Fantastic February

January blues have made way for Fantastic February!

I have been feeling so sorry for myself over the past few weeks.  I have been watching all the moms around me and thinking that they all do so much better a job than I do.  I mean they can juggle jobs and kids, yet still find the time and energy to volunteer and sing solos at church.  Me?  I just have a bunch of cranky kids who embarrass the heck out of me each time we leave the house with their fighting, yelling and general fit throwing.  I can't sing, can't find the energy or the time to volunteer for anything, and don't have a job...heck, I even outsource the grocery shopping.  In general, I just can't seem to find the bright side of a flashlight.

But then the calendar page turned to February today.  It was a fresh start...a new month!  I took a deep breath, said a little prayer for strength, and celebrated January’s finish.  I found the bright side of that flashlight...and used it to figure out if my oldest needed to go to the doctor for a strep test.  And it turns out I got the opportunity to jump into super mom mode and accomplish the impossible this morning.  Turns out I don't need a ground hog to bring me good news; I just needed a new month, a bit of strength, and some illness to shine.

Yesterday Colin came home with a bad headache and a fever of 103.  A bit of Advil brought down his temp and pain and a bit of food perked him up. I decided it was still a good idea to head to the doctor's office for a strep test to be sure. So all three kids and I headed out into the night. The test was negative, so we headed home hoping a good night sleep would make everything better in the morning.  Colin had a restless night of sleep and woke early.

After the boys both ate breakfast and I sat to enjoy a little food myself, the phone rang.  At 7:45 AM the doctor’s office was calling to tell me the strep culture came back positive and we needed to come into the office.  My day was scheduled to the minute, but they had an appointment at 8:15 AM that I could fit into my schedule.  The problem was, it wasn’t just me that had to work with this schedule.  Molly was still sleeping peacefully in her bed.  Colin and Zach were playing chess in their pajamas.  I didn’t have a single lunch packed.  The doctor’s office is 15 minutes away, if we hit all dozen or so lights green.  We arrived in the office at 8:16 AM with all three kids dressed, fed, teeth and hair brushed, lunches packed and backpacks packed (oops, one of them got left at home).  Colin saw the doctor and got his prescription and we were back in the car by 8:40 AM.  We dropped off the prescription and had Molly at preschool by her 9 AM start time, with the promise of a backpack soon.  We then picked up Colin’s prescription, got him a dose of medicine and still got Zach to the eye doctor by 9:30 AM.  He was thrilled to learn he didn’t need glasses.  We got him back to school by 10:20, just in time for snack.  Molly had her backpack and lunch by 10:35.  I treated myself to a McDonald’s Diet Coke and a pat on the back for a job well done; and, then I said a prayer of thanks for the extra lift I needed to get through the morning. 

Now if I can just keep this momentum going for Molly’s birthday party tomorrow…