Today began like any other day. A trip to the bathroom at 1:00 a.m. Nothing new for this pregnant girl. Then awakened again at 3 a.m. this time by my seven year old daughter. She has been sleeping a lot like a 2 year old these days. I can't figure it out. She woke again at 4:30 a.m. and then was up for good at 6:30 a.m. Let me just be honest, I laid in my bed for the longest time having panic attacks. Guess what? A newborn is joining our family in a few short weeks and will sleep like, well, a newborn.
My nights of uninterrupted sleep are over. I managed to get downstairs to feed the kids breakfast. I had given my daughter ibuprofen at the 4:30 a.m. wake up call because I discovered that she had a fever. I couldn't give her any more medicine yet and she was miserable. Her head hurt and her belly hurt. Okay, Dr. Mom goes into evaluation mode trying to figure out the who, what, where of the virus. Who has she been around? What were her symptoms? Where was I going to take her today?
We made it through breakfast. My children had remembered that I purchased a pool the day before to play with in the back yard. Despite her fever and ailments, my daughter was desperate to play in the pool. I got out a mini electric pump and went to work on blowing up all 6 air compartments. Thank goodness for the pump, I would have passed out trying to squeeze the nozzle while blowing slow breaths with all my might. Every 2 seconds I would have to tell my kids to stop touching the pool. They would run around it, try to step on it, try to jump in it. Good grief. "Go play please," I said. "We are playing!" They replied. Of course.
After we got the pool blown up, I had to convince the kids that we couldn't go in it right away. I tried to tell them that the water would be too cold and that we would have to let the sun warm up the water. We took the pool in the back yard and it was like trying to keep bees from soda. "Stop touching the pool!" I wailed. I would try to put the hose in and one of the kids would insist on helping by moving the hose which inevitably resulted in me getting wet. "Ugh!"
I told my kids they had to earn time in the pool by doing some workbook pages. They were quite compliant. I figured it was a great way to kill an hour. I helped my daughter with test prep, writing and math. I helped my son with the letter "C" and with counting. Speaking of counting, each minute was counted until we could get our suits on and go outside.
I took the kids upstairs and put their suits on. Both kids have bad sunburns from the weekend at the neighbor's pool. I had to argue with both of them to get them to wear t-shirts over their suits. "Does mine look dumb?" my daughter asked. "Do we care?" I replied. My son complained that his shirt would get wet. "Ugh!" Once we got outside in the pool after a spray with sunscreen, (another exciting 10 minutes) my son declares, "My shirt is sticking to me like glue." I gave no reply.
Several minutes into the playing my daughter had to go potty. In we came. Grass brushed off the feet, I just mopped yesterday, and into the bathroom. Shirt off. Suit off. Suit on. Shirt on. Wash hands. Back outside. I sat down for a few minutes hoping to read. Not so. I began having contractions. Baby boy doesn't like heat. Inside I went. That didn't go over very well. I had to explain that I was watching from the inside.
Screaming about bugs in the pools came. Screams about towels being dropped in the pool came. Complaints about being cold came. More potty breaks came. Yet through it all, there was a lot of laughter between my son and daughter.
After eating lunch outside, I brought the kids in to shower. I cleaned up the kids, cleaned up the pool and tried to rest. My son was not having anything to do with that. My daughter put herself down for a 2 hour nap (at 7 that is impressive). She woke up happier. I was struggling with my attitude all day long. I did a workout video during my daughter's nap and then showered myself. I took my kids to the library to return some books that were due today.
My daughter's fever climbed to 103. She was miserable which in turn made me not so happy. My son fell asleep in the car. When we arrived at the library I was taking on my cell phone, listening to my daughter tell me how miserable she felt, trying to figure out how to hold 25 library books with my cell phone and wake my 5 year old who was in a deep sleep in his car seat. I hung up my cell phone, woke my son, dropped some library books, picked up some library books and made it to the book return.
25 books clogged the return slot. The door would not close. I put my arm inside at which time my daughter lectured me telling me that the sign said not to put your hand in the slot. I managed to get the books down far enough to close the slot and we went inside to pick out a few more books.
Once again at home I made dinner fit for a camping family and then settled on the couch with my still ailing daughter and husband and son. We watched a show together and then my husband put the kids to bed. I headed out to buy more Tylenol, Motrin and 7-up for the headache, sore throat, upset tummy that my daughter has. My guess is Strep but time will tell.
I am exhausted. I can count on not sleeping well tonight. Yet, I will try. Through this normal day as a mom between whines, food prep and laundry folding the Lord reminded me that "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord." So many times when I read the verse in Isaiah that talks about our strength being renewed as we wait on Him I focused on the "waiting on Him" part. That's not a bad thing, but God just showed me that He gives me His strength as I wait. So many times I get frustrated waiting and check out all my circumstances and get overwhelmed. Then I lose the victory completely. Tonight, I just began to praise God for the strength rising. I kept saying it over and over. I prayed it. I sang it. I believed it. My circumstances haven't changed, but my strength has been renewed.
Thank you Lord for your strength. As I expect it to come when I commit every detail to you, I know I won't be disappointed. Help me to sleep, Lord. Help me to wake up refreshed for a new day that probably won't be unlike today. I am a mom, and this day is just one among many...many opportunities that is to bless the little blessings that God so amazingly entrusted me with.
