Gratitude, part 4.

I have to say that today I am grateful for good health. This is because I am longing for my kids to BE healthy again! Since Wednesday, Ben and Thomas have both been fevering, coughing, and being miserably sick.

When I first had Thomas, I was such a worry wart. That kid would sneeze and I would make him an appointment at the pediatrician; I have had the number memorized since he was 2 days old! Anyways, I as he grew, I’ve gotten better at determining the level of sickness they are at before subjecting them and myself to the doctors office. And now that we have Ben, I like to think that sickness is just old hat. I’m an experienced mom, right?

But then they both got sick with the same symptoms on the same day. How often does that happen? Anyhow, when we are nice and normal feeling, we get some pretty good sleep around here. But the past few nights have been really awful. I am guilty of putting my kids in my bed at the drop of the hat just because I am too lazy to miss out on sleep, so them being in my bed is no strange feat. This week, that laziness has resulted in a bout of sleeplessness that has left us all really grumpy.

Example: last night, no one was asleep at 11pm when Shane and I finally decided to go to bed. Ben was in his bed, but having trouble sleeping, and Thomas was sleeping on the floor of his room, propped up on pillows, coughing his head off. So, Ben starts crying, so I go and lay down with him. I went back to my bed after he was asleep. An hour later, everyone was in my bed, and Shane gave up and went into Ben’s bed. Me and the boys were content for a while, but Thomas started coughing again. After dosing him with cough medicine, I grabbed a blanket and went in search of a bed. Shane heard me and invited me into Ben’s bed. So, an hour of so later, Ben joined us (and my, isn’t it special to sleep in a twin bed with 2 adults and a toddler!) Shane (are you seeing a pattern?) got sick of being stuffed into the corner and went and got into Thomas’ bed. Another hour passes, and Thomas wants to get into bed with Ben and I. I had to draw the line, and so I told him to go back and get in my bed. He ended up in his own bed with Shane. My bed remained vacant for the remainder of the night. Ah, it makes me tired just writing about it.

So, tonight I want to express my gratitude for our normally healthy house. I am glad that we don’t spend as much time as in years past in the pediatrician. I am grateful that my boys little bodies are strong and healthy.

Maybe in a few years I’ll be able to post about my gratitude for a good nights sleep. It sounds pretty far off tonight, though!