So far, 2012 has not been a great year for Karen's house. We had all indications that 2012 was not going to get off to a great start when New Year's Eve found both my dad and Husband's dad in the ER, but I was not prepared for all this stress so soon!
Pretty much things have been a whirlwind. January came. We started back to work. The kids went back to school. And last Thursday, both of our dads got some tests done. My dad's test went well. We don't have the results yet, but the "emergency" part of his scare is done. So, I'm thinking positively that all will come out well. Husband's dad's test results, however, were not great. So not great, in fact, that on Thursday they scheduled him for another test Monday morning, the results of which they would then use to do heart surgery. Immediately.
Because Husband's dad is not in the greatest health generally, and because he has had a heart attack before, we immediately decided that Husband should go to be with his dad and mom for the surgery. We were, of course, hoping for the best. But what if the worst happened? I definitely wanted Husband to be there. So, we agreed he would go.
Of course, this week is my busiest week at work in months. I have 6 court appearances in 4 days. I have court in a suburban county. I have briefing deadlines. Pretty much every thing you could jam in one week, I have this week. There was no way I could go to the hospital. Plus, I couldn't do anything to help the situation. So I was going to stay home with the kids. But I was more than a little worried about how I was going to get all of that work done and single parent for the week. Just dropping off and picking up my kids from daycare adds 2 hours to my commute. What if court went late? What if there was a lot of traffic? I was going to have to be on my A game, but somehow I thought I could get through it.
With our plan set for Husband to leave Sunday for Monday morning's surgery, we went about a typical Friday. Husband had a work lunch he had to attend, and I needed to do some work too. In an effort to balance both of our obligations, I took care of the kids all morning, and Husband was going to watch the kids while I worked in the afternoon.
For my shift, I took the kids outside to play. I'm a big believer in outside play, even when it is very cold outside, so winter play is nothing new to us. Plus, the weather was amazing, so it was really as lot of fun. The kids were playing on the swing set and going down the slide, when all of a sudden, KJ fell. Of course, KJ fell from the tree house part of our set - the highest point. He started screaming and kicking his legs, and I didn't know if he had hurt his head or his back or what. Thankfully, Sweet Pea was the best kid in the world and followed me without question as I carried KJ in the house.
KJ's injuries, as it turns out, were no so bad. He did not hit his head. He did not hurt his back. And he did not fall on Sweet Pea. (Whew). He did scrape the skin off of all of his tummy and both legs on his way down, though. And it apparently hurt.
Sweet Pea, the best little sister in the world, brought KJ all of his stuffed animals to try to make him feel better. And, as I gave him a bath to try to clean the wounds (and he screamed), she picked out special Lightening McQueen Band-Aids for him. And finally, as I applied triple antibiotic ointment and the band-aids, she rubbed his head to quiet him. She really was the best helper a mom could ever hope for.
But for all of Sweet Pea's help, I was still stressed. KJ's fall came (of course) about 5 minutes after Husband had left for his lunch. And the whole time KJ was screaming, I could hear my phone ringing in the background. It was (of course) a client trying to reach me with a time sensitive question. By the time I finally got KJ clean, calmed down and watching tv, a partner from my firm had intervened and responded to the client. So much for my Friday availability.
Saturday wasn't much better. Husband came down with the flu. We were at a kid birthday party about an hour from our house when he started feeling sick, so that made for an unpleasant drive for Husband. Poor Husband felt miserable, and there was nothing I could do to help.
As a result of Husband's illness, he did not go to support his mom and dad on Sunday. I told Husband that the last thing someone who is going in for heart surgery needs is exposure to the flu, and he agreed. But it was still hard to wish his dad luck over the phone, wishing all the while that we were there in person, just in case.
The one ray of light we've had in 2012 is that the surgery went well. By the time I got into work on Monday at 9 am, Husband's dad was out of surgery and already looking and feeling better. Husband also reported to me that 4 of his work teammates also were sick over the weekend, making the work lunch - and not the flu - the most likely culprit of his weekend sickness.
I hope these successes are a shift in the way 2012 is going to go. There's a lot of year left, and I'm not sure I can take too much more!
Karen
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