One By One...

  At the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring (the first of the Lord of the Rings movies), the narrator solemnly intones something like: "One by one, the free peoples of Middle Earth fell to the power of the One Ring."

  Here, it is more like, "One by one, the children fall to the power of the Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease."

Ok, it doesn't have quite the same ring (ha ha, pun!) but you get the idea.  The kids are sick.  Daniel got it exactly a week ago and is close to recovered.  Miriam and Angela got it yesterday, and spent much of today huddled in miserable, weepy balls on the couch.

  All the children have had it except Isaac and Naomi, and N. may have gotten a touch of it. Kevin has it. So far, I do not. I have a remarkable ability to stay healthy until everyone is healthy, and THEN I get sick. Usually I get quite pompous about my immune system, and then I fall to The Illness.  So we'll see what happens this time.

  In some ways, a semi-major illness is a total pain.  The kids are unhappy, I get less sleep than usual, and I have extra work because some kids cannot do their chores.  On the other hand, in some ways life is simplified.  I fairly often battle anxiety about whether I am using my time well. Should I do extra school?  Should I take the kids on a field trip?  Should we go to the library? The park? 

 When we have a fairly serious illness, I know what I need to do. Stay home.  Keep the routine moderately stable.  Minister to the sick. Comfort the miserable.  There is less anxiety because I don't have to wonder if I am using my time wisely. Basically, we are in crisis mode and I just want us to survive :-).

  Of course, I don't WANT us to be sick, but I am trying to be content in all circumstances.