We want our mommies too!

Children get sick. When you are a mother, you know children get sick, often. We worry, we watch, we wait, we book doctor’s appointments, and we hope it just goes away. We don’t sleep at night because we are pumping them with Tylenol, cold compresses and checking to make sure their fever is down. We ensure they are drinking enough fluids and we have a stock of popsicles for their sore throats.

The more children you have, the longer the process is to eliminate the germs and viruses. Our husbands..Ha...that is all I can say. They end up getting their “man” colds and become absolutely useless. They lay on the couch, asking for tea, camomile, and back rubs..lol..this is when you want to call their own mothers and tell them to come and take care of their own kid..lol. So we have our kids calling for us, AND our husbands needing us.

Yesterday my 5 year old began running a fever, because of everything going on right now, I am a little nervous, and worried about her, and my other 3 kids. I began feeling little aches and pains of my own, in my back and my neck. I drink a tea, pop a Tylenol and continue to take care of my kids. I slept with my daughter last night because I had to make sure she was ok, and that she is not breathing too fast. While sleeping in her “big girl” bed, my 8 year old started screaming for me. I spring up, run over and see what is going on there. He is telling me (in agony) that his ears are hurting him, badly. So I basically spent my night going from one bed to the next, to check on both of them. In the morning, my husband wakes up quite refreshed and tells the babies to “leave mommy alone and let her sleep” This is when you think of involuntary manslaughter, as an option..lol..So I role out of bed and again, I feel some aches and muscles pains, I pour myself a tea, pop a Tylenol and continue my day.

A mother’s job is never done. We are like the Energizer bunnies, we keep going and going, and going. We don’t stop for anything, if we are on a mission. Our kids come first, point final. There is nothing more important to us, than them. We put our own feelings, schedules, and activities aside for them. It is just our duty.

Yesterday when I was feeling a little fluish, I too needed, and wanted my mommy. I remember the days when I was sick in bed. She would come in my room, put a cold compress on my head, take my temperature, leave me some homemade chicken soup, and tuck me in. When I got sick, I knew I could count on my mother to comfort and take care of me. I never stopped to realize if she was tired, or if she too, was feeling sick. I didn’t even notice. I am sure there were many times she did not feeling like taking care of 4 sick kids, making dinner, doing laundry and disinfecting the germs, but she still did it. She stayed up all night with each of us, making sure we got through it ok. She lacked sleep and strength, but she did it for us.

A mother is not “allowed” to get sick. We are the last ones we think about when we have others to take care of. We can’t lie down and shake off the flu symptoms because we have more important little people to take care of. Mother’s are selfless; we want our kids to be healthy and to get back to normal. Mothers DO get sick, we do feel the aches and the pains and we do occasionally feel like vomiting too. The only difference is that we suck it up and forget about it. One thing I will tell you....if we do get sick, we want our mommies too!
That’s my peace today!

Lentil Soup
1 can of lentils
2 chopped carrots
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup white rice
1/2 white onion diced
1 celery stalk
3 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp olive oil

In a saucepan, heat oil, sautee lentils, carrots, celery, onions, salt and pepper. Add water, bring to a boil, salt again and add rice. Cook on med-high for about 40 minutes.