Unexpected Blessing

Today is one of those days that takes a 180-degree turn at the drop of a hat. Dan left for Alabama for a five-day trip with his brother at 4:30 a.m. to go golfing, so it's my turn to be a single parent. I was all ready to walk out the door this morning with the kids on time, which never happens. My last task was to wake Bailey up and get her dressed. I walked into her room to an overwhelming smell that all parents can distinguish. The poor girl had gotten sick repeatedly overnight and never even cried or tried to alert us to the fact. It was all over her crib, her books, her stuffed animals, and caked in her hair. That's when I knew my day was not going to go as planned.

Since I'm by myself and didn't want to take Bailey out of the house, that meant that all three of us were staying home. It took me 45 minutes to clean that disaster up!! Amazingly, Bailey has done fairly well today and even has eaten and kept it all down. She's just very tired. I'm hoping that Jacob and I can ward this off, especially me, because if I'm sick it will be interesting on how these kids will get taken care of!!

Although poor Bailey isn't well, this day has been actually nice. I've been feeling really sad lately that these kids are growing up and I'm spending my days at work. I love my job and need to work, but it doesn't mean that I don't miss time with the kids. I think that my time with them over Christmas break and my actual break from life while on my vacation has really made me reevaluate my priorities in life. I've gotten to spend bonus time with the kids today that I normally wouldn't have had. We've eaten at our leisure and not in a rush, we've watched lots of children's TV, read books, raced cars down a race track, played Candyland (with Jessie and Buzz of course!), and the day is still young. I also get them ALL weekend to myself, so I'm feeling pretty lucky right now. I just can't bear the thought of the fact that one day they will be teenagers and not want anything to do with me and will eventually begin lives outside of this house.

So who would have ever thought a sick day would be an unexpected blessing?!!