Moms Don’t Get Sick Leave

Last night I went to bed with a giant migraine and woke up today very congested and sounding like I have smoked 80 packs of cigarettes every day in my 28 years of life. Thanks be to God, no one is showing any signs of illness (probably due to breastfeeding Benedict and putting breastmilk into Elise’s glasses of cow milk). When I woke up this morning I could barely get Benedict latched on, let alone take care of a rambunctious toddler and a very cute and cuddly 2 month old.

Greg used some sick leave to be Mr. Mom this morning. From what I could hear through the bedroom door, all three had quite an adventure. Greg would bring Benedict in periodically for food. I could hear Greg trying to play with Benedict and keep Elise from trying to “play ” with him (she thinks she can pick up Ben) at the same time. I think he was slightly relieved when Benedict needed to eat JUST as he realized Elise’s diapers were smelling a bit poopy (she’s at that “I refuse to lay still” phase for diaper changes).

Praise the Lord, sleeping in, a long, very hot (and steamy) bath, and a lot of prayer has cleared out my sinuses and while I think everyone should buy stock in Kleenex; I no longer sound like a poster child for why NOT to smoke cigs. Greg’s gone back to work (he needs to conserve sick leave since we’re attending my mom’s DBS surgery next week). I can’t help but think of the (very few) times my mom had the flu or a cold or some other ailment and she would drag herself out of bed and attempt to take care of us kids (usually Dad would intervene). I always thought she was insane – she should take care of herself before us. But this morning, while I sounded and felt absolutely horrible, I figured “oh, I can get up, feed the kids, do diapers and then just hunker down in front of The Incredibles and a lot of Donut Man. It was only when Greg asked “do you want me to stay home for the morning?” that I decided I should sleep in and try and get this head cold under control. I’m glad I did, because now the afternoon can be less movie and more FUN FUN FUN.

I totally get where my mom is coming from now.