Counter Attack: The Sick Child

My daughter is sick. 

Well, that's it.  We've entered the sick zone and early this year.  Once someone in our family gets sick during the school year, it seems the entire family is on a merry-go-round of viruses and colds for the rest of the school year.  Someone either has it, is getting over it, or is coming down with it. 

Last year, it hit late and we missed all the holidays while we took turns being sick.  Perhaps I should be happy it has begun early; maybe, just maybe, we will have had everything by Christmas.

So how is the front hall coming, you may ask?  What front hall, I will answer.  I haven't entered the front hall unless it's to take my son -- the one still-functioning family member -- to school. 

Have I straighted the jackets and sorted through the shoes?  No, but I have gotten out extra blankets and everyone's favorite pajamas.

Have I washed the floor and put out the area rug for winter?  No, but I have washed the carpet next to my daughter's bed and all carpet between her bed and the bathroom.  uck.

Have I put the fall wreath on the door?  No, but I've pulled the chicken carcasses out of the freezer and made chicken soup.  Nothing says fall -- and sick -- like a house that smells like chicken soup. 

So, see, just when I thought my biggest problem was a dirty, messy house, I grow wiser.  Yes, my house was a mess, but my kids were playing and happy.  I may have been overwhelmed by so much to do, but my husband still wanted to take me out for lunch. 

Hopefully, my daughter will feel better soon and my son will not get this nasty virus.  Hopefully, my husband will feel better and I will not get this nasty virus. 

In the meantime, I will dispense juice and crackers, I will make chicken soup, I will change bedding and take temperatures, and I will speak soothing words.  If the house gets a little cleaner here and there, when I have time, so much the better.  If not, I will be happy when my daughter is feeling better and my husband, too. 

Better a happy, healthy, messy house than a quiet, clean, neat, sick one . . . my house is a home, afterall, not a hospital ward.