Sick Days

One of the treasures that becomes lost to a stay at home Mom is sick days. I remember the good old days when I got sick: I called into work, I stayed home and slept, watched TV, ate comfort foods, and took long hot baths all day. Swine flu hit our home and we were miserable. My husband was shot down first, then myself, then our two boys. I tried to call in sick, but I only got the busy signal. So, dinners still needed cooked, diapers needed changed, laundry needed washed, and boys needed comfort and who was left to do it all? Me! As much as I love my job as Mommy, it was a struggle this past week to not lock everyone in seperate rooms and just crawl under my covers and whimper in the fetal position. I'm feeling better now and my husband (he got a secondary infection and had to go on antibiotics) and boys (Tyler got an ear infection as well) are on their way to recovery as well. My first order of business when I was feeling well?? Getting a garbage bag and systematically going through each room in my house to clear it of dirty diapers that had been reluctantly changed and instantly forgotten. My sweet smelling home is here once more (wait, did I just hear one of the boys fill a diaper! groan...)

Reality Check

Sometimes I like to blog jump. Yes, it is a huge waste of time and usually it is time I don't have to waste, but sometimes it is fun. A few days ago I stumbled across the blog of a friend that I grew up with. Her daughter was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor and after battling for over a year she passed away in June. As I read of their struggles with this disease and their feelings on losing a daughter so young I had a major reality check. Life is too short. So, I've tried to do better. Instead of getting frustrated with my young boys, I gave them an extra hug. Instead of spending every spare second trying to clean my house, I played fire trucks for a long time today. I sang an extra song at bedtime and I rocked my baby to sleep, letting his finger curl around mine. Being a mom of young children can be exasperating, frustrating, & exhausting, but it is the most rewarding thing I will ever do in my life and it is sad that it takes such a tragedy to remind me of that. I need to take a minute and smell the diapers roses. I have a wonderful life, if I'll just sit back and let myself enjoy it.

Blue?

In an effort to get my reluctant toddler to actually eat something, I decided to let him choose what bowl his macaroni would go into. I pulled out all of our clean plastic bowls and set them on the counter. "Okay Abe, do you want purple, orange, yellow, green, or red?" I asked pointing to each bowl. He looked at me and said, "blue".

What the heck...

I've thought and thought about starting a "mommy" blog. I've thought of recording my experiences. Sharing what I know, or more likey what I thought I knew and found I didn't know. Anyway, it is done. The blog has begun. Welcome to my world.