I’m sitting
here with you with a full heart and a very chaotic mind. This week has been one
for the record books and I’ve felt it’s definitely blog worthy. The thing about
Mother-hood that always seems to surprise me, is how much I’m constantly
learning. It’s a learning curve that seems to never end. I feel like since the
day I found out I was pregnant with her, she has been teaching me things I
never knew I needed to learn, but I guess that’s the true, beautiful thing
about mother-hood, or really parent-hood. You’re faced with challenge after
challenge and you’re forced to accept them because the outcome is just so
precious. It’s a test you can’t fail, as long as you try your very best.
Anyway- this thoughtful blog about parenthood stems from a very frustrating
week filled with mixed emotions, sickness and a lot of LAUNDRY.
Monday morning before the sun even rose, I was in my daughter’s
room trying to coax her back to sleep so she could wake at a reasonable hour
for her schedule and mine! As I’m rocking my daughter, I began to worry as she
seemed to be gagging. I flicked on the lamp and sure enough as the light shed
throughout the room, so did a nice film of soggy vomit- All over mommy. Instantly
awakened, I start undressing her and run her in to the bathroom where we
quickly got the soggy clothes off of her and placed her in a warm tub; naturally
I was concerned. This was my first true sickness since she’s been born and I
had no idea how to handle it. Luckily my mom instincts took charge and we made
it through the morning with a couple accidents but mostly snuggles and sips of
water.
The real fun began when my husband came home Monday afternoon
with an upset stomach. Yes, I’m sure you guessed it. The stomach flu began to
surge through our household, taking us out one by one. As I tried to manage
caring for now two sick loved ones, I disinfected, scrubbed my hands until they
were red and popped airborne tablets like candy. We made it through Monday.
Tuesday was my turn. A long day in bed, partially on the
bathroom floor, it was now my husband’s turn to care for our little one as I
hurled this flu out of me. At one point I remember lying on the bathroom floor
thinking to myself how badly I wanted to be better to care for my sick child,
crying outside my bedroom door. It’s hard. Something I’ve dreaded experiencing,
I got too first hand on Tuesday. My husband doing his best to care for her
while not feeling great himself, I could hear my house getting messy and my
daughter whining from discomfort and all I could do was lye there and pray to
feel better.
Wednesday and Thursday were a bit different. As quickly as
the bug tore through our home it ran on to attack its next victims. We tried
our best to get back to a normal state and with me not feeling 100%, I did my
best to move on and get back to my regular duties.
This week, obviously, was a tough one. I had to dig deep on
many occasions to get to that next task.
Whether it was trying to get comfortable during my illness or cleaning up my
daughter for the umpteenth time or even picking up the after-math. It all came with a heavy burden that made me
really appreciate my health and the ‘normal’ I am blessed to call mine. I wouldn’t
wish this on anyone but I can say that I learned something out of the Pukefest
of 2016. I learned to respect normal. That even though I may not want to go to
work or I complain to my husband about having to vacuum the car seat for the 4th
time that week, that it could be worse and I need to hold my tongue and RESPECT
our normal.
Mallory
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