Vicks Vaporizer became my best friend for the past couple weeks! (Well Vicks, hot peppermint tea, and my pillow!) Maybe the bad cold would have not morphed into bronchitis with sufficient bed rest, however like the current running Vicks commercials confirms, “Parents do not take sick days”. Those same little angels, who introduced the germs and viruses to the home, needed my attention and care-giving!
Since this all started during Christmas vacation, I will admit there was a brief moment of “It’s A Wonderful Life” without children, but those few short seconds within my imagination turned into real tears. Real tears because bronchitis, dueling siblings, toddler temper tantrums, pre-teen rebellion and all, they are my precious gifts blessed by God.
So instead I donned the Wonder Mom Cape (all moms own one naturally) with an artillery of throat lozenges, tissue, and orange juice and managed to tend to their every need. Oh there were moments I wished I could just fold my arms and nod my head like “I Dream of Jeannie” to complete the tasks, but with God’s good grace……many prayers for strength helped.
While wearing the ‘cape’, I used what little steam I could muster to also plan ahead for mommy rest time. Ice chest – check, snacks – check, juice – check, art and craft supplies – check, basket of toys – check, crockpot of chicken noodle soup – check, Disney films – check, children’s books and games – check….mom’s bedroom basically turned into a kitchen-entertainment-family-medical care room! Because once I plopped into bed, I would be down for the count! The usual 16 hour mom day was drastically reduced to just 8 hours and then the cape came off! Thankfully my children were in recovery mode and more sleepy than normal. (Lord forgive me for being grateful they were not back to 100% health.)
Fever, coughs, and cranky children actually ended up being a blessing after all. Perhaps none of us were at our best, yet it was still very bonding…laughing at silly commercials, building empires with legos, giving random hugs, and even just resting confirmed that in either sickness or health, we love each other very deeply!
Maybe God allowed us to all to be ill just to stop for awhile – no working, no writing, no errands, no school and instead just be still. We all need to take more ‘still’ moments and just enjoy the blessings bestowed upon us. Sickness should not be the moment of revelation that our lives are too busy, unfortunately sometimes these are the times which bring us back to reality.
Vicks commercials are correct, we parents do not take sick days, however we should all remember to take “children dedication days” – shut all else down and just spend with them! The time is really all the ‘medicine’ we need to get us through the hectic ‘cape’ days!
Chelene Nightingale 