING for him.
As soon as he was feeling better, I was rushing to quickly put together the Joy School Christmas Party and Kindergarten Readiness Lessons for the week as well as preparing for the party we were throwing at our house that weekend. The day of the Joy School Christmas Party, one girl showed up to my house absolutely plagued with illness! She was coughing a hoarse, raspy cough the entire time as goop ran down her face. Since she's only 3, bless her heart, she would cough on everyone around her as she walked by, wipe her nose with her hands before touching all of the toys and craft supplies, etc... without realizing that I stood there wincing each time, praying that my children would stay healthy and wouldn't get sick again. The next day I frantically cleaned my house and had a little Christmas get-together with some local friends. Then, two to three days later we all suddenly have horrible colds with fevers.
Now my baby has that hoarse, raspy cough and runny nose with a fever that seems identical to the symptoms displayed by the 3-year-old girl at my house that day and I find myself ranting on the inside about how parents should not send their sick kids to other people's houses to get an entire family sick! (Which I would never say out loud because I know these things happen and I love their sweet family and would never want to offend them - and can safely type it here because they'll never see this blog :)
So, now I'm taking care of a coughing 4-year-old and a sick-as-can-be 11-month-old WHILE I'm also sick and I'm wondering if this is MY test this week and I can't help but laugh at the irony. Last week I passed the test of taking care of one sick child while juggling a healthy child and household responsibilities on very little sleep and I think I may have become a little prideful after mastering this feat. Now things have been kicked up a notch and I'm taking care of two sick children while I'm sick myself still running on very little sleep while running around preparing for Christmas.
So, Santa, if you're out there, all I want for Christmas this year is a full night's sleep and a healthy family. If you can give me that, I promise I'll stop whining and complaining about how tired and achey and sick I am and be a good mommy all year long.
ah Erin, i'm sorry! hang in there: this too shall pass...
ReplyDeleteWell... I laugh at my own ridiculous post now because even at the time I was typing it, I just knew I was jinxing myself more. Now, as Ava overcomes her illness, Beckham has come down with an ear infection (this kid has been sick maybe two or three times in the past 4 1/2 years and all of the sudden he's being hit with one thing after another!), and, to make matters even more...um....interesting?... I found out that my "flu" won't be going away anytime soon. When I laugh at myself, as I was doing while typing my original post, it seems to open the floodgates for all sorts of things to hit me from Pandora's Box of tricks. So, rather than laugh this time, I will solemly sign out with a very humble, respectful, even fearful look on my face as I bow out and cross my fingers that I won't be hit with anything else this week. I love surprises, don't get me wrong, but I also want to survive to see the New Year!
ReplyDeleteaww your poor family! i'm in the same boat as you guys! sick my entire break off of work :/ sucks! I hope you guys start feeling better soon! love you!
ReplyDeleteErin!!! I just looked at these comments again. Give me "flu" details... wow!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post--especially with your added comment. I hope everyone is feeling better! And if it's what I think you're saying, congrats.
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't post when I'm exhausted and home alone with kids, distracted by their needs while Jordan is away working - it just turns into a ranting a raving madman (er, woman) going on and on about the mundane aspects of life. Just in typing this comment alone, every other word I hear, "Mommy.... MOMMY! Are you done yet?!" Then two seconds... yep, there it is... "Mommmmmy!" My kids really don't like it when I sit down, and they especially don't like it if my attention is on something else. Anyhow, my point is, I should give these posts better editorial review before publishing to filter out the ones written at 4AM or the ones written during those moments of insanity when I'm so sick, tired, overwhelmed, and searching for any reprieve whatsoever. So, this whiny, desperate mom apologizes for the bah humbug post and I am happy to announce that at least I was laughing to myself while typing it (perhaps out of insanity.... but laughter is what it is and if that's what I need to stay sane on days like this one, so be it!) Well, my son is asking me, "How many more seconds will this take?!" I better run :)
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