I knew we were in for it the moment the thought entered my mind, but it happened so fast there was no stopping it.
“Wow! We haven’t been sick all winter!”
So I wasn’t really surprised when I heard Tess puking in the hazy hours between Friday and Saturday. Or even when I learned upon coming upstairs after a night with Gemma on the couch that Philip had joined the party at some point. Saturday? A total loss. Dang.
We rallied on Sunday – thankfully the sickness was a short lived one though the two invalids milked it for all it was worth.
Monday started off with the best of intentions but came to a screeching halt when Ellie succumbed. Plans were scrapped and the day adjusted. “School” took a new turn. Instead of math and Latin we learned:
1. The proper technique to hurl into a bowl. Turns out it’s tricky for a two-year-old.
2. What compassion looks like. Smiling gleefully while your sister is sick is not it.
3. How to calm a delirious two year old. Being reasonable isn’t very helpful in such a situation.
4. That daytime sickness is it’s own sweet blessing in a sleep deprived house.
5. To practice patience. It’s a needed skill when it is lunch time and one sister is starving and another is puking, both are crying and both parents are tending those fires.
The day wasn’t a complete waste. There was snow, I went grocery shopping, cleaned the fridge and washed one very profitable load of jeans.
Silver linings, indeed.
