songs and spirits

we were cooped up in the house for three days.  three. whole. days.  we haven't been stuck indoors for this long since my sons were less than two years old, when i wasn't yet willing to take them anywhere by myself.

my kids were singing the tune of a bad cold, or was it a mild flu?  i'm not sure which.  they've been vaccinated with both the seasonal and H1N1 nasal mists, though i have read and been told that they're still not completely immune, which just plain sucks.  nonetheless, the house carried the hum of low-grade fevers, melodies of sniffles, and moreso, choruses of forceful, uncontrollable coughs.

to add to the misery, it was nothing but cold, wet, and dreary outide.  we couldn't open the windows or step out for the fresh air and natural light that we all so desperately needed. 

but through it all, my sons were troopers.  not one complaint from any of them - no whining, no crying.  they willingly took their medication, set themselves on the sofa whenever they felt weary, and played without care when they felt the slightest bit of energy.

it always amazes me how their spirits keep each other lifted, no matter the weather or the storm.  and it is their spirits that have kept me going through all of these sleepless nights and all of the symptoms that i am now singing myself.

caption:  elijah covering his cough; jonah napping on a fever; noah playing as he improves

mickey helps

i was on the computer in the dining room, engrossed in the layout of my blog and wanting to make some quick changes.  my boys were playing all around me, though elijah stopped to wash his hands in the kitchen.  suddenly a deep-sounding crash emerged from that direction.  my eyes popped up, and elijah was at the sink looking down at the floor.  i walked over and saw hundreds of black-painted pieces of ceramic splattered across the tiles.  i had forgotten that the hand soap dispenser was empty, and apparently my son decided to use the heavy dish soap dispenser instead.

"aw, elijah, you should've asked me for help,"  i whined.  "are you okay?"  i remembered to ask, though with obvious frustration, as i tip-toed across the floor to transfer elijah from the stool to the living room.  "keep out of the kitchen while i clean this up," i advised them all, as the other two, as well as coby, arrived to view the situation.

i began to boil as i gathered the ceramic pieces and silently vented in my head.  why am i always bothered whenever i take some time during the day for myself?  why is there always an extra, out of the ordinary mess to add to the usual messes that i already have to deal with every single day?  why, why, why?!

at that point, the other voice in my head, the one that i'm really supposed to listen to, interrupted.  if it could've, that voice would have given me a hard shake, or more deservingly, a slap on the face.  how could you get upset over this?  the boy wanted to clean his hands.  it was an accident.  he's only four years old!

jonah interjected with a few words too.  but i could barely hear his little, sweet voice over the one screaming in my skull.  "what?" i asked squatting with my back facing him as i continued to wipe the floor.

"mickey can help, " he repeated.

"mickey?"  as in mickey mouse?  for a moment a blurred vision of mickey in his black tuxedo jacket and red pants came over me.  i felt drunk, but i wasn't even drinking!  dazed and confused by jonah's statement and my mind cluttered with voices, i decided that i wasn't going to try to figure that one out on my own.  i finally turned around, and lo and behold, there was mickey.  jonah stood there with his familiar, gigantuous smile, wearing his silver and green mickey mouse ears.

his smile was contagious as i caught it, and so did his brothers.  i laughed, and all of my boys did too.  and the mess was cleaned up and gone.