This cold, or whatever, that has slowly been making it’s way through our ranks is just miserable. Ella’s poor nose is really nasty, and she HATES having it wiped!! She’d rather crawl around with mess all over her face, but I just can’t deal with that. Myles has a yucky sounding cough which he is trying to learn to cover with his elbow. Unfortunately he’s usually mostly done coughing by the time he remembers. He has a gross nose as well, but I can actually tell him to get a tissue and wipe it and he does pretty well.
So with all of those icky germs sliming and floating around in our house is it any wonder that I got the cold too? No, not really. When you’re a mom, one of your most amazing accessories is baby/kid snot all over your shirt. Oh yeah… that’s one of the things they don’t tell ya. 😉
So I’ve got the cold now. I’m congested and have a sore throat. But for some unknown reason my colds tend to gravitate to my head and cause what I call dizzies. BLAH! It’s something that happens a couple times a year. Usually coinciding with a cold or onset of allergy season.
I knew before my eyeballs opened this morning that this would be one of those dizzy days. I don’t enjoy them at all. When I was a teacher, I’d call in sick for at least half a day to try and sleep it off. Sleep seems one of the best ways to get rid of the condition. BUT now that I’m a mommy…. who do I call to have a sick day? Even half?? Nope, nobody. *sigh*
I know that people think that since you’re “stay at home” that must mean you can lounge around in your jammies and slippers all day, and basically just take life easy anyway. Does it really work that way for anyone? I mean, where in the world did that preconception come from? When I “take it easy” for a day stuff piles up on the counter tops at an alarming rate, the clothes hamper virtually explodes, and every kids toy that has been lost or loved, comes out of hiding and litters the floor. And the work to “catch up” on the next day kind of cancels out any ease taking I did previously.
The kids of course go wild, and any “rest” I get is in the form of sitting quietly trying not to move my head and trying not to imagine the damage and destruction that might be going on around me. (I just had to scold Myles for trying to rip apart one of his sister’s birthday toys- arg!) Yes, there are those days when I wish I could call in a replacement and just sleep the morning away. But mommies don’t get sick days. We’re the ones who bandaid the boo-boos, wipe the snot, distribute the meds and, the lads favorite, honey. We fix the chicken noodle soup and crackers, clean up the spills, change the clothes and bedding, wake up at 4 am to do any and all of the above. That’s our “job” it comes with the title. Even on days like today when I would like to “call in sick” and just take care of ME for a little while, I know that I’m so blessed to have this job!!
I’ll save up my sick days and take them when in 18 years we have an empty nest. I know at that time I’ll be longing for the days when I could put my dizzy head aside in order to wipe a nose. There will be plenty of time then to “put my feet up” and sip my coffee in solitude. But then I will be wishing for a little destructive noise to gain my attention. It’s such a short span of time that I get to actively fulfill this special job of “stay at home mom” that I can’t afford to take sick days. I need to be engaged and active, and enjoy every moment of these crazy days. Even when I have the dizzies. 🙂