Sickies

When we're sick or under the weather, our world slows down.

And we stop.

We take care of only the bare necessities, rest, and whatever we have left, play around with.

I was taught how to take care of myself, and my little ones by my loving, caring Mom.

I remember getting scolded when I worked for actually staying at home to rest when I was sick.  Imagine that!  I remember thinking people that came to work sick, when they didn't have to, were a little nuts, and risked getting everyone else sick.  But I listen to my body and my gut, and when we're down, we stop.

I'm not one to push us really.  We know our pace, and the pace of nature, and we honor and respect that.  We're rarely rushed, and hardly over-scheduled.  And we're happy that way.

We can do things according to our calendar, but easily take up an offer that makes us smile even bigger.

Another way to say it is, we play by ear.

Monday we felt a off.  Just not totally there.  We chilled around the house, rested around, and played outside.  Then that night before bed I thought "I wonder if we are getting sick?"

Sure enough, on Tuesday, I woke up to an unhappy, sad and extra tired baby, and a not so spunky boy.  I felt tired, so we took it easy, played downstairs after not hardly touching breakfast.

Before I knew it, sweet Bodhi was laying on the floor on a toy and said "ni ni", closed his eyes, and started to fall asleep.  At 9:30!  Beyond a doubt, I felt what was coming.

I held him and he nursed, and as he fell asleep in my arms, and rested long and deep, while Z and I built a whole city, complete with every superhero you could imagine.  I also made some vegetable soup, so that we could just call it a day!

Then, the sweet baby woke up with a fever.

Sick babies are so so sad.

I nursed him, and we rested, rubbed on some Thieves Oil and Oreganol.  Ate as much as we could, and on and off, we napped, and lazed around.

It always drives a mama a little nuts when her boys don't want to eat, but they know how to listen to their bodies, admittedly, better than me sometimes.

Thankfully, yesterday, we arose with timid smiles, and Daddy was off, so the day was good.

I am grateful that we honor our body's rhythm.

How Do You Do It?

Picture is courtesy of Z's friend

As a mother of two small children, I am often asked, "How do you do it?  Aren't you tired all the time?"

I love, play with, adventure with, feed, bathe, tend to, problem solve, prevent meltdowns, deal with meltdowns, keep them occupied, encourage, observe, help sleep, help go back to sleep, cuddle, nurse, clean a 2,000 square foot home, find tiny snippets of time for myself to relax, and create, and organize, and a few breaks here and there, and heaven knows what else, for about 14 hours straight each day.

My first instinct is to laugh.

There is no response but, "Yes.  You just do."

It really is as simple as that.