Okay, I have a lot of catching up to do. A week and a half ago (Friday, Jan 21) I got a sore throat. So did Joshua. Joshua was sick for two days with sore throat and achy body, I am just now getting better. Last week Jared got sick, and he actually missed work! He never, ever does that. We just figured out that we've all had the flu.
Well, a mother's life doesn't stop for the flu. While Jared was laid out flat, I was running errands, going on a job interview, taking care of everyone, etc. Last week we had three snow days. The first one was Wednesday and I thought, since there was very little snow, to do something for the kids. I got them ready and dragged my miserable, achy body to the mall. I really wanted them to have fun, so I endured it. We ate at McDonalds, went to the Lego store, found Claire a new lunch box, lost James, got Claire a new outfit to replace her ruined Christmas outfit.... Did I mention we lost James? He was with us one second and gone the next. It was my fault - I counted someone elses child as we went into the Disney store. Because I still thought this other child was James (he was playing on the other side of the display), I didn't realize James was gone for about two minutes. When we did realize, I took off in a mad dash, yelling his name in the corridor. After about two more minutes, a woman told me that a lost boy with a striped shirt was at Gymboree. I ran back down the hall (abandoning the other three) to find James huddled in the corner of a bench outside Gymbo, crying. A mother with a little boy of her own was comforting him, and about five other adults were huddled around! I felt terrible. He had gone in the wrong store, and when he couldn't find me, he did what James does - put his face in the corner and hid silently. Luckily this mother pulled him out of the corner and comforted him until I came. This is the second trip to the mall in a row where I have taken all 4 and lost one.
I figured there was no sense in rushing home, since we had nowhere to go, no deadline, and nothing had to be done. This never, ever happens, so I decided to just enjoy the time. BIG MISTAKE. What I did not know was there was ANOTHER storm on the way. To make matters worse, the government dismissed early in anticipation. So the government dismissed at 3 pm, I left the mall at 3:30, and the storm started at 3:28. The roads had been pretreated the day before, but the last storm (the one that cancelled school) had washed it all away.
I sat in traffic like I had never, ever sat in traffic. This comes from someone living in the DC suburbs, which says a LOT. There was total and complete gridlock. The snow started falling with a fury, further making things miserable. As the snow began piling up, so did the cars. Cars were getting stuck everywhere. I sat, and sat, and sat. I sat so much that my van began looking like a parked car and I had to actually get out and scrape my windows, including the windshield. Snow was piling on top of the car, and as I inched forward, it fell on the windshield and bogged the wipers down. Of course, I was insensibly wearing slip-on shoes and my feet got very cold and wet. After about the eighth time of getting out to scrape, I was getting used to it.
It was taking sooooo long on the main road that I decided to use a side road. I went along for a while, not remembering that the side road ended in a hill. This was already three hours into the journey. Well, of course I got stuck on the hill. I could not get my van to move. I tried low gears, I tried reverse, I tried everything. I was stuck, stuck, stuck! I didn't know what to do. I about cried when a man pulled his car over, got out, and put his shoulder to the wheel. Then another good Samaratin, and another. It took three men to get me up the hill, and a whole lot of prayers by my children. I am so thankful for these men, and I couldn't even tell them, because once they got me going, I couldn't stop to say anything.
While on the side road, stuck in traffic, Jamesy had to go to the bathroom. He had started complaining right after we got in the car, and I told him we would be home soon. I was wrong. After a few hours I realized I had to help him. Since we were stopped, I climbed in back, unbuckled him, opened the sliding door and had him stand in the van and pee out the side. He thought it was the best thing ever. Trying to make the best of the situation, we called it coloring the snow. I was surprised Joshua never asked for a turn!
As time went on, the kids began to get hungry. All we had were two broken rice cakes of Daniel's. I gave the kids each pieces and crumbs, which made them thirsty without quenching hunger. We had nothing to drink. I am going to make an emergency kit for my car.
We learned and played 20 questions. We listened to the radio - something I never allow my children, but we needed distraction. We found one song they thought was funny, and when we got bored we flipped through the station hoping to find it. We probably listened to it nine times. Claire also invented "window art" and every time their windows got foggy she said "Everyone, window art time!" They passed around the one book in the car, James napped for a while, and at 8:30 Daniel fell asleep (yes, you read it correctly: 8:30!!!!) Daniel never made a peep - he just looked around, played with his pacifier, and finally fell asleep.
We had a good talk about suffering. We discussed that everyone was in the same bad situation: we were all hungry, all thirsty, all tired, all bored, most had to go to the bathroom. But, since there was nothing we could change, whining did not help anyone. We adapted a strict no-whining policy, and the children did surprisingly well. We tried our best to make it fun!
As time passed the storm got worse and worse. Cars started getting stuck everywhere. People ran out of gas or became totally stuck and had to abandon their cars in the middle of the road. There were fender benders everywhere, with no emergency vehicles in sight. It was mass pandemonium. In some spots, every single car without 4 wheel drive had to be pushed (thankfully, at that point I was going down the hill, not up, so I was an observer). Because I was stopped there, I saw car after car get pushed up, hour after hour. I don't know who these pushers were, or where they came from, but I am thankful to them.
I finally began to have hope as I saw the stoplight to our road. It still took me an hour and half to get to the road once I could see it. Once I got to the stoplight, I turned left as soon as traffic cleared, regardless of the red light. Lights were kind of a joke with the gridlock and no movement. I had decided that once I got on our street, if I couldn't get down it, I was going to abandon car and walk home with the kids. Luckily, since the snowplows couldn't get onto the gridlocked main streets, the plow had done our street! I drove home only to get stuck trying to park the car. Luckily, I had a big strong man to come out of the house and dig me out (he was burning with fever, but then again, so was I!)
It was 9:30 before we got home, for a grand total of 6 hours in the car. We went 5.6 miles. I pity those who didn't get home until 4 am, or those who ran out of gas and got stuck at 24 hour doughnut shops! Or those who turned off their engines because they were low on gas, and had to sit in the cold. Or those who slid and wrecked their cars. I saw all of this, and in spite of our difficulties, I am thankful we fared so well.
So, on with the illness saga. Sunday night Claire suddenly didn't feel well, wouldn't eat dinner or help Jared make the special meal they had planned. She went upstairs during dinner, and I found her curled in the fetal position in the hall. It turns out her fever was 104 degrees! Yesterday her fever was lower, but today it was 103.5. I suddenly remembered TamiFlu, which reduces the severity and duration of the flu. It has to be in your system within 48 hours of onset, and I was almost out of hours. Of course, the pediatrician couldn't get her in, so I rushed her to the CVS Minute Clinic, where she got a positive test result for flu. She got her prescription (an hour later, as the pharmacy lost it!!!!) She is now sleeping in her bed, and I am thankful the medication could save her from the agony we experienced.
So, here's the Jared funny story - Saturday night I bought him a nighttime cold medicine drink. He took it and slept until 5 pm on Sunday, at which point he was awake and totally loopy. Sunday night I caught him making himself another packet of drink. I asked him what he was doing, since he had planned to return to work Monday. He said it helped him sleep, and he needed help. I took the drink away from him after just a few sips. Nevertheless, Monday he got sent home from work, not from being too sick, but for being drunk. They really thought he was totally and completely wasted. He acts wasted. I took a video of him, because he's so funny on cold medication. The kids were worried, as they couldn't figure out what had happened to Daddy.
So now, 12 days later, I am finally feeling decent. It has been a rough battle. Very very very rough. The kids have been home from school for a week (three snow days last week, two teacher workdays this week!) I wanted to provide them with fun and entertaining activities. The only one I got to was the mall, and we know how that turned out! I was too zonkered the other days. I feel bad - they have never watched so much TV in their lives! However, I did what I had to do, and now that I'm better, I can try to make life better for them as well.
Today is Daniel's first birthday. He has spent it at CVS. Now I am going to make him cupcakes. The poor boy is sick too, although not with a fever. I guess I can only do so much.
