Skip to main content

Sick of Being Sick

Like ninety percent of people I know, we have been experiencing a lot of sickness in our home recently.  It's been a range of symptoms from not great to tolerable, but it's gone on for so long that it is wearing on us.  It has cycled through everyone at least once and most of us twice, and now I'm hoping we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Everyone I talk to has been sick, so I can't really complain.  I did decide to take a  mini-vacation, however, in the midst of it all.

Now, before you start thinking I'm a totally reprehensible human, I didn't actually go anywhere.  I just gave myself a day (mostly) off from housework.  I did the minimum to just keep everyone fed and clothed.  I sat on the floor and played with the kids and didn't worry that they put nothing away.  I let the boys make their own breakfasts and lunch.  I put a movie on in the middle of the week - a treat usually reserved for Sundays.  I chose the path of least resistance on everything.  I figured bad habits aren't made in a day.  If they are, I have like eleven years to fix them. 

By the end of the day, I wasn't mad about my decision, but I was impressed by the level of destruction that took place in less than twenty-four hours. Making my way through an absolute Mt. Everest of dishes, I found a mitten and a ball of embroidery thread in the sink.  Markers had left their "marks" on the kitchen table and wall...again.  I had to American Ninja Warrior my way over toys, clothes, and random shelves to get anywhere in the house.  Literally every surface I touched was sticky.  Plus, the boys' toilet was clogged. Ten points to Captain Clogger! (Mini-vacation or not, that toilet is always clogged.  Poor kid needs more prunes in his life.)  

Where am I going with this? I have no idea.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around the embroidery thread.  I guess this is the take away: it's not always going to go the way we plan.  It's just as important to have grace for yourself, as it is to have it for others.  Also, if your local grocery store is out of sanitizing and disinfecting products...sorry.  It was me.    

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Advanced Placement

 Not to brag or anything, but I think we are raising some very advanced children.  At two-years-of-age, our girls have already worked out the art of manipulation and deflection.  It's the antithesis of endearing.   They went missing the other day - the girls did.  That's never a good situation.  They were in the house, and I knew they were in the house, but I couldn't see or hear them.  Silence is the loudest alarm system.  Fischer took action and found them both in my bathroom.   "MOM!" I met them in the hall.  Carter was covered in clumps and blobs of hand cream. "Emi did it," was her unsolicited response.   "No," I told her.  "I think you  did it." That night I got ready for bed and pulled out my one "self-care" splurge - my face cream .  It was in my drawer where I always keep it.  The lid was screwed on.  And it was empty, wiped clean.  "EmmmeerrrrrSON!" Guilty.  They were both ...

Sheltering in Place

In the past three months Corona Virus has more or less turned the world on its head.  I feel almost guilty for not being more stressed or put out by the whole thing.  We have been extremely fortunate. What we thought was a most impractical move on our part, wound up being a huge blessing.  With our two boys and our two newborns, we moved out of our house with no yard in the city limits and into my parents' house in the country while waiting for our new house to be completed.  The weekend we moved "quarantine," "social distancing," and "shelter in place" became the new mantra of our state.   Moving in with my parents meant ten plus acres of play space and two extra able bodied adults to help even out the score with the four kids.  Win for the St. Clair's!  Unfortunately, my parents are beginning to realize they may have made an error in judgement.   Yesterday, Sawyer gave their cat swimming lessons.   Last week th...

Little Bit Dicey

 This might be a little controversial.  I try to steer clear of such topics in this space, but it needs to be said.  Take it as you will, but know that it comes from a place of love, concern, and respect.  Here it is: there is a right  way to cut an onion. Now, I'm not saying this to try and get anyone's dander up.  I'm just saying it's a subject that needs to be addressed in kitchens across America.  There may be more than one right way to skin a cat (I can't say I've tested that), but the same does not hold true for onions.  Please, you can teach an old dog new tricks - learn how to properly cut an onion.  It will save you time, frustration, onion tears, and possibly a finger.     Now, since I'm still sitting here on blogspot like it's 2003, I'm not going to post any how-to videos, but I'll do the next best thing.  I'll paste a link right here .    Check it out.  Practice it.  Make it a habit.  T...