The bug seems to have hit our home again. George seems to be hit the hardest. Getting up with sick kids every hour or so is bringing back memories of newborns in the house. Newborns, who would be quiet as soon as I started to feed them. George, however, becomes downright chatty. Three nights in a row now, we have been up more than asleep. Sometimes, he sits in his bed and cries. Others, he comes right to my bedside.
"Mom. Wake up. I am hot again. You need to take my temperature and it's time to give me more medicine. You should probably listen to my heart with your scope, too. Mom? Wake up! I am sick! We need to go downstairs. You should probably carry me. I am too sick to walk down all those stairs. Did you bring your scope in from your truck after work?"
"Uugghh. Do you think you will sleep through the night again, anytime soon, son?"
After he has been medicated and used the potty, and had a drink, and we have rocked in the chair awhile, the talking begins. We've discussed the ocean, possible visits to the ocean this summer, cracks in my bedroom ceiling and why houses settle, and what causes hairline cracks, the light on my dresser, shell collecting, Joe's legos, and where they might be hidden, where Lexi puts things she doesn't want him to find. He's told me he likes kisses, and snuggling on my pillow, why I have to go to work, why he thinks I shouldn't. My little doctor has given me his own plan of care - when he thinks he should receive medicine, and which one "I don't have a cough, so, not the cough medicine. Just the medicine that makes you not hot anymore. Don't you think you should take my temperature first, Mom? Not with your hand!!!!!! Use the thermometer! I probably need a drink. Where is your scope, now? You need to listen to my belly and heart." It's like being at work with a psychotic patient. Only, I cannot medicate him as such.
I finally got the little motormouth back to sleep around 4 AM this morning.
"One hour. I get to sleep for one whole hour before work. One beautiful, precious hour. Okay. I can do this. I am so cold. Lord. That overtired cold. Doesn't matter. I can still sleep. If I don't look at the clock, I won't panic because I cannot fall back to sleep. Sooo tired. And cold. What if the alarm clock wakes George back up again? Then what am I going to do? Don't care. I will worry about it in an hour. Actually, probably LESS than an hour now. That's okay though, because I can totally do this on an hour of good sleep. Wait. Was it an hour, or was it actually an hour and a half? Do I look, or just try to sleep till the alarm goes off? My throat hurts. I should have grabbed a cough drop. No. I probably would have choked to death on it. So.... if we do make it to Maine for our vaca this year; what if it rains the whole time? Locked in an RV for a week. Who is going to water all my flowers and feed the cat if we go? What if we just skip the vacation and re-do the kitchen, instead? We could just take the kids to Lake Erie for a day, and tell them it's the ocean.... and, we could pick a hot sunny day, that is guaranteed to be nice, instead of chancing a week locked in an RV in the rain. Bet I still have at least 50 minutes left....." Off goes the alarm. "Mom! It's time to get up for work! Your alarm is going off! Get up and get in the shower, Mom! I will just come downstairs with you, okay? You need to carry me though. I think maybe you should leave your scope home with me..."
At this point, this entire post is during a break at work, after 3 nights with no sleep, and with two more days of work left to go. I am too tired, even, to worry about my kids being sick. Because I am pretty sure they just have a bug, and none of them need an antibiotic. And that's about all a doctor is going to do that I cannot at this point. Joe has a bit of a cough, and is maddeningly whiny, and Kaila has a sore throat, and, as dramatic as she can be about ANY pain -(If the hysterics we have gone through over teeth coming out is any indication of her pain tolerance levels, I can only imagine child birth for her some day....)- she is pretty sure she is dying. However, they haven't been up all night as of yet. Just George and me. Either rocking in the recliner, or snuggled up in my bed. " I think I should probably stay in your bed for awhile mom. I might need to cry again, if I get hot. You need more kisses? I like kisses." You know, the germ infested ones? I sure as heck don't get this many when he isn't contagious. I will take what I can get, however. Have a good weekend, people. When I get some sleep, I am sure the whole 'guilt of being at work and not seeing my poor sick children for 4 days, OMG, what kind of mother am I?????' will kick in. Until then, they have been instructed to drink lots of tea and water, rest a lot, and bug their Father.
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