Laying Down on the Job

I confess I've been laying down on the job the last couple days here.  I'm not just talking about blogging, either.  I'm talking literally at home.  But sometimes, you do what you've gotta do, even if what you're doing equals to nothing.

Sunday I did end up taking Nyssa to the urgent care satellite facility of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and I am very grateful for them.  She had to have oral steroids and another breathing treatment, after which they pronounced her well enough to not have to go to the hospital overnight, and sent her home with Prednisolone and a ton of more Albuterol. 

Then, when I was already sick, feverish, and exhausted beyond compare, I got her strapped into her carseat and attempted to drive away only to find that the passenger side door of the minivan wouldn't close.  We have a 2004 Toyota Sienna which I truly do adore...but I wasn't happy about it that night.  It was an automatic door and absolutely refused to close.  Something had broken.  So I had to wait for a friend to drive over (thanks, Greg and Ellen), put Nyssa in her car seat in their auto, and follow me as I drove the van home with the beep beep beep sound alert with an open sliding door. 

Now before anyone gets to wondering, my beloved husband was at home watching the other three because I thought I could handle one sick child better than 3 well ones around bed time.  And he couldn't come get me because I had the vehicle that would fit the clan for the ride.  So he was stuck at home helping me decide what to do...and he was my prince as always! 

We got home and everyone went to bed, looking forward to the next day, a holiday...Labor Day!  It's the day you take off work, right?  No work on Labor Day!  Well, let me just put it this way.  I was awakened early the next morning by poor Richard needing a towel because there was poop on the stairs and he had stepped on it.  If you're easily grossed out by poop, I advise not reading the next couple of sentences, by the way.

Nathaniel had diarrhea...and had it bad... Every step on the staircase had it, all across the hallway floor were traces of it, and on the bathroom carpet were blobs of it where my poor son tried to get to the bathroom.  So here we were.   I was sick, I had no voice, and I could barely breathe and move; Nyssa was having breathing treatments every 4 hours; and now Nathaniel had some sort of virus that had him squirting all over the place.  Benjamin wasn't sick per se, but he was fussy and actually took a nap.  And what did I do?  I lay on the couch all day long with the exception of occasional kitchen and bathroom runs when I had the energy to get up, and giving Nyssa her medications.  My poor knight in shining armor had to go to pick up prescriptions, cook, and help with the kids instead of being able to rest on his day off.

Last night, I was up because Gabriela was fussy.  Now this is a child who has never been clingy, but she was holding on to me for dear life and clutching at her ear.  So I gave her some Ibuprofen and rocked her back to sleep a few times and went to bed knowing nobody was going to school today. 

I awoke and called the doctor's offices, both for myself and three of the children.  I'm so thankful to Anita for helping with the kids and the house while I went to the doctor.  I was declared contagious with a virus and given Hydrocodone syrup, Zantax, Mucinex DM, Sudafed 30 mg, and nasal spray...all to be used together.  Richard met me at the pediatrician, where Nyssa had to have 2 more breathing treatments, Gabriela was diagnosed with an ear infection, and Nathaniel was declared to have a virus that had to run its course.

Twelve hours and three more prescriptions later, everyone else is in bed except for myself, because Gabriela awoke again with ear pain and only just went down again.  I'm tired.  I'm so ready for bed, but the window of opportunity for sleep has passed and I'm waiting for it to come by again.  What have I done the last couple of days?  I've been laying down on the job.

How often do we have things in life that we simply must get done and we simply cannot take the time to do otherwise?  I know I am constantly battling the clock, and this time I battled against my own body.  I tried to fight it but I couldn't.  I couldn't get up and feed my children.  I couldn't care for them the way I'm supposed to care for them.

How often do we try to do things in our own strength and succeed in getting nowhere because we simply have none?  It's okay to be able to admit that the strength is gone.  It's okay to admit we are weak.  It's okay to say, "Yes, I need help."  It's okay to let someone else step up and take care of things.  Why is that?  Because it gives someone else a purpose, as well.  It gives us a chance to heal, and it gives someone else who loves us the chance to be needed.  And sometimes, we need to do what is best for ourselves, which is also best for those around us, which is to just lay down on the job so that tomorrow or the next day, we can pick back up again with greater strength.