No Days Off

This past week I have not posted on the blog because I been ill with a sinus infection. Since, I run a home daycare there are more germs coming in my home and despite my obsessive lysoling, disinfectant wiping, and purrelling illnesses will happen. As a mom however, being sick or feeling run down doesn’t grant me a day off. When we are without children we have the leisure to stay home from work, sleep extra hours, take long baths, veg-out on the couch, take Nyquil without concern that we will miss a cry, or just succumb to the illness so it runs its course. When you choose to be a parent you no longer have the time and ability to do these things. Instead it’s a priority to clean even more, get on an anti-biotic, and make sure you do whatever it takes to keep the kids from being ill without interrupting their day. Long gone are the times where you can just wake up, decide you are too sick to remove yourself from bed, call in, and go back to sleep. Instead there are little lives counting on you. Partners need you to make sure your half of things is still done so they don’t get over loaded, babies need you for everything, and kids need you for guidance and safety. So, while a friend or spouse may take up some slack or create the ability for an extra hour or two of rest, you do not get a day off as a parent.

Strap on the masks, attach the purrell and Lysol to your hip, where a water backpack to keep hydrated, keep the peppermint mints in your mouth, whatever you have to do to keep your family safe and yourself going, and plow into the day! The body will eventually heal and the illness will go away, but being a parent is something that will always stay with you. If you cut out the things that you don’t have to do during your day you can create times for rest or maybe even a nap to help yourself heal, but being a parent has made me realize how spoiled I was before I had the responsibilities to my kids to never have a day off. This is what I signed on for, not getting days off is part of the parenting package and while I may complain about feeling bad when I’m sick I wouldn’t ever give up being a parent for anything! In closing to this tid-bit of a posting: We all have choices we make in life, but when you choose to be a parent you are choosing to put your kids above yourself. I promised my children by becoming their parent to strive to create an environment and opportunities for my children to stand on my shoulders reaching and achieving more than I have in life; being sick is not an excuse or reason for me to slack on that promise.


Abby