January in Review

If I posted a single photo to represent our month of January, the above photo would be it. Everybody in the house has been so sick, and as soon as they get better, they have about a week before they come down with something else. From Christmas break through the end of January, we went to the doctor 9 times. I am not exaggerating. We had everything from pink eye, strep throat, ear infections, upper respiratory infections, sinus infections, the flu, and colds. This was, for me at least, quite possibly the worst month of my entire life. We couldn't go anywhere or do much of anything. Even things as simple as a trip to Costco kept getting postponed until "everybody feels better," which I was beginning to feel like that day would never come. We ran out of nearly everything, including butter, which I don't think I have ever allowed to happen before. Sareny and Isaac missed a full week of school, and Finley missed 4 days of preschool. The week it hit me, Keith worked a total of half a day, and spent the week taking over things I normally do so I could try to rest and get better. It was a hideous month, one that I hope never to duplicate again!! Despite her smile, Finley didn't feel good on this day either and stayed home from preschool.

We are currently halfway through February and are still dealing with some sickness, but seem to be past the worst of it. We better be!

The many joys of parenting

Today after picking up Sareny from preschool, I thought it would be fun to go to Burger King and let the kids play there. We took Ty with us and had a great time...until Isaac got hurt. Are you surprised? He's always the one that things happen to, poor thing.

Here I am in the play area with 4 kids and a little boy who is screaming his head off with his mouth full of chicken nuggets. I'm scrambling around to find something to have him spit his food into, but there is not a napkin to be found. Before I can react, he gags and then throws up all over. So I carry him into the main part of the restauraunt, him still screaming as loudly as he can, but now also covered in throw up. If the nice people sitting there trying to enjoy their lunches happen to glance our way, which they can hardly avoid with all the ruckus we're making, the site of my boy covered in puke is surely going to make them lose their appetites.

In the bathroom I clean him up as best as I can, making a huge mess all over the floor. As we are passing by the registers, Isaac throws up again. I tell the workers what is going on, while we make our way back to the play area to get our shoes. As soon as we enter the play area he throws up yet again. By now we have completely covered the entire restaurant in puke, and Isaac did his part to make sure that everybody in there knew it. I made a hasty retreat for the exit as fast as I could.

Here he is in happier times...

As I'm thinking about this sticky situation and trying to see how everything went wrong, I think of the nearby mom in the play area who, as soon as Isaac had thrown up the first time, grabbed her son and said rather rudely, "Let's get out of here." Ignore the fact that I'm searching in vain for a napkin, or that I have 3 other kids I'm taking care of. However, once in the main eatery, I heard a different mom say, "Poor thing," and when I came out of the bathroom, she asked if I needed any help.

Anyway, I think the older kids still managed to have a good time...I hope.