Since many years ago we have had the “sick couch” at my husband’s
office. With three kids and two careers it seemed the only way to manage with
runny noses, slight fevers, and dizziness. The sleeping couch was used often enough
but not too often thankfully as our kids were rarely sick even as little kids
at daycare. For some reason our kids are not the sick types. Maybe it is bc our
house is so germy they build up immunity??? Or their schools super clean? I
have never really understood why but am thankful for the blessing! Compared to
most of my friends kids and my collogues kids they have been sick about maybe
1/10 of the time!
Anyways..today was not a lucky dayL Beauty left the cottage on Sunday
night with a friend to stay at her house for two days bc of dance camp. The phone
rings at Trent early this morning whole we were sound asleep and she was
vomiting and very sick and the poor friend’s mom was with her. Being asleep,
one and a half hour away, having two other kids sound asleep, having my Mom arriving
at cottage with her friends this week for a week and having to organize and
clean, having kids going to sleep away camp for two weeks and needing a bunch
of their stuff from cottage to organize and having a boat to trail for the next
two weeks in city…did not make a good formula for getting home in a quick
jiffy!
So that is where Head office comes in. That is what Hubby’s
secretaries over that years call when kids are too sick for sleeping couch and
the odd occasion like today when the parents can’t be there for the kidsL they call it “coming to
head office” and I have always had a good chuckle at the term. Head office is
not that pleasant. It involves picking up sick kid, having sick kid throw up in
a bucket in your car, putting that kid to bed in a messy house that no one was
expecting anyone to enter, fumbling around to find water switch, medications
and water bottle, and having kid throw up again. Head office really sucks actually.
It deserves some serious double pay.
But thank god for head office I tell you! It’s part of
the job description (for real) for any of my husband’s employees and it is a
godsend (and a rather brilliant Idea I had many many years ago I might add ). Usually
when our kids have been super sick clearly it is important enough for us to
break apts and be there but both of us have jobs where sometimes that is very
hard (aka hubby in meeting for house transaction involving 16 people, me
travelling internationally or giving a presentation to Directors offsite).
Today was simply plain old distance.
So once I got home Beauty was still in bad shape and will
probably be missing another day of camp tomorrow. Stomach stuff has subsided
and gone I think but she is weak and dizzyL doubting
it will be a dance day tomorrow.
Amidst all of this it was actually a pleasant day and
evening. I came home and cleaned house while she slept and then floated in my
pool. Hubby and boys stayed at cottage and got everything organised there and
then got home for dinner. Both boys decided to go out for July 1...one to the
fireworks right around here and the other to a big party (this seems to be the
new pattern!) Hubby on his way now to pick up 7 boys in minivan from party. Even
if a work night we like to be one to pick up when we can even if it it is a true
pain in the ass-as we want our kids SAFE. Hubby does not drink alcohol anymore either
so very practical for these very frequent late night picks ups that used to be
me most the timeJ
Tonight while Beauty slept yet again Hubby and I walked down
to the end of the street by the lake-brought two chairs to sit and watched the fireworks
by the water with the warm wind blowing and blowing making huge crashing waves.
It was a beautiful and peaceful 30 minutes And I felt so blessed to live by
such beauty. There is nothing as beautiful as water to me…nothing even comes
close. It was actually a crazy, hard stressful day but those waves just really speak
to me and calmed me down. I think had same effect on Hubby. We put a quick impromptu
dinner together of curry chicken with lentils and rice and salad and it was also
a deeply satisfying meal.
We wrote each other texts in the afternoon about how
important it was for us to stick together and be great parents and partners as
we know the next 7 yrs. are going to be harder and tougher than the last 7 years.
We made a pact to get through it by each others sides.
The lake solidified that for me tonight.
Even with a barfly sick girl, out of brace now for 24 hrs.
(as can’t barf on a 4k brace easily), and a girl who on top of everything else
had to get her period today again ….even with one son god knows where doing god
knows what, And another son who is falling more in love every day and breaking
our golden rule of “you can’t love a girl before sec 5…. Even if with all the
big stuff we have going on all the “little stuff” is hard too (financial
difficulties, every appliance under the sun breaking at same time, problems at
works et, exhaustion, need to cancel next vacation etc.....we are ok…we are
more than ok.
We have each other. We have the lake. We have them.
And most importantly we have a sick couch and a head
office-and I am serious when I say that both of these factors have prevented us
both from some serious panic attacks over the years. So today my gratitude is
for those simple things.
And at that lake today I also found “my spot” A spot
that I am going to commit to walking to almost daily and expressing gratitude
for on that bench near the waves. It called to me today and I decided that as of the endd of summer I need to go there almost daily during the week as part of my exercise routine.
And give thanks for all the perfect and imperfect that make up this life that
belongs to me.
And for the future that I know with certainly…will be as
every bit as beautiful as the past.
