Monday Night Fever

My kids have finally learned to share. At least when it comes to germs. And that’s why it was no shocker that I caught the virus Caed had just kicked a day or two prior.

So last night my fever got up pretty high, and after some pretty weird dreams, and waking up with “the shakes” and then “the chills”, I started to wonder how the heck I was gonna get through the day.

Larry was out of the house before the kids woke up. He had worked last night until 9 p.m., came home to eat and look at the kids sleeping, and then did some more work at home until around 1 a.m., only to get up at 4 a.m. to leave again for work. He had his own worries, and it would be pointless to bother him with mine. So I took the max dose of Tylenol and laid on the couch until the kids woke up. Ok, so they were already awake, but I laid there until I couldn’t ignore them any longer.

Once the Tylenol kicked in, and I felt like I could stand up without passing out, I picked Dani up and managed to get her changed and downstairs. And then I used my lifeline. I called my friend Kate. Without skipping a beat, she agreed to let me drop Caed off for our regularly scheduled play group, and return home with Sheridan so we could both nap. Even better, she listened to me whine and wallow, and “felt my pain”.

And so today, even though I feel a few rungs above wretched, I am finding myself deeply grateful for a friend like Kate. Without family close by, and with a husband who simply can’t “be there”, it is such a blessing to have a caring friend around the corner to bail me out.

So now I’m still nicely drugged up, and trying to muster the energy for a trip to the doctor’s office in a few minutes--an ear check follow-up for Sheridan, dating back to the previous round of feverish family fun. Meantime, I’m counting the hours until I can go back to bed for the night!