sick days.

Mama said there be days like this.  Where one sick day turns into many.  When you are sequestered in your home with sick kiddos.  When plans are cancelled, birthday parties are missed & weekend overnights & no longer a reality.  Sick days might just be the mortar that holds the family together.  Yes, there are other things that bond: game nights, great conversations, cheering from the sidelines, but at night when all is quiet & the meds have been given, the prayers said & still their feverish selves racking with coughs can't find relief there is none other than their mama who brings comfort.  It is our mere presence that makes them feel better, it is our comfort they cry out for.  Would we climb out of bed over & over in a single night for anyone other than our kiddos? Seems like a constant learning process to me.  It is churning us over & over working the selfishness out.  Teaching us to put others before ourselves.  Wiping their nose before our own.  Make sure they get the last of the OJ.  Watching hours of Jake the Neverland Pirate (will I ever be rid of that song in my head?!) because it acts as a distraction to their discomfort.

As I sat here this morning thinking how this whole sick week has had it's benefits & that surely I must be growing from it, because who would want it to all be for naught, the next thing you know I was pretending to be asleep on the couch so no.one.would.bother.me.  Gah!  Imperfect progress.  I don't think I will ever have this motherhood thing figured out.  But I guess that is one of the benefits of this vocation.  You are constantly learning & those under your care don't look down on you if you don't have it all together.  Rather they cheer & take delight in the unexpected.  They find you "asleep" on the couch & tell you it's okay if you want to go to bed.  They are on your team & you are on theirs.  Even when said team is covered in snot & coughing in your face.