There’s a cold/flu virus going around my town. A local doctor said,
“It’s like someone sneezed on the whole town!”
It’s a weird one. It’s less miserable than some, but it lasts for weeks. I personally have hit the one-week mark with no end in sight. Besides having a dull sore throat, headache, body pain and crazy fatigue, I can sort of keep going. And therein lies the problem.
If moms have any way to “keep going,” they will.
One mom in my area said that her husband got over this flu in four days, because he “stayed down.” She herself is going on week four, because, like any “good mom”, she has tried to keep the family wheels spinning smoothly.
Sure, moms would like to stay down too, but mom-guilt gets in the way.
Dad is helpful, but he can’t do ponytails as well as mom can. Mom knows all the food sensitivities by heart and whose practices are on which days. Dad can order pizza like a master, but isn’t quite as good at healthy, well-balanced meals that the kids will actually eat.
The list goes on and on until mom is too stressed to take to her bed. It’s easier to just keep going.
I’d love nothing more than to live in my nightgown and sit in a chair while someone brings me endless cups of tea. Instead, all the mom duties are piling up around me. I have two loads of laundry going and it’s almost time to make lunch.
That’s the mom-life.
So, I have come to grips with the fact that this virus may stay with me for quite a long time. I will go to bed early when I can, and sit in a chair far more often than usual. I’ll sneak cups of tea and explain to the kids that throat lozenges are not candy, but yucky medicine. In short, I’ll do what I can to take care of myself while I am in the “mom-trenches.”
And, you know what? That will be enough, because I am a mom and moms are amazing.
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
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Read more of Ann’s contributions to allmomdoes here.
