There is a philosophy often spouted by older woman or I should say woman who have older children. The scene almost always looks the same, my kids being a handful in some public place and me counting to ten under my breath and usually to three out loud to my children. Then some kind lady (occasionally a nice man) will mention to me out of the blue, "Treasure this, they grow up too fast". So with that mind-set, in November I started trying to enjoy the snuggles a little bit more than I had in the past, did not worry about laundry or clean bathrooms, etc. If my kids were having difficulty with sleeping I would snuggle with them to help them fall asleep. After all, isn't a child "sleeping enough" one of my most important responsibilites? The effects of a well rested child lay the foundation for much of the teaching I am responsible for. Well, this went on for a few weeks (which is in part why I forgot my blog) and I really enjoyed it. I got to help a stubborn little girl (Rosi) up the stairs by her elbows while she insisted on carrying the towels upstairs to put them away in the bathroom without being capable of balancing herself up the stairs with an armful of clean, folded towels. Spent a lot of time snuggling with William when he was suppose to be sleeping. It was all delightful.
I can truly say I have much enjoyed this time with my children. I have definitely enjoyed the extra snuggles, and playtime, etc that I have had. Unfortunately there is a down side, when you are enjoying all this extra child time, you might not realize that your "baby" is really sick. Well, not feverishly sick, but walking around with "walking pneumonia". But don't worry, he will soon share it with you (or vice versa) and siblings. So during this time I came down with it as well and endured a month and a half of feeling run down, but maybe I was just learning to enjoy a slower pace in life or I really was "over the hill". I would struggled out of bed at the last possible minute, but wasn't that normal for a mom who was up with a sick kid again? I struggled with feeling warm enough. I really felt cold all the time unless I was under many blankets in bed. In the morning my eyes hurt to open. I am thinking I really don't like getting old, it is as bad as they joke about.
When my two sons were diagnosed with "walking pneumonia" which evidently has one symptom - a cough that won't go away - and could resemble allergies to many of us medically uneducated, it was a relief and a clarion call. I realized I needed to go in right away and get checked out and that all this lethargic, freezing was probably not related to age or sleep deprivation. Yep, a week later after antibiotics/steroids I feel amazing. I feel the need to clean toilets as well as cuddle with a little boy who still struggles with sleep but hopefully now it is as a result of having a bad habit of not sleeping well, instead of struggling to breath. So while I still hear those sweet people reminding me to enjoy my sweet time with my young ones, I can't help but think...I don't mind the handfuls and maybe I can enjoy that too.
PS I am not sure why we were having these donuts in the picture, but that is another thing we have learned to enjoy a little more often than necessary.
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