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I can't mom this week.

Seriously, we're all down with about 4387593 different viruses and bacteria.  Six ear infections, three strep throats, three upper respiratory infections, one bronchitis, five fevers, three bad tummies.... And a partridge in a pear tree.  Ugh.  This has really knocked us all on our bums.  If you're looking for someone to blame for the zombie apocalypse, it probably started with us.  You're welcome.

We've all been home allllllll weeeeeeeeek.  It has not stopped.  We can't function.  We can't get ahead. And just when I thought Avery was clear, I sent him back to school today... And he came home with a fever and chills.  Are you even kidding me????  Noah made a valiant effort to shower for school this morning, then I found him on the floor in the hallway after trying to crawl his way back to his bed.  The rest of us are doing about the same.

I've tried to keep up.  I'm the mom, after all.  Things still need to be done--people need to eat, no matter how sick they are, laundry has to be done (sheets have to be sanitized....), my schoolwork has to be submitted, issues have to be resolved--I still have to wife, mom, student, and Amy.  I've lacked a lot of patience with other people outside my home, though, which is where my frustration has come out.  I was ready to start giving life advice in the pediatrician's office ("Please, for the love of God, STOP.  HAVING.  CHILDREN."), and I took a hard line on crime in my prosecutorial practicums (Death penalty for minor traffic violations?  YES.).  I really shouldn't be peopling this week.  Just now I was trying to help Avery with his math and couldn't figure out if 56 is an odd number or even number.  Yes, I'm serious.  Yes, I had to Google it.  My brain has officially shut down.

I'm grateful for the friends who listen to me, and the ones who keep me going with their senses of humor.  Thank you Jesus for great friends.

So how do we--MOMS--do it?  I know I'm not alone in this.  Yes, Shawn helps.... But I won't talk about that. *ahem*  I know I'm not the only mom schlepping her way through her own vomit and bronchitis, eyes bleary from lack of sleep, ears ringing from the baby who won't stop crying, getting sicker while trying to get everyone else better.  We don't necessarily get the break that everyone else gets when they fall sick.  How do we decide what to let go of, and what absolutely has to be done?  Where do we draw the line, and decide that we're worth taking care of too, and make our families pay attention to our needs?

You know, I always try to end my posts with something positive.  I'm struggling to come up with this one.  We're all miserable, my house is a disaster, we've got cabin fever--we're hot messes.  We've been able to spend some time together as a family, though.  I think that's about the best I can do!  I won't tell you this has brought us closer, but I do know this whole mess will make us more grateful for the outside world when we finally make it back there!

I'm gonna go lick a can of Lysol now.