Fighting to Remain Superwoman

Earlier this week, I spoke to my sister about how mothers are resilient. My oldest son returned home from school last Friday very tired and weepy. He said he didn’t feel good, and from the moment he got home from school to the next morning, he simply slept. He woke up with a cough, but he had a little more energy. Somehow, someway, his little sister picked up where he left off on Monday evening. She was coughing, lethargic, and just not her usual self. After about three days, she was fine. My second son, however, had picked up the baton on Monday as well and was sent home early by the school nurse. He remained home until Thursday.

During that span of time, my husband had a stint at the ER. He was in pretty bad shape and freaking out, but he pulled through just fine, even though he continues to shower me with coughs during the night. Through it all, I remained strong and in good health, playing the role of the nurse to all: catching used tissue before it made to the carpet and further contaminating us, providing bags for those who even looked like they were about to vomit, and ensuring everyone was remaining hydrated and getting tons of rest. Every night, I dusted myself off and thanked God that the S on my chest remained intact.

Well, that was until last night. I got back from picking up my boys from school and was just exhausted. I told my husband that I needed to take a short nap, and I’d take care of dinner and showers. Two hours later, I woke up feeling like a baby had been tap dancing on my forehead. That night, I slept again and woke up feeling even worse. However, I managed to make it to the farmer’s market with one of my good friends and our five children.

Halfway through our adventure, my head started to spin. My body was just done, and I had to excuse myself and my children and go home, where I took a nap for a little over an hour. One would think that the rest would make things better. Nope! My eyeballs felt like they were being separated from their sockets. The back of my throat felt like someone was aggressively reading Braille on it. The tap dancing of a baby on my forehead had advanced to two dancing penguins going to town, not caring how it was affecting me, and my left leg felt like I had Elephantiasis.

Despite it all, I managed to get up after my husband had made dinner, wash the dishes, clean the countertop, and sweep the kitchen. Afterward, I felt like five gorillas had descended on me and walked slowly but purposefully up the stairs and just barely made it into bed, where I still am at this moment, with my sidekick by my side. She has prayed for me and assured me that I can definitely make it to church tomorrow. Well, we’ll see. I wasn’t able to dodge the Kryptonite, but my S is still hanging on, even if only by a thread.

Moms, we need to take care of ourselves. While our role of maintaining the household is very important, if we don’t take proper care of ourselves, we can’t help anyone else. And that’s when  dads make grilled cheese sandwiches with macaroni and cheese and call it dinner, put way too many snacks in lunchboxes, which don’t include fruits or veggies, and the children are up until 10 pm on a school night. More power to you all; I’m off to bed to regain my strength. I will NOT be defeated!