Back on track

Well, thank God that the above is over.  Long story made short:  all the kids went down within a matter of 24 hours.  Dave spent two nights sleeping on the living room floor managing three different buckets. The older kids were on their own and the baby managed to keep her fluid loss to a minimum.  Thankfully, mercifully, Dave and I missed the whole bug and remained healthy, if not exhausted.  Joseph was definitely hit the hardest and was laid out for a full six days.  This, my friends, is astounding.  Joseph is an incredibly high-energy little boy; thus, a week of Joseph sleeping, groaning and looking miserable is like a week without Joseph.  It was almost as if I signed him up for summer camp.

 We are now back to normal.  See, Sarah laughs in the face of sickness.  And her hair curls at the memory of it.  If there is one blessing to be found within this latest scourge, it is a slower entry into the season of fun.  We normally start summer in a high-speed train wreck.  The kids arrive home bringing loads of energy and expectations; Daddy arrives home exhausted and in need of a week of sleep; and I negotiate badly between the two spheres.  In fact, I usually present Dave with a list of expectations (and not much energy) and get angry when he fails to deliver within 24 hours of the closing of the school doors.  The result is never pretty.  Therefore, the whole house going down with a violent stomach bug actually helped us ease into summer with a week-ful of rest and getting used to each other again.  And for that I am thankful.

The sickness also forced me to take a week off from running which, in turn, helped with the healing of a few minor injuries.  Isaac kept up his training.  He finds running very soothing.  (I'll leave that joke with you.)  My early-morning run intentions have been confronted by the aches and pains of six babies and a body creeping slowly into early middle age.  I am sort of enjoying this slowing down.  I have never been a very relaxed person and, after 35 years, I think that I might just be starting to get a grasp on how to sit back and take things a little bit slower.
At least for this week.