Last Thursday, I started back at work part-time. It's the perfect situation, or at least as close to it as I could ever possibly get. Working an average of 6 hours a day, leaving me enough time to write for a couple hours every morning after I drop the kids off from school, and still pick them up at a not-the-last-minute hour.
Awesome! Exciting! Except. The kids started at preschool a couple of weeks back. Any of you who have been through this are already nodding your heads, knowing what I'm going to say next.
See, when children start preschool at a new facility, they inevitably come home covered in germs from eyelash to toenail. Different germs for each of them, since they're all in different classrooms. And as soon as they walk in the doorway home, the germs scuttle off their disgusting, muddy, snotty little bodies, and invade your house.
Then they infect you. And make your life a living hell. The germ that picked me on Friday, and still hasn't left me alone, is a disgusting sinus cold. My throat's throbbing, I have a persistent low-grade fever, I'm dizzy, and I am blowing my nose so much it's chapped. A stomach virus picked David. The kids are sick too, and at least one of them keeps us up at all hours of the night. It's all we can do to get everyone dressed and pack lunches in the morning, and do the dinner-bathtime-and-bedtime rush at the end of the day. We're going on day 5 of sickness now and there's no way of telling when the germs will burn themselves out.
Between trying to keep myself and my work stuff kept up, with all these disgusting symptoms, my house and my general person is a disaster. You can imagine what ONE (the WiP) looks like. I think I've maybe gotten 1000 words down in the last two days, and those are pretty weak and possibly incoherent.
I know this stage of adjustment, both mental and physical, will pass. But for now, we're in survival mode.
Sweet readers, please regale me with tales of survival times you've gone through, and how you - and, obviously, your writing - have survived.
Aww! Sending you some germ-free hugs. I swear children seek out germs to contract. I was sick ALL THE TIME as a kid, and I think it's part of the reason I'm so germophobic now... and knock on wood, I haven't had a real illness in years.
ReplyDeleteBut think of it this way... you could be like Kate Gosselin, and have ALL SIX of your sextuplets vomiting at the same time. Sounds like fun, right?
oh no, I hope you all feel better soon. My little guys started school last thursday, and oh do I remember the winter months last year with all the colds, and viruses... blech! Don't worry about One... it knows you will come back to it asap.
ReplyDeleteI, too am having the same situation minus the kids part. But I did go back to visit my nieces and nephews this week and caught whatever bug they had. So between work, class, blogging, my WIP and reading....
ReplyDeleteAHHHHHHHH! I'm right where you are my dear. Let me know how you end up surviving it!
@Gina - Thank you! That does put it in perspective. And unless I'm totally missing something, I can pretty confidently say I'll never have six puking children to worry about.
ReplyDelete@Cristina - Thanks. Isn't it GROSS?
@Chasing - I can't decide whether it's better or worse to catch the bug but then not have the kids to go with it. On the one hand, you get to sleep all night. On the other, kids are good for sickie cuddles. ;)
Rest when you can. I know that is MISSION IMPOSSIBLE for moms, but it's the only way you're going to get better.
ReplyDeleteLeigh Ann, what a coincidence. I've had a sinus cold since Saturday as well. I'm still suffering from it. It's been wreaking havoc on not only my work but my writing as well (I haven't done ANYTHING). Here's hoping that both of us (and your family) will all get better soon.
ReplyDelete@Jenny - Whoa, I hyperventilated just THINKING of relaxing! You hit the nail on the head. But that's the second time I've heard it today, so I'm going to try.
ReplyDelete@Lyla - Oh nooooo! I've done barely anything too. Hope you feel better!
My husband and I both teach elementary school. My daughter is in 1st grade, my son in 8th. We go to four different schools each day.
ReplyDeleteI teach in the computer lab, where over the course of two days, I teach 650 children.
Germs? You betcha. I use Germ-X about 10 times a day at school, and I'm a Nazi about it at home with my kids.
Oh, and we take Emergen-C every single day before leaving the house.
And we still get sick. So yeah. Uh, good luck?? ;)
Oh yes. I am still going through this and my kids are 17 and 8. My daughter and I are both sick right now with the head cold thing. I'm SO tired! But life must go on, right?
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that gets better isn't that the germs stop coming home or you stop getting sick, but as the kids get older they aren't quite so needy, so if you're sick too you can take care of yourself a little bit more and aren't up all night as much.
Awww! Dang! I hope the fam all gets better soon! It's the worst dealing with sick kids when you're sick yourself. I say forget the WIP and chill. Sometimes you get more done in the end when you've gotten a decent amount of rest.
ReplyDelete@Elana - Okay, I actually think you've inspired me to get giant hand sanitizer bottles for EVERYWHERE in the house. So much easier than scrubbing little hands at sinks (mine are 4, 2, and 1)
ReplyDelete@CherylAnne - It's really good to hear there's a light at the end of the tunnel, at least in that regard.
@Peggy - It feels so, so weird not to write, but that's actually what I've been forced to do this week. I didn't write AT ALL on Tuesday, and I wrote two sentences yesterday. Thanks for your "permission" - I seriously feel like I need it sometimes. <3