mothering under the weather

The lads are finished with their rounds of antibiotics.  Now it's me with a selection of them.  I've got another sinus infection --the second in a month, for which I have two prescriptions.  Fabulous.  Being on antibiotics again so soon is, as I've written before, unsettling to me, as it had been many years (pre-marriage and motherhood) since I had been on them (thankfully) and now I'm on them for the third time since November.

Forging ahead with caring for bambini when we ourselves are mildly under the weather is one of those things that we who are primary caregivers of little people just do (as do people employed in other professions).  There is no calling in sick.   I'm not incapacitated, but I am feeling the effects of the infection and companion restless night (or several, since the younger lad has been coughing so much at night).  This makes me far less patient when it comes to normal (if annoying) antics and mischief-making or (more seriously) disobedience.  It also makes me feel less like playing and more like turning on a video, though I've been trying to read to the bambini as much as my raspy voice will allow and still be as present to them as possible (along with some selective video watching).

I know it's got to be difficult for the bambini to understand why Mama might not be up for repeated trips upstairs to play or running around outside.  I hope to be back to my regular self soon.   As we slog through this allergy season, here's hoping we can all find ways to grow in holiness by offering up our small sufferings.  Maybe this is an opportunity for the bambini to practice their virtues of kindness, patience, and self-control (among others).  If nothing else, they'll know their mama is not immune to the same allergens and germs that are causing them such sniffling, coughing, and general malaise.