If you were a fly on the wall in my house today, you would notice a very tired mom. Here’s why. Chandler woke up well after midnight last night, in horrific pain. Her ear was throbbing. She was crying. She couldn’t sleep. I gave her Motrin and a warm compress for her ear. I sat on the couch with her, rubbing her head and scratching her back til she fell asleep, around 2 am.

Josiah was up, full of energy, bouncing around us as we sat on the couch, until almost 1 am. He fell asleep at 1:30. I carried him to his room and plopped him in his tent. As soon as Chandler nodded off, I covered her with a blanket, left her sleeping soundly on the couch and went to bed myself.

Before I was ready to start my happy day I had a sick teenager, moaning at my bedside, wanting attention. Jesse has been running a 102-103 fever for a few days now. He has not improved any. As soon as the Dr.s office opened this morning, I was on the phone, making appointments. I say appointments, because I had to schedule 2, one for Chandler in the morning and one for Jesse in the afternoon.

This week marks the beginning of 4 weeks of sick kids in this house,  FOUR weeks.

Rick got Josiah up and out the door for school. Shortly after, Josiah’s teacher sent me a text message. Josiah had been wailing for 10 minutes, was agitated and grabbing at his hair. She wondered if I had any insight to what was going on.

You know what I told her?  “Give Josiah a big, squeezy hug.”

Jesse slept while Chandler and I went to her appointment. She has an ear infection with lots of congestion. She received 4 prescriptions. We came home to find Jesse laying in my bed. He asked me to stay by his side. Jesse had just vomited and was feeling worse. He did not want me to leave him.

I started a bath for him. First, I had to clean the tub. Then, while he was in the tub, I went and cleaned the commode. As I could, I’d dash off to disinfect, and deodorize. I grabbed up dirty towels and washcloths to throw into the washing machine.

Then it was time for Jesse’s appointment. Chandler came with us. The Dr. said Jesse has Influenza A. He described it as the Flu on steroids. He said it’s extremely contagious. On the way home, I stopped to get Jesse a snow cone and Chandler a smoothie. That was lunch.

Once in the door, I had 20 minutes to myself.

Jesse took another bath. Chandler slept. Then it was time to pick up Josiah from school. He had a snack and then a bathroom break. Josiah’s bathroom breaks are every 30 minutes now that he’s potty training. Set your timer. See how much you accomplish in 30 minutes.

Each bathroom break takes about 6-8 minutes. Josiah sits for 5 minutes (we use a sand timer) and then there’s the closing of the lid, the flushing of the toilet and the washing of the hands, all of which require hand over hand assistance. But that’s nothing. The part that takes the longest is when he is done sitting. Josiah is content to stand, with his underwear and shorts, piled down around his feet and just wait. He needs to be prompted through each step in the process which takes a while.

After his bathroom break, I give him a ribbon on a string to play with. Jesse needs me. He’s throwing up again. I help Jesse. Really, how much help can you be to someone poised over a commode? But, I get him a cool wash cloth and clean up after him. He takes his extremely contagious self and lays right back in my bed with his head on my pillow. I’ll think about that later!

I know he’s feeling miserable. I don’t have the heart to tell him he needs to go up to his own room. I’ll wash my sheets later. I’ll disinfect the room later. I’ll sleep in a surgical mask tonight.

I clean the toilet, the sink, the faucets. I disinfect everything I can think of in that bathroom. I throw the soiled washcloth in the laundry room. Ding. The timer on my phone rings to signal Josiah needs another bathroom break. Eight minutes later, after nothing happens (again) I give him his ribbon toy.

I clean up the cups and dishes on the kitchen counter. I load up the dishwasher as much as I can and run it so those things can be sanitized also.  I open up a drawer in the kitchen and haul out a mammoth amount of mail. As much as I like to be organized (maybe that’s just in my mind!?) mail is the one thing that runs a muck in our house. (Oh I guess laundry does too)

We currently have a basket in the kitchen full of mail, a drawer in the kitchen full of mail and a drawer in my office full of mail. It’s all waiting to be sorted. I figured today would be a good day to do that. I begin making piles on the kitchen table, sorting the massive amount of paperwork I have no interest in.

Ding. Bathroom break for Josiah. Chandler asks for oatmeal. Jesse needs some medicine.
I think about shoving all the mail back in the drawer but decide against it. I sort a few more pieces, then sit down for a few minutes to write this. It provides a break. Ding. Has 30 minutes gone by already?

I find Josiah crouched in the family room, happily playing with his ribbon toy. I check and he’s dry. I say, ‘bathroom break buddy’ and we walk a few feet to the bathroom. By the time we get there his shorts have wet streaks down them and his underwear is soaked.

Seriously?  This kid has been dry for almost 2 hours and has not peed even a drop for the past 3 bathroom breaks. As soon as I announce it’s time to go, he goes. Just like that. In his shorts!

Rick just called. He asked if he should stop to pick up any groceries on his way home. I’m thinking NO! But I don’t say that. Instead I say, “Maybe you could just come home and I could go”.

It will be the highlight of my day.