Lately my world has been less-than-perfect, as I have been battling being sick for the past week. And as any Mommy knows: when Mommy is sick, life is bad....very bad.
It started last week with just a lack of energy. And a lack of energy cannot be tolerated in my world, since I am on the go all the time and my night hours are precious to me as they allow me to get work done without affecting my Mommy role. But I started to notice I couldn't even stay up past 9:00 p.m.!
Of course next followed the head cold, the aches and pains, stomach pains...you know the drill. Over the weekend, I rested the best I could but still nearly a week later, my cold/flu still has a hold of me. And man this is a stubborn illness as I will feel good one day and think I beat it only to find myself exhausted the next day.
In the Mommy world, being sick is nearly impossible. In addition to be being a Mommy to three very small children I am often a single Mommy as my husband works 4+ nights a week. It's really hard to be down for the count when your kids are counting on you. Luckily I have a daughter that loves to play nurse and so what she thinks is a game has been my method of survival this week. There have been several nights this week of Mommy laying on the couch and J bringing me glasses of juice and fruit-snack "pills".
And being a working Mom only makes the concept of being sick harder to deal with. In addition to being pulled in several directions at home, I have a world of attorneys, adjusters, clients, and partners waiting on projects, return calls, and letters. Although my schedule is extremely flexible, taking days off work is not really an option in my world. Now this illness has hit me so hard that I did take a day off last week, but taking a day off actually made me feel worse as I had to return the next day only to climb into a large manhole that was left by all the work piling up. Since just one day off, I have been playing a massive case of catch up. So the option of taking a few days off work and not emerging until I feel better is not a path I can take.
So now in addition to swallowing countless Advils and cold medicines I am swallowing the large bitter pill of being overwhelmed as I have so much to accomplish with about 1/3 of my energy. This week I have a huge brief to write, an all day mediation, a trip to Des Moines for depositions, and a powerpoint presentation due by Friday. Throw on top of that all the running around I normally do with my kids and you can see how large of a pill this is to swallow. What happened to the days when I could just bury myself under a mountain of blankets and catch up on soap operas when I was sick??
But alas, I must keep moving and hopefully this fog will lift very soon!! A massive down-for-the-count illness like I've been struggling with doesn't come around very often (knock on wood)....so I just keep reminding myself that if I can make it through this life will be back to normal before I know it!!
Hoping all of you Mommies out there are steering clear of the spring illnesses. Start dosing yourselves with Vitamin C now...trust me!
Mandi
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