Once I've adjusted to Nate being gone, I start making crazy plans. Paint the bathroom! Dejunk the laundry room! Organize the gift wrap! Deep clean the pantry! These ideas become my mantras for the duration of his absence. Then the sickness sneaks in.
Every child has their own sick personality. There's the whiny child who demands fresh cold water and a compress every five minutes-- the one who can never be comfortable and constantly beckons from the couch. There's the sleeper-- the easiest of the bunch, who tends to curl up and sleep the fevers, the coughs, and the sore throats away. Then there is Jeffrey. He's the quiet one. He basically shuts down and becomes a couch potato. He rarely sleeps, just sits in a daze. He doesn't want medicine, and he doesn't want me to leave his side.
Usually when this happens, I get a little bitter because I was looking forward to ACCOMPLISHING something. I was thinking I might be able to get a chunk of Christmas shopping out of the way and have the house tidy and exercise a lot while Nate was gone. Ha ha.
I think this time, it's been a wake up call on where my priorities should be. As a mother with young children, days were spent coloring and crafting and reading together. Because Jeffrey is the youngest, he doesn't get that kind of Mom time like his siblings did. So for the past 6 days, we've done
puzzles,
(Croup sometimes deserves a good breathing treatment)
and art,
and snowflake making.
Chances are when Nate gets home, the coughs and fever will be long gone. My Christmas shopping isn't done and my house isn't tidy enough, but at least my little Monkey boy and I will have lots of memories of sleepovers and snuggles that got us through a long couple of weeks.
They do grow up fast! Next time Nate leaves, please remind me of a new mantra : Love them, Love them, Love them.
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