Thankful

This morning, as I cleaned up the vomit that my little girl spewed all over the recliner after sleeping a whopping 4 hours, I felt thankful.

 As I trudged around in my dirty bathrobe and made breakfast for the healthy boys through grainy, sleepy eyes while yelling at them to stay away from their sister, I felt thankful. 

As I realized that today was day 4 out of the last 7 that I was home with a sick child because my children insist on rolling around like a pack of puppies, creating the perfect petri dish in my own family room, I was thankful. 

I am thankful that I don't have to go to work.  That there is no nervous juggling of schedules or bartering for whose work day is more important and therefore can't be missed.  Thankful that the worst part of sick kids is a mind crunching boredom and restlessness and not piles of work that will have to be made up.  No subs to be called, no (important) meetings to be cancelled. 

This is why I like being a stay-at-home mom.  This is why I am so grateful to my husband for providing so well for our family.  Even though sick kids and all that comes from that (see vomit cleanup above) SUCKS, this is why I stay at home.  When I think about going back to work in a few years, it is the sick days that scare me most of all.  Who would ever hire me, when my children go on chain-illnesses like this?  How do other families do it?

So I will continue pushing Popsicles and wiping runny noses and rubbing Vicks on chests...and thank my lucky stars that I don't have to be as super as all the super moms out there.

At least until I get sick next week.  Then I'll be cursing the fact that I don't have daycare to send them to all day ;)