Perspective

I had a friend post today about her daughter graduating soon and how, although she is happy for her and proud of her, she's sad to see her growing up and soon to be gone. Then she mentioned that she was jealous of parents with toddlers because they have so much time left with their kids. I'll come back to this.

We've spent the last week being sick. There has been throwing up that had to be cleaned. There have been runny noses that need wiping. There have been 3-4 fevers per kid. And it's not over yet. Currently 3 out of my 4 have fevers. One threw up today. One is currently complaining about a bad tummy ache. One is coughing up a storm instead of sleeping.

This is life sometimes. I have young kids. Although we are generally a healthy family (and I'm very thankful for that), we do have times where we get hit with nasty bugs. And it's usually every other month.

I'll be honest- I'm not sitting here thinking about the quality time I'm getting with my kids. I'm not being thankful for the movie marathons cuddling on the couch. I'm mostly being concerned about temperatures and drinking fluids and who is in which bathroom and please-don't-wake-up-your-siblings-they-need-to-sleep mental pleading.

I spend a lot of time putting things in perspective and being thankful that this is just a virus and nothing chronic. The kids are getting better every day and will be better soon. I'm not fond of cancelling plans, but that happens. I've got all that down.

What I don't do well with is taking the time just to be with them in their sickness. To just hold them without thinking about what I have to clean up next. To prioritize those precious minutes of snuggling with my 6 year old while he still wants me too. To see Jesus's love acted out in how I treat my children. To put my exhaustion, however legitimate it may be, aside because I care about them more than I care about myself.

If at the end of the day I can see things I could have done better, I want to make a conscious effort to do them better.

And I want to remember that it's OK to let my 2 year fall asleep on my lap and then join her while the boys watch Lilo and Stitch.