Parenting 101

Lest anyone think I'm a perfect parent, I thought I'd share a glimpse of the last few days. Eli was sick on Thursday, sore throat, low fever, general discomfort, he stayed home from school. I thought he was o.k. just after lunch, so I ran and picked up a load of mulch in the truck. I took about 20 minutes. When I got back, he said the school had called and I needed to call them back. I picked up the phone just as it rang. Zach's 2nd grade teacher was calling to let me know Zach was in the nurse's office having some really strange symptoms. I called the school and spoke with the principal, who explained Zach couldn't move his right hand and that Ryon was on his way to pick Zach up from school. So, Ryon and I spent hours with Zach at the Urgent Care and Hospital trying to figure out what happened. (I missed Nathaniel's arrow of light ceremony.) Zach was given a CT scan and full blood work up in the ER and then was admitted to the hospital and given an MRI. By Friday afternoon the doctors had concluded that it was a migraine that caused the light flashes in his eyes, blurred vision in his right eye, partial paralysis in his right hand, and vomiting. It's the best outcome we could have had. Although, I was sure worried for a whole day. As soon as we got home on Friday I realized Eli was REALLY sick. I felt so sorry for him. He had spent most of his birthday alone, and had strep. I ran him to his doctor, got some antibiotics, picked up Andrew from his friend's house, got Andrew and Ry dressed for their baseball games, dropped them off, took Savanah and Bea to see Romeo and Juliet, and ran home to make some dinner. We ate really fast, I picked up Nathaniel from his friend's house, picked up Savanah and Bea from the play and headed home to fall fast asleep. I feel sad that Eli didn't get a birthday breakfast, cake, presents, or really any to do about his birthday on his special day. Today he had a fun party, luckily he's such a low key kid, he hasn't said a word of complaint! But tomorrow I'll make him his german's chocolate cake & birthday breakfast. Some days I am so keenly aware that I can only be in one place at a time and I have 6 children who can be in 6 different places and need/want me with them. Ahhh...the answer to all parenting questions: Faith, Hope, and Charity.