It seems that every year, from November through June, my family enters a state of nearly perpetual plague. One thing after another, after another. On the weeks when all is well, we scramble trying to play catch-up with life, because we know that just around the corner awaits the next plague. (It should be noted that I have NEVER been caught up on life.) The weirdest thing is, much of the time we are each catching a different plague! It’s not like this is a simple problem of improper hygiene where we’re sharing everything. No, we take appropriate sick measures within our household. If anything I blame the schools. Petri-dishes! They put such stress on the importance of attendance that sick kids are forced to go to school where they not only infect everybody else, but they also catch the next thing because of their already taxed immune systems. My life is so taken up by the above routine that I do not understand how it is possible for parents to maintain jobs. I am more often than not, having to cancel or say NO to accepting sub jobs because I am always having to deal with sick (or injured) people at home. I would be fired if I had a real job! And that’s another piece of the issue; Parents having to send sick kids to school because they have to go to work. It’s a never ending cycle.
For comedic sake, I feel I MUST share with you an outline of what this has looked like in our life from Feb 1st through April 15th this year:
Sick Kid
Sick Kid’s Birthday & Party
Sick Tween
Camping weekend planned a year before that we couldn’t cancel
Sick Hubs
Sick Hub’s Birthday
Sick kid
School Movie Night & friends sleeping over weekend
Sick Mom
Sick Dad
Sick Kid
Sick Mom
Sick Kid & Dad leading into the first days of…
Spring Break and Visiting ILs, During which…
I accidentally sent an unrealized sick-again kid to a slumber party and the next day we discovered…
Mystery Pox! They are strikingly similar to Chicken Pox in every way but test negative, thank gawd (because that witch hunt would’ve sucked!).
Mom injured knee, BAD, and will likely be imobile for weeks. (future post)
Kid w/ infected ingrown toenail
Sick Tween
Soooooo….. I haven’t been doing much worth writing about. Or even bother to get dressed most days. Sigh.
I find myself experiencing equal parts Blues and Blessedness. I feel stuck and it’s frustrating and seriously bumming me out, but in the large picture I understand that I am very fortunate that I CAN be stuck without serious life consequences, and that THIS is how I’m stuck, versus something actually BAD. It’s difficult not to dwell in the myopic state of the Blues, though. I mean, This happens EVERY. YEAR! And it cuts me off from ALL life outside my personal bubble.
I wonder, is the Universe telling me to slow down, OR, is it telling me to learn to be productive in new ways? Do I surrender to the stillness? Or am I supposed to find my ways around it? Because whichever it is, I haven’t mastered it yet, as the Universe sees fit to keep presenting me with the same opportunity over and over. It’s getting old.
Do any of you speak Universe? Can you interpret? ;o)
The worst part for me is that I can’t work-out right now (because of my knee injury). I actually hate working out, but my mind-body & soul need it and I worry this break will become habit as well as seriously set me back in my fitness goals. Working out helps me in many aspects of life… It is my moving meditation. It helps me process, think, focus, helps me to feel good physically, fights depression, helps me sleep, etc, etc. Here I am placed in a situation where I would normally turn to exercise, and I cannot workout. And because of sick people am perpetually tied to the house. There I go again, myopic! STOP!
Dear Readers, I invite you to entertain and distract me in comments! Please don’t send words of sympathy, this doesn’t warrant them, we ALL go through these things =o). I seek only comments of entertainment, fun stuff! Or share your similar experiences! Does this happen to you? What do you do?
