This past week was not a very good week for The Busy Mom. Upon arriving home from my trip to Houston, Texas, I was notified that not one, but two of my children were sick! The vast changes of the Midwest weather had gotten the best of them, and they were both feeling miserable. Panicked, I immediately rushed home from the airport went right into “Nurse Nancy” mode: taking temperatures, checking for swollen glands, asking them about any aches and pains they had, etc. Everything else took a backseat to ensuring that they were comfortable and had everything that they needed to get well –unpacking, notifying loved ones that I was home safely—everything.
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I was up for two days straight caring for the two of them around the clock, and then the inevitable happened—I became ill myself. I had put so much of my focus and energy into making sure that they recovered from their illnesses that I neglected my own well-being. I was already sleep-deprived and exhausted from my trip, running off of lots of Coca-Cola and coffee to stay awake. To come home and jump right into 24 hour nursing duties sent my body into complete shutdown mode.
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I was out for the count for two days. 🙁
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In going through this wave of illness I learned a very important lesson. No matter what’s going on, I must learn to force myself to stop and get the proper rest that I need in order to keep going. I have a family, a home and a business that all depend on me: how can I possibly take care of everything and everyone if I’m ill myself? Life never pauses and the “things-to-do” lists never end, but at the end of the day I only have this one body—this one temple. If I want to be at my best (and also be around for awhile) I had better be sure I start taking better care of it!
The lesson: your body will always give out signals for what it needs. This is especially true when it comes to rest and downtime. When you notice the signals, don’t ignore them and don’t do “quick fixes”—listen and take heed to what it’s telling you before it’s too late. Just like Grandma used to say, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
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So sorry that you were feeling under the weather, Melisa. Yet I’m glad that you’re feeling better now. For some reason, I missed this post because my RSS feed for your site has somehow missed 3 or 4 of your latest post. I don’ know if that’s from something on my end or your end.
Anywho, I’m glad that you and your kids are doing better. Wrap up, up there… it’s about to get a little nippy. 🙂
Greetings: Thanks so much for the well-wishes Deeone! ~Yes I think there’s something going on on my end–there are some “kinks” I’m still trying to get worked out with the new site design. I’ll take a look into it!
Yes, this weather is really doing a doozy on us–the kids are fine but I’m still “on the mend.” 🙂 ~Thank you so much for commenting!
Hi,
I’m sorry to hear your kids are sick, I hope they feel better soon. I’m following you through the Thanksgiving blog hop.
Joanna
http://joannalife.com
Greetings — and welcome!
Thank you so much for the well-wishes! They are better now, however the weather’s starting to change yet again — hopefully we can dodge another round of illnesses during the holidays! 😀 ~Thank you so much for commenting!