The only one who is well

I didn't blog yesterday because I was taking care of sick people. Will had strep as of Monday, was feeling better but coughing. Zoe had cold symptoms, probably picked up from her dad, who has a horrible cold.

Since Will can't make tea, cocoa or trips to the store this left me to do the things my ailing family needed.

I made tea and cocoa, got them soup, crackers and peeled oranges. I went to the store for boxes of tissues as our supply of toilet paper was rapidly on the decline. I'd made everyone cinnamon toast that morning and that's all Zoe wanted to eat for the rest of the day.

It was a good thing I opted for the three box pack because Will got jealous of his sister's stash of Puffs and demanded his own box. As the afternoon went on Zoe felt better and did some playing. Well, she would feel better until I told her to do something then she'd tell me "But I have the cold!"

Scott sat miserably at his computer, sniffing, sneezing, coughing, aching with a fever and a stuffy head but not able to rest because it was too early for Nyquil.

He was able to get his own tea but needed to rest a lot, leaving me with both kids bouncing off the walls.

As Zoe and Will felt better, the house got messier and messier. I had to wash bowls, spoons and cups continually. Scott and I had been in the middle of trying to get an epic amount of laundry done when he got sick. The clean pile was in the living room waiting to be folded. Dishes taunted me from the sink, dog hair on the rug sneered at me and the tissues Zoe had tossed on the floor dared me to pick them up with my bare hand, which were dry from all the hand washing.

As the day wore on and I got tired and then more tired my thoughts went into a nasty place. A place where I had the positive and clear thought that when I got sick, no one would be taking care of me, I'd just be dealing with it. And dealing with it while I picked up children from school and created meals.

I'm not the only stay-at-home mom who thinks this way. I know because we moms have discussed it, the knowing when it's our turn to host germs we'll have to drag ourselves around, loaded up on Dayquil and coffee trying not to cry in frustration.

This isn't necessarily true, but all of us, the women who keep hearth and home, have had to just deal with it at least once. And giving in to the germs, deciding to just be sick, means the household grinds to a halt and odd smells appear.

So, it's now time for me to load up on vitamin C and wash my hands more with the hope that I won't catch a bug. Because for moms, bugs are very, very bad.

Where's the hand sanitizer?

Amanda's beauty tip of the day: When you get sick, don't even try to make yourself look anything but sick, you'll just make yourself feel worse.