Rough Day

I don't like not feeling well. I especially don't like it when there are periods of illness that are close together. I just got over an ear infection and started yesterday with a sore throat, runny nose and achiness. I am feeling a bit better as I sit here writing this, but it was certainly a rough start to the day.

The kids' preschool had a Thanksgiving feast this morning. It was supposed to start at 9:30, but between me not feeling well and Doug not feeling well, I figured we would stay home and keep our germs to ourselves. I busied myself updating the garland I strung up on my staircase last year. Bekah pointed out a few months ago that I should take it down, but I figured, "eh, it's almost time for Christmas again."

Meanwhile, the kids (Jeremy and Bekah) felt like they needed to fight over every possession on which they laid hands. It can be par for the course, but a migraine set in and so every tantrum, every yell, every battlecry was like nails on a chalkboard. It was almost too much to bear.

Luckily, my brother (and current hero) was able to take Bekah to dance class. I was glad that I didn't have to miss it and that I didn't have to take her. I was also glad to be down one child. The climax of the morning came just before Matt arrived to pick up Bekah. The kids were becoming increasingly shrill, the ibuprofen I had taken was not kicking in and I was in tears.

Brian is off tomorrow for a week. He was going to originally take today off so that he could go to the feast, but he had a mandatory insurance meeting instead. I called him on my cell phone and cried to him for a solid 10 minutes. I had to fight Doug off (he's obssessed with my phone) and try to talk over the continued shrieking and fighting of the two older ones.

I know it is hard for him to field those kind of calls. He doesn't have a job where he can pick up, come home and work from home for part of the day. They are strangely inflexible about him working from home, even though he did it successfully for a couple of years. He still has all the computer equipment, fax machine, copier, router, etc. They just refuse to let him work from home. Stupidest thing, in my mind, but what do I know?

So I know it was tough to hear his not-well wife crying on the phone with him. He handled it like a champ; he let me cry (while commenting on the sounds of battle being fought) and told me it was going to be okay. Once Bekah left, Doug was ready for a nap. I was down to 1 child. After a crazy morning, it almost seems like I'm cheating it's so easy.

My reward? Chinese food. Really, though, surviving a hoarde of shrieking, shrill, banshee-like children for a day deserves nothing less.