It's been a rough ten days. It all started with Cal spiking a 104 degree fever the night before school started up again after our lovely winter break. Fortunately, Hazey's godparents Tom and Cara were headed over to our house for dinner, so I was able to pop over to school and get some sub plans figured out as I knew I'd need to stay home with her on Wednesday. She spiked another fever on Wednesday night, but this one didn't go down as easily. Not having my better half to"talk me off the cliff" and being short on sleep because of her coughing fits throughout the previous few nights, I got pretty stressed out. After consulting the pediatrician and supplementing the ibruprofen with tylenol, the fever came down enough for us to get a little sleep. However, I still needed to go to school to make copies and get another day of sub plans figured out because there was no way Cal was going to to go to daycare on Thursday. It got me wondering how the heck single parents do it-- how they manage sleepless nights, a job, etc.
By mid-morning on Thursday, I got Cal into the doctor where she was diagnosed with pneumonia (again). She was put on the same strong antibiotic she had taken in November and I hoped she was on the quick road to recovery. That didn't end up being the case. The fever persisted throughout the weekend. Not wanting to get anyone else's kids sick we stayed in all weekend and I was starting to feel like a "shut in". I did, however, get one of John's fantastic Outing Club gals to come over and babysit the kids so I could get out to enjoy the gorgeous weather and some fresh snow with Zephy for a few hours and that helped a lot.
Unfortunately, the reprieve was short lived, By Saturday night, Hazen also came down with a fever -- making the nights even tougher because one or the other kid was having a coughing attach throughout the night. So instead of hanging out at the Base Box of Mad River and enjoying some spring skiing turns on Sunday, I made another visit to the doctor (we love that Dr. Parker will come in on his weekends to see a sick kid), only to find out that Cal's strain of pneumonia is likely viral and would take some more time to heal.
John got home just in the nick of time on Sunday afternoon. I was at my wits end and ready to have my co-parent home again. He was exhausted from having driven through the night to make an early morning flight out of Boise. Unfortunately, another night of coughing, sleepless children ensued. Having already missed two weeks of work, but wanting to be there to help, John agreed to stay home with Cal since she still had a fever on Monday. Unfortunately, that morning, John got news that one of his favorite Outing Club students had died. He was crushed, but forced into deal mode, organizing a gathering for sad students and planning a meeting with the parents of the student the next day. He was able to Kayla, another fantastic Outing Club gal, to hang out with Cal on campus in the morning and came home to continue dealing from home. I came home early from work to pick up Hazen, only to find him with a raging fever and looking pretty grim.
On Tuesdays John stays home with the kids anyway, so went ahead with that plan--minus the swimming lesson that Cal was signed up to go to (because she still had a fever-- seven days later). Hazey, was spirally downhill (spiking his own fever of 104.3 F), so we made our third trip to the doctor in one week (to get his ears checked and listen to his lungs for pneumonia) and found out that he doesn't have pneumonia, but does have an ear infection.
By Wednesday, John and I were totally strung out. He'd missed too much work and so had I. Neither of us could really figure out a way to take the day off. I only had to teach two classes, but had to be at both because students were presenting long term projects in one class and carrying out a lab in the other. Luckily, Cousin Chris came to save the day! John stayed home with Hazey until 10am, I came home until 11:15 and then he came over for an hour and a half so I could go back to school before coming home for the rest of the afternoon.
Though all of this sickness has been really stressful and tiring, there have been moments that I really cherish--the one-on-one time with each of my kids, the snuggles, the projects, and the late night fever influenced conversations like this one in the middle of the night:
"Mom, why don't you wear your hair in a pony tail anymore"
"Because it's winter, Cal, and I usually wear my hair down when it's cold out"
"You look pretty when you wear your hair up..... like at your wedding with Daddy"
or this one at 3am:
"Dad, I missed you while you were in the mountains"
We are in the thick of it. We've got two small kids who need their parents. Sometimes sickness comes along to get you to slow down-- to take a deep breath and put everything in perspective. John and I are lucky to both have the ability to take time off from work and be with these kids when they need us. I know these days will seem like they flew by when we look back on the sleepless nights and missed work and we'll be thankful that we had the ability to give big hugs and be there when our kids needed us.
And in light of what happened to Avi, John's student who passed away this week, we realize how precious every moment is-- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Here is to temperatures of 98.6 F, big smiles, sleep filled nights, continued snuggles, sunshine, and energy!
