Christmas break is normally a restful time for teachers and a chance to get caught up on life. However, Christmas break for the DeJong girls usually means that one or both girls are sick for at least a portion of the vacation. This year was no exception.
Ellis started the very first day of vacation - Thursday - with the sniffles and a little cough-due-to-cold. My concern was for the family who were traveling to my home for Christmas. I didn't want her to pass on the cold to them. Her symptoms were so mild though that everyone was comfortable risking exposure and we carried on with our Christmas plans. Everyone left on Monday, and then on Tuesday morning... the wheels fell off.
Ellis woke up with thick green and yellow snot which seemed committed to it's exodus out of her body at all costs. Lots of wiping and blowing and by the end of the day it seemed to just taper into a normal head cold. Wednesday morning she woke up exceptionally emotional so she was strategically placed back in bed by 10:30 to sleep that off. After an hour and a half-ish nap that seemed to do the trick, she played with friends who had come over and just exhibited those same cold symptoms until... THE FEVER! Somewhere around 5:30p THE FEVER reared it's ugly head and has refused to leave ever since. It quickly became clear that this was not the benign "head cold" I originally diagnosed but the full-fledged FLU and I had just exposed my pregnant sister-in-law, her one-year-old son, and my chemotherapy treated mom to INFLUENZA!!!!!
I am not one of those naturopathic/holistic moms who tries to find alternative remedies for illness. I am not afraid to medicate my kids. Repeatedly. I have an arsenal of organized medications and I understand how much, how often and how to use each one skillfully. Long
story short: Ellis has been medicated around the clock since Wednesday evening. The one time I got cocky and didn't keep up on it, she barfed because it got above 103 and then the chills ensued for a couple of hours while I begged her to take some Tylenol.Needless to say, we are tired. Poor Logan had to, essentially, read to and put herself to bed last night. What a champ that girl is. She's not used to sleeping by herself because they have shared a room for years but she cowgirl'd up and didn't fuss at the fact that Ellis was sleeping with me. Raging fevers and vomit are the two tickets that reserve your spot in mom's bed.
So where is the pity party you ask? Not in sick kids because I have done sick kids by myself so much it's no big deal now. Not in the lack of sleep because I have learned to function pretty well on little sleep. Not even in the fact that I have been holed up in my house for 5 days because I truly consider it a blessing to even have kids to care for.
The PITY PARTY started last night when I realized I would probably have to cancel my hair appointment this morning and our new year's plans tomorrow night. I waited until the last possible moment to cancel the hair appointment in hopes that she would turn a miraculous corner and would be O.K. to stay with a sitter. It was not to be (sniff... tear falling). I am still hopeful that today will be the last day of this madness and we will be able to attend the New Year's festivities. If not, the PITY PARTY will continue but we will add a ball dropping and some noise makers.
Being a single mom (wince, shudder) is hard. That's just a fact and you deal with it and it is what it is. Not being able to go to the store to get pudding, the only thing your sick kid wants, and having to cancel a 3 hour hair appointment an hour before you are supposed to be there and not being able to shop for your 6-year-old's birthday because there is no one else to watch your sick kid is frustrating, infuriating, and resentment building. Guess I better take this one back to the Cross... again. PITY PARTY officially cancelled.
