I have spent most of today in my room. Near my unmade bed. A lot of time on the computer, too. The TV has been on. I still haven't taken a shower.
Air Force Guy, on the other hand, was up at 6 am (it was a late morning for him) and off to work.
Despite the fact that I don't have a lot of options as to where I spend the day today - two of my kids are sick and I'm desperately fielding barf buckets, ferrying hot tea to kids, and exhorting people to "Run! Bathroom! Now! NOWNOWNOW!!!" - I still feel kind of guilty.
After all, aside from those moments of high intensity when the fate of the universe depends on me getting a kid to a toilet before all hell bursts loose, I'm not doing a whole lot today.
Hey, that's not to say that I don't think caring for sick kids isn't work - it certainly is. It's just that my kids seem to get sick in spurts (no pun intended). So, rather than a steady stream of sick to clean up and fevers to drench, and ears that ache - I get a few hours of down time to prepare for ten minutes of the wildest ride of my life!
And the reason I haven't yet showered is because I can't quite be sure which ten minutes will require my intervention within that three hour block. I just don't fancy wiping up fresh barf just after I've cleaned and exfoliated.
For some reason 2009 has been off to a banner start when it comes to getting sick. Normally we're a very healthy family, but the last few months we've caught nearly every bug in the known universe. We've probably mutated a few and sent them off across the world for others to catch. Sorry about that.
I can't figure it out
Anyway, this is not the first time I've been relegated to sporadic sick kid duty and I feel rather lazy about it. I think my time management skills - something I've always been rather proud of - might be lacking at this moment.
Or, maybe it's just that my military spouse sense of "I'm sure there's something that needs to be done now while I have the chance!" is kicking in and I can't reliably identify the time periods when I can safely multi-task. Every minute I'm away from the barf bucket could be dangerous for my walls, bed, and carpet!
I would love to hear from others - how do you deal with those time periods when "sick" just seems to drag on for everyone at home? And what are your tips for stopping the sick cycle at home?
