I should have titled this "The Lessons of Parenthood."
Sorrow
Mags has been really sick since Wednesday evening. She has been running a consistent fever of about 101 (peeking at 102.5 that night). This is her axillary temp which means her fever is really a degree or 2 higher. She never runs a fever so I was a little nervous and called Mary Beth and Adam (who was at work) for support. Finally when her temp continued to raise after being medicated I called the Dr. The on call Dr. said that the runny nose, cough (nasty sounding cough) and persistent fever sounded like the Flu to make an appointment in the morning and have her tested. And we did as instructed! We got up on Thursday called and made an appointment, took Mags' temp, ate breakfast, dressed, and got our stuff together. I had plenty of time to care for myself so I left the girls sitting in the kitchen floor reading books while I took 15 MINUTES (literally that's all) to shower, brush teeth, dress, and dry hair. You learn as a mother to be quick about these things when there are places to been in a timely manner. Well Mags' has a virus but it's not the Flu. Besides one episode of throwing up, she is finally old enough to realize that throwing up sucks, she has been her normal self. She's tired and gets a little whinny when its time for nap and bed. My sorrow is that I can't heal her. I wish as a mom I had some super power to make her feel better. But healing her is God's super power and I have to trust in him and not myself. It's amazing what God will show you and teach you through children. When I am sick all I want to do is sleep and be left alone but Maggie toughs it out with hardly any complaining and goes on doing the things she loves to do. SUCH AN EXAMPLE TO ME!
Chaos (and a little humor)
This is how I found them when I was finished getting ready (remember it only took me 15 minutes:) in their bathroom, Emma only wearing a shirt which was completely soaked, Maggie slightly wet with a guilty look on her face, Emma with a proud look on her face, and one standing on each side of the toilet. The condition of the bathroom: pants and diaper in the floor, floor covered in water and wet toilet paper, toilet paper in em's hand, and toilet filled with unraveled toilet paper. My guess to what occurred in the 15 minutes: Emma wanted to use the potty so Maggie helped her undress and remove her diaper (this I have witnessed before), after Emma was done she went to wipe and couldn't get a piece of the paper so that led from one thing to another which led to the girls playing in the toilet with toilet paper. The good news is that Emma is just beginning potty training and it is highly unlikely that she actually peeped in the potty before the fun began. So I proceeded to half bath them, dry them off and change their clothes. We were going to be on time to our appointment but now we are really running late which leads me to...
Immense GUILT
So in the big rush to get us out of the door we all run to the hall closest to get shoes, coats, purse, and diaper bag. When I went to close the closest door I did notice a slight resistant but ignored it and pushed the door closed anyways. The resistance would have been my sweet Emma's finger which she had stuck in the door jam while she was peering into the closest. I didn't see her because she was behind the door. I could have cried with her and almost did! WHAT A ROTTEN mother!! Thankfully as soon as I pushed the door too I looked down and saw what I had done and opened the door so she could free her little hand. Needless to say it is bruised and swollen, yes even two days later. She has repeatedly reminded me that she has a boo boo, not out of spite but she just thinks boo boo's are cool. But today we would trump the finger boo boo. While she was outside playing on her new swing set Daddy accidentally caused her to fall (he was trying to blow her nose), hit a board and bit through her lip. We called the Dr. and after describing the wound they said there was no need to come in. It was a good wound and did not need sewing up. Just another hand full of reasons to be thankful that I am not in control and that my Father is because he surely does a better job a protecting my children than I do.
Maggie is still battling the virus and God has mercifully protected the rest of us from getting sick, especially Emma.
The lessons I have learned over the last few days are to trust God and his authority, to be patient, and to laugh (even if it has a little hysteria in it) when you're in the midst of chaos, and to lift up your husband when he feels guilty.
No comments:
Post a Comment