Sickness

Here am....at home....sick....with a sick child. Our bout with strep throat started Sunday night with Sam. We had a very rough couple of days and nights and then Riley and I got sick yesterday. Last night was miserable.

My day yesterday went a little like this:

I was buried at work because I had been out Monday and Tuesday with Sam, my head started to pound around 1:00 or so, I get a call from my mom who says that Riley will not stop crying and will only say over and over that she wants to go home (while I was on the phone mom tempts her with a walk to the creek and she seems fine), I continue to feel worse and finally leave the office to go pick up my babies, on the way to my mom's she calls and says there is a terrible storm brewing and to be careful, when I get close to her house I have to turn around twice because of down trees, my gas light comes on, I get the kids picked up and try to go to 4 different gas stations to get gas all of which have no power thus I cannot get gas, gas light still on I face more down trees and detours, Riley is crying uncontrollably saying she wants to go home and that we are lost, Sam starts crying and holding his ears because Riley is so upset, I finally get to a gas station and the pump keeps cutting off at each dollar mark and then after every 40 cents or so, my head continues to pound, we FINALLY get home, Riley and I both are burning up with fever, we take our medicine and snuggle up on the recliner and she begins the screaming again because her stomach is cramping, Sam gets jealous and climbs up with us, I feel like I have been run over by a mac truck, Riley finally slept, Sam will not move and refuses our idea of spending the night with Grandma so we sit, I called the pediatrician who graciously called in an antibiotic so that would get a jump on getting her well, Jamey rant to the pharmacy to get the medicaiton, I pry myself out from under Riley and cook dinner for Jamey and Sam while Jamey bathes Sam, Jamey let me rest while he gave Riley a bath after she woke up, Jamey put Sam to bed later, Riley and I had a fitful night sleep together in my bed while Jamey slept on the couch, our night was broken up by sips of water, feeling hot, feeling cold, sweating, fever reducers, and cartoon network. WHAT A DAY!!!!

My question is....how do mother's of chronically ill children do it day in and day out? How do they not just tople over with sheer exhaustion....mental, emotional and physical exhaustion.

When my children are sick I often think of the mothers in the world who have sick children....children who have good days about as often as mine have bad. I often pray for those mothers and children. I pray that the Lord give them the strength and courage they need to carry on day after day while caring for their precious children.