Bright Spots in a Barely-Limping-Along Day

I wake up, cold, on the couch, the one heavy blanket I have insufficient to keep me warm on this chilly, chilly night.  3 degrees, our thermometer says.

I wonder what time it is.  4:00 a.m., I discover when I convince my body to rise and carry me into the kitchen.

I don't have to wonder what I'm doing on the couch.  I remember all too well the sickness that plagued me yesterday and left me, by evening, unable to do much of anything but collapse on the couch.  On top of the symptoms I was having Sunday evening when I wrote this post, my body added some sort of intestinal virus to the mix--at least, I guess that's what was causing it.

In one of the more difficult parts of the day, I was slammed with intense nausea, JUST when I should have been walking out the door to take the boys to choir rehearsal.  The kids, in fact, were literally out the door and climbing into the van, and all I had time to do was holler to Josiah to watch out for Moriah and help her get into the van, and then I rushed to the bathroom to lose my lunch.  The boys were understandably concerned--not only about getting to choir practice on time, but also about what the cause of my sickness was and whether it might affect them.

"Is it pregnancy related?" one of them asked.

"Maybe so," I said, "I'm sure that's probably a factor."  In fact, I wasn't sure of that, but better to blame the pregnancy than plant the suggestion in any of my kids' minds that they, too, might end up like I was!  ;-)

Well, enough about that.  Let me do what I said I would do in my last post and "keep looking on the bright side, no matter what comes my way."

So, bright spots...

~ In the morning, Moriah was so droopy that just about the only thing she wanted to do was snuggle with me.  I didn't mind too much ;-) when I heard her say, "Snuggle, Mommy!"  Well, of course, dear girl of mine, I would LOVE to snuggle with you!  :)

~ We still managed to get some of our group homeschool stuff done before lunch--not all, but some.

~ For lunch, I didn't have to think too much about what to make because we had some leftover chicken casserole from our neighbors.  On Saturday, I heard from Dad that there was sickness at the Shanks' house, so I called Wilma and said, "I have an extra pan of lasagna that I made this week and stuck in the freezer.  Could I send that over for you all?"  She laughed and said she was making a chicken casserole and was thinking that maybe I needed some of that!  When Jeff tromped through the snow to carry over the lasagna to them, he returned with an even bigger dish of delicious casserole.  It's hard to outgive some people!  :)

~ After I put Moriah in bed for a nap in the afternoon, I laid down on the couch to take one myself, and it did my soul good to hear Josiah tell his brothers, "Ssshhh!  You need to be more quiet.  Mom's sleeping!"  It also warmed my heart to hear how Shav and Tobin quickly resolved a minor dispute they were having, and then played happily together for the next few hours.

~ Before I fell asleep, I gave Josiah and David some assignments that they should do during my nap; and it encouraged me to wake up and find a piece of paper on which they had written what spelling lessons they did and what math lessons, including their scores.  Plus, they had done choir practice, David had done Bible and literature, Josiah had done history, and I'm not sure what else.  What a blessing for them to be old enough and mature enough to carry on with their schoolwork, even with a sick mom!

~ In addition, there were a number of times today when I needed the boys to help me, and each time they willingly did so when I said things like, "Tobin, will you please go upstairs and bring down the trashcan in Josiah and David's room?" and "David, could you get me some Sprite from the cellar please?"

~ Moriah couldn't do much of that, but she was the sweetest little nurse by coming over to me numerous times during the evening and either cuddling with me or pulling the blanket further up under my chin.  :)

~ Jeff was a rockstar today, lending his support and love and prayers, even while he was at work, and then taking over with practically everything when he got home.  He picked up kids from choir, finished fixing supper, cleared off the table, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, got Moriah ready for bed, and everything else that needs doing in the evening in a family like ours.  I don't know what I would have done without him!

~ David was thrilled to be asked to sleep downstairs on the little couch, so that he could take the dog out when necessary so I wouldn't have to do it.  One of his trips out with the dog was quite dramatic: Willow got away from him, and he was so intent on quickly pursuing her that he literally ran out of his boots that he had slipped his feet into before taking her out.  That left him running barefoot over the deep, icy snow (it has thawed somewhat and then refrozen since it fell, so the snow has become hard and sharp on top) to try to catch up with Willow...which he did...and brought her safely inside...so all's well that ends well.  But oh my, his poor feet!

~ Writing about David reminds me of another bright spot today.  When we dropped him off at choir, he got out of the van; but before he shut the door, he went through a long list of "I love you's".  "I love you, Moriah!" he called, then, "I love you, Shav!" and on through all of our names, but when he got to the end, he started over and told us all again that he loves us.  What a sweetheart!  :)

~ Later, when I dropped Josiah off, he said goodbye, got out of the van, then shut the door.  But then he quickly opened it again and said, "I hope you feel better, Mom!"  He hurried up the steps of the building where they practice, but paused at the top before going in the door to turn and wave at us in the van before he went inside.

So many of these things today reminded me of the high value of kindness.  Pure, simple, generously-given kindness is a treasure.  On this sick day, it's been beautiful to be reminded of how precious it is just to be kind to those around us.