And the Green Grass Grows All Around

Well folks, another one down.  Poor little lovely has caught the, ahem, tummy bug.  Daddy is away, and the germs are at play!  All I can say is that the little rhyme that goes ..."and the green grass grows all around, all around and the green grass grows all around!" is stuck in my head.  Did someone say it's going to snow again?

Yucky Sick Snow Days

Well, it has been eventful to say the least.  We began this week thinking that we were getting over the minor fever and cold that had occured on Friday and Saturday.  Everyone felt fine on Sunday.  Everyone went to school on Monday.  Then all heck broke loose.

Did I mention that I have 4 children, a dog, and a husband?

Now back to Monday....at 1:30pm, all was well.  By 3:30pm my type 1 diabetic, celiac, 6 year old was throwing himself down on the examining table and writhing in pain at his usual endocrine doctor's appointment.  By the time we left at 4:00pm, he had a fever, ear infection and high blood sugar.  What?  So, off to the pediatrician we go.  At his 8pm appointment, he is diagnosed with all of the above, and a compromised lung situation.  On the neb we need to go...every 3 hours.  Which complicates his already complicated diabetes.  So, every 2 hours check his blood sugar and give insulin.  Every three hours give him a neb.  Any Mom had already done the math and said...that leaves, uh, no room for sleep or the other 3 kids!  So Tuesday rolls around and I am tired and cranky and the school calls.  Child number 2, down for the count.  EXCEPT he has the kind of illness that requires a bathroom and a bucket simultaneously.  Poor guy!  Tuesday night I ran a marathon between bedrooms, bathrooms, and children.  My carpet may need to be replaced.  Wednesday, no sleep, snow, shoveling, sick kids, daughter who was ill last week (see above) still can not breathe outside without hacking up a lung (but doc okayed her so why worry?)  and she loves the snow.  Diet, what diet?  My husband is kind enough to let me take a two hour nap and handle breakfast so that I don't throw up from lack of sleep.  But, I still need to do meds for kids.  Guess what.  Wednesday night, fever on the baby...oh, and Mom.  Dad is coughing on his way out to shovel again.  We have no mucinex to keep Dad from getting too sick.  Shovel harder!  Movie and ice cream on Wednesday night (WW what?).  By the way, I now know what I missed by not watching Twilight(...loved it!).  Thursday, what a day!  Took the kids outside and watched them play, but tried not to move because I have body aches.  Dad finished shoveling with neighbor friend (who also did other neighbors' drives because they are so cool!!) and then went to the pharmacy.  He brought me home an extra large coffee from DD, he really loves me!  The baby is sleeping in a feverish bliss and will wake up soon to Tylenol dessert.  Chapped cheeks await at the back door.  One child is hard at work doing homework (what school, what is that?) so that he can get back to screen time.  And I have no idea what the heck is for dinner.

BUT....at least all of this was going on during the blizzard.  No one missed an activity or school because everything has been closed.  When the world resumes, hopefully we'll be ready.  I wish everyone some hot coffee, a break on their diet, a little shoveling, and for God sake, healthy kids!!

Sleep

Why don't children sleep in?  Rather, why don't MY CHILDREN sleep in.  We had a lovely two hour delay due to snow today.  And I had all of my kids in my bed before 7am (minus the baby who was happily bouncing around his crib at that time)!  Stay up late, get up early, that is their philosophy!

Snow Days Rule for All

When we were little, snow days meant endless fun, hot chocolate, sometimes cookies and movie nights.  As a parent, the picture isn't quite so warm and fuzzy!  Almost two feet of snow meant snow suits, hat, gloves, sweaters, socks, and lots of snow all over my hall.  The kids were in and out, excited, tired, hungry, you name it.  Our endless driveway, and two of our wonderful older neighbors' drives, needed to be shoveled (Santa is bringing a snow blower next year!).  BUT, with all of chaos, I found a bit of wonderful bliss.  Snow is a fantastic reason to go out on your own, and shovel!  ON YOUR OWN....get it?  After getting everyone fed and dressed and out of the door, I had a minute to throw a sweater over my jammies, and out I went.  I found mountains of snow.  All of it needed to be moved.  Some may find this to be a daunting task.  I, on the other hand, found it so blissfully....peaceful.  The wonderful waves of white acted like a beautiful sound barrier.  I attacked the task at hand with the usual vim and vigor a Mom must have because snack time was approaching.  Luckily, Daddy was hungry at snack time too, so we tag teamed the kids and it was his turn inside the asylum and I was left to the quiet cold, ALL ALONE.  After the ipod died, I listened to the world.  It was wonderful.  The sound of snow falling is amazing.  I highly recommend it!  Thank you to our other neighbor who brought a snow blower to our one neighbor's drive and took care of it without being asked.  My back is very grateful (as is my husband!).  After many hours in the snow in my jammies, it was time for a hot shower.  Then the noise and hungry kiddos resumed.  Although my muscles are sore, I found that I was so much happier to get the dinner on the table and to join in with the kids laughing and horsing around in the family room.  I hope everyone had to shovel today.... what a great way to spend a snow day!

This is just the beginning.

I'd like to start this blog by saying that it is understood that we love our kids, our husbands, our families...but sometimes being an at-home Mom is torture.  When I graduated from college and entered the working world I was full of ideas, ideals, drive, promise and a whole lot of energy.  I was going to be the best.  It didn't matter what it was.  If I was starting it, I did everything that I could to excel at that thing with the goal of blowing everyone out of the water.  I had no intentions of being a stay-at-home mother.  I had full intentions of leading a company, leading a cause, starting something that mattered!  But life doesn't always go the way that you plan.  I met my husband, laughed harder than I ever had in my life, fell in love and got married.  Before we knew it, before we were prepared, we were blessed with our first child.  I had no intentions of staying home.  I loved my job.  I wanted to go back....until the day that I was supposed to. Then I couldn't bear leaving our son.  I called my boss that morning and quit my job.  At the time, I was making more than my husband.  It was the worst financial decision that we could have made.  But deep down, I just could not leave.  I had no idea how hard being a Mom would be.  I just knew that I was supposed to do it.  That was eight years ago.  Now we are going to explore the everyday job that I sometimes resent.  Again...I love my kids more than anything, anyone in the world.  I would do anything for them.  But I am only human and this job doesn't end at 5pm!