No great tragedy or trauma, but the past week (9 days, really) were trying. It feels silly to complain about what are simply the normal ups and downs of life, but here I go.
It started with a snowstorm on Friday the 2nd. I was surprised by it- it came with heavy winds and snow. Trees toppled everywhere, roads were blocked, the train lines all closed down. We managed to all get home safely, and I even brought in a couple of the boys' classmates whose mom couldn't get out of the city. Everything was calm and pleasant, until- the lights went out. The good news was, my parents had electricity. We packed up one night's worth of clothing, the food we had bought for dinner, and went over to my parents' for the night.
On Saturday, still no power at home, or pretty much anyplace else we were supposed to go (a birthday party for Charlotte, a fundraiser for the boys' school that Eric and I had planned to attend). After breakfast, Charlotte said, "I think I'm going back to bed to take a nap." I didn't think much of it at the time, but by the time she woke up from her "nap," she was flushed and feverish. Child #1 down.
My mom had come down with a cold at the end of our trip to Sedona (another entry for another time, it was beautiful and filled with delicious food) and was mostly dead when we arrived, so she stayed on the couch the whole time, coughing and blowing her nose. I started to feel congested in my chest and not 100%, so that made 3 of us who were sick.
By Saturday night, Benjamin had started with a fever as well, and it seemed like his tonsils were swollen. Sick person #4.
Sunday morning I took Benjamin to urgent care. The boys' Hebrew school had been canceled- no electricity at the synagogue. We still had no electricity at home, and Eric and I had gone and collected more belongings, along with all of our frozen and refrigerated food. Benjamin's diagnosis was "viral," so I took him back to my parents' house to rest.
Charlotte still had a fever as well, and we had tickets to go the Harlem Globetrotters on Sunday night, but 3 of us had to stay home. Monday came around, and instead of having time to myself, I had two children and a sick mom to take care of. Charlotte and Benjamin weren't sick anymore, but couldn't return to school because of their fevers the day before, so it was the worst- two un-sick kids, bored out of their minds after an entire weekend in the house. In addition, I had an appointment to register Charlotte for kindergarten, an appointment for my annual with my gynecologist, and all 3 kids had appointments for the dentist. By evening I started to feel pretty lousy myself, and ended up canceling my clients so I could rest and get to bed early.
Tuesday I sent everyone off to school and got myself ready to go to work. By lunchtime, I had a text from Eric that Benjamin's fever was back, and he was sent home from school. Around dinnertime, I got a text from Eric that our power was back, and we could return home again (yay!). Lucky me, I got to be at work and avoid all the packing and moving- Eric handled it all.
Tuesday night schools closed for Wednesday due to another snowstorm. I canceled all my clients and we spent the day at home. Snow days at the beginning of the winter are one fun thing after another- sledding, snowball fights, the kids play for hours in the snow, we have hot chocolate and Eric makes a fire in the fireplace. This snow day, Eric worked all day without stopping, the kids didn't want to go outside, no one went sledding, and I made soup for dinner which all 3 kids refused to eat.
Thursday I had to go back to work, but the kids had a 2 hour delay, and Eric had to go out of town in the afternoon for a meeting. Then, Asher had a fever and couldn't go to school at all! Sick person #5. We had to patch together care- my mom, who was still mostly dead, got them from school in the afternoon and stayed with them until I got home around 5; then we had a babysitter come from 6:30-9 so I could go see more clients.
Friday was a similar mess. Asher had to stay home from school, and I had to go to work, and Eric wasn't here to take care of him. I dropped him at my parents', rushed back to our house to go to the elementary school to watch Benjamin participate in the 2nd grade "Famous Americans" assembly, then rushed off to work, saw one client, then brought lunch to my mom and Asher, then rushed back to work to see 2 clients, then rushed to pick Asher up from my parents', then off to pick Charlotte up from school, then rushed home to get Benjamin from his school. Every minute was accounted for and there was no room for error. Fortunately, we made it through the day, and I even managed to cook a homemade dinner and get it on the table by 5:15.
By Saturday, everyone was healthy again, and Eric had returned home, so we could try to resume a somewhat normal life. All 3 kids had over-indulged in TV and ipads, and their behavior showed it. This week we have gone screen-free and had an improvement in attitudes and cooperation. Now we are eager for the snow to melt and the spring to come. And we hope for no more weeks of disaster!
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