Sick Days

On Sunday, after spending a delightful visit with my aunt and uncle, I started getting a terrible sore throat.  I thought is was from talking too much.  I was wrong.  By the time I finished with brass quartet and choir rehearsals at church, I was in agony. 

Then my ex brought the kids home from Daddy Day.  I met them at the car, and my daughter (uncharacteristically) stood in the driveway bawling her eyes out.  He tells me, "She's been sick all day." 

My first thought--even as I realized how glad I was that I'd had the day to myself--was to wonder why he hadn't brought her home to rest if she was sick. 

My second thought was, "That's why my throat hurts!" 

My third thought was, "Oh no!  We're all going to be sick!" 

I've been a mom for over four years now.  I'm no stranger to "sick days."  But this is one of the things I've been dreading since I first learned I was getting divorced: my first solo sick day. 

It's a little weird that I worried about it because, to be honest, I can only think of two situations when I've been so sick that I've been unable to care for the rest of the house.  The first was when Ranita was an infant and I had mastitis--I called my ex then because I was so weak I was afraid I'd drop the baby.  The second was about a year ago.  I can't remember what I had, but I was sick enough that even my crying kids couldn't drag me out of bed.

Handling it alone and knowing you are alone are two very different things, however.  There are the little things, like the fact that I can no longer take NyQuil at night.  (The stuff knocks me out cold!  I used to wait for my ex to get home before taking it because I wanted to make sure someone else was in the house before I zonked out.) 

So Sunday night I rocked my little girl to sleep.  I got up with her in the middle of the night.  I gave up altogether at 2am, and the two of us spent the night snuggled on the couch . . . until my son got up at 5:30am. 

We watched movies all morning.  (Can we just say that I now know all 3 Madagascar movies inside and out?!)  All three of us curled up on the couch, and we stayed in the house all day.  We all went down for naps at 1pm and slept until 4pm.  We all needed to rest . . . and we did. 

Tuesday was similar, though Chinchita and I were starting to feel better.  It was Ranita's turn to be down in the dumps.  Mommy felt invigorated enough to do laundry and the dishes, clean the fish tanks, clean the bathroom, permanently "relocate" a mouse who trapped himself in my bathtub, vacuum, and take care of some post-divorce stuff.  (Go Mommy!) 

The kids rallied enough for a short pool session, but that was it. 

Today we're about 70%.  I'm shooting for 95% tomorrow!

What I learned, of course, is that I can do this.  There will be times when it is more than a bad cold, and we'll have to call in reinforcements, and that will be okay.  To be honest, even this time I wasn't completely alone. 

My sister rearranged child care so I could keep my sick self (and munchkins) home.  I put off grocery shopping a couple days longer than I thought I could . . . and we ate well all the same!  A friend texted me reminding me our struggle is against powers and principalities in the heavenly realms, not just what we see.  And we made it through!

Best of all, a sick day is no longer something to fear!  (Achoo!)