MOM MONDAY: Kitchen Fire, Pneumonia, Feeling Helpless & Finding My Zen
Being a Mom Isn’t Easy
Just when I think I’ve got it ALL under control, the world slaps me back into reality. Last week was a joke y’all. It’s one of those weeks where you just want to curl up and hide and be woken up when it’s all better.
The Kitchen Fire
Where shall I begin.. okay let’s start on Sunday when we had a kitchen fire.
At 8 am, last Sunday I woke up looked at my iPhone and it was 8:00 am on the dot. BOO, I was suppose to be able to sleep in, but I heard a few kids up playing. Suddenly, there was a smell in the air. I jumped out of bed – ran to the kitchen and it was full of smoke.
First, I yelled “FIRE!” and just as planned my daughter helped get the kids downstairs and out front. I am trying to find out what in the world is up – and it’s a oven mitt on the stove top. The stove top had been pushed on. I should say there were BROWNIES from the previous night when Grandma came over to baby sit.
Here’s the deal. My kid (not naming names) woke up, snuck downstairs and decided brownies sounded good for breakfast. He (or she) grabbed a brownie knocking the stove on to the ON position while doing so. Oven mitt was on stove, the rest is history.
The GOOD news: We had fire extinguishers and were able to extinguish the fire with minimal damage to the house. Emotional damage is a different story. Our youngest spent the week yapping HOUSE ON FIRE to just about everyone he conversed with.
The BAD news: Because of the crud the fire extinguisher uses to extinguish the fire went all over the stove, the brownies were ruined and guilty-not-naming-names child was incredibly sad. Sorry kid, can’t have it all – thankfully we still have a HOUSE.
PNEUMONIA and Ear Infection
Our youngest, Zeke has had this cough for a month. A few weeks back I took him into see the doctor not thinking much of it. Our oldest had strep so she had an appointment, might as well make it a family trip. Well low and behold, Zeke had strep AND a mild case of pneumonia. We were prescribed 3 drugs for 10 days and breathing treatments.
Fast forward 2 weeks, Zeke wakes up screaming with ear pain. He proceeds to stay up ALL NIGHT LONG. Nothing was killing the pain. I pinterested every recipe imaginable and nothing would stop his ear pain from an ear infection.
Tuesday, we took him back into the doctor. He officially had pneumonia which the previous round of antibiotics didn’t knock out because it was the wrong strain (no idea) – AND an ear infection. YAY.
More prescriptions and breathing treatments. We make it home and before I can even process everything, my husband calls – he is ill.
Yes, both son and dad had pneumonia. It was a week from hell, which continued as Zeke’s other ear started hurting. Double ear infections with pneumonia. *CRY!*
Feeling Helpless and Finding My Zen
Breathing treatments, medications, a sick baby, my husband was spending each hour sweating off a fever, or with chills due to a fever. On top of that, I have 3 other kids and a full-time job. Feeling helpless as a mom was an understatement.
I put out apologies and worked late to make sure all boxes were checked. Talk about hell.
In the midst of it all last week, something magical did happen. OCTOBER. I love Octobers for many reason. It’s my birthday month. It’s boot season. The weather in Texas is amazing. FALL Y’ALL. It’s just the greatest month to me.
I have a 6:15 wake up time to get kids up and out the door to the bus. Between the first bus and second, I have a 45 minute window of time that I have found to be MY TIME. I don’t get much ME time now a days, but for the last several days – using this gap of time to just walk has been the best therapy to finding my zen.
We’ve been out in the country for almost 2 months now and you guys, we have trees! Walking amongst the trees with my dogs on a country road with neighbors that wave and temperatures in the 70’s – it’s the perfect that I need in my crazy life.
Women of Faith
This past weekend I attended the Women of Faith LOVED Dallas event. I have worked with this company for over 12 years (over the last 18 years of my life.) It’s their farewell tour. I had the opportunity to watch the event in Oklahoma City.
This weekend, we had a little mini-reunion of former Women of Faith employees. There were at least 30 of us. There were faces from the past that I will never forget, that I was afraid I would never see. It was so surreal, special and tear worthy.
My mentor for many years, Mary Graham spoke such sweet words over us – reminding us of the impact we have by being apart of this 20 year old movement.
Some days my full-time job is hard. It’s stressful, demanding and some days it requires me to work around the clock. But this weekend I was reminded why I went back. There really is something special about working for a bigger purpose.
Being a Mom is Hard
Being a mom is hard. Accepting that you can’t do it all is a must. Find your zen amongst the chaos. Believe me, you will appreciate it.