"Oh Well" the Mantra of the Sick Mama

Having a cold, virus, sinus infection, respiratory infection, stomach bug is no fun. Ever.  For anyone.  It sucks.  It sucks real bad.  Many of us revert back to childhood behaviors. We start whining, grown ups all of a sudden loose the ability to care for ourselves, big burly men are found crying out for Mom.  So, what do you do when you ARE the mom? 

Being a sick stay at home mom is probably right up there on the sucky job list as sewer repair man or pig farm worker. With all the positives of this job, and there are many, there are some major downfalls as well.  You are always on the clock.  Always.  24/7.  You don't get sick days.  My sick days are essentially dialing back the cooking/cleaning/playing responsibilities to what's essential.  Meaning, despite fever, body aches, snotty nose, incessant coughing, I am still making three meals plus snacks, cleaning up after all of them, and assuring at the very least the safety of the children in my keep.  I do take my super mom cape off, hang it up, and replace it with the "I will do the bare minimum to get by" cape.  But, the bare minimum for a SAHM is still quite a bit.

I've had a lot of practice being a sick mommy.  With the medications I am on to treat rheumatoid arthritis, my immune system is severely weakened.  So, pretty much any little bug or virus that comes in our house attacks me with three times the strength and longevity that it did the carrier. This current five day respiratory infection complete with total laryngitis is the direct result of Smaller Child's two day snotty nose.  So, with all the practice I've had over the years, I am getting pretty good at disciplining with hand claps, snaps and stomps when I don't have a voice.  Couch entertainment when I cannot get up, quiet games when my head is pounding.

Of course Beautiful Bald Husband is an awesome help when he's home in the evenings.  He's more than willing to cook dinner, bathe the kiddos, and get them to bed.  It is so awesome to have that kind of support and partnership in parenting.  But the days are long, friends... the days are long.

It is all an act of letting go.  Letting go of the idea that the house will be picked up, the dishes will be done, the kids won't spend more than an hour watching tv. They may or may not get bathed that day. The laundry won't get done...  All those hard fast rules that I try so very hard to adhere to have to go out the window.  I have to allow myself some slack... and if you know me, you know that ain't easy!

But guess what, when there is a sink full of dishes the world doesn't end.  When the kids end up having to spend the majority of the day in their pj's watching television their brains don't actually turn to mush.  We survive.  All of us.  (Though there are moments that I dramatically call out wishes that this doesn't happen.)

So, as I curl back up on the couch, with my box of Kleenex about to watch another episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I say to you this... wait, what was I going to say again? Oh well.