Being grateful for a cold

Sam has a cold.  And apparently Lincoln and Charli were feeling left out because they both started today hacking.
It stinks.

It stinks any time you have a sick kid, any parent can tell you that.  It's even worse when it's a baby with a cold....sleeping gets messed up, eating gets messed up, and it's just plain sad to see a miserably sniffly baby.

As I was clearing the six inch layer of snot off Sam's face this morning, feeling bad for the poor kid who was up super early because he was having a hard time breathing, who then had a hard time eating because he was having a hard time breathing, I found myself very appreciative to be at home cleaning six inches of snot off his face.  One of the biggest concerns with Sam's neurological issues-both those that we thought he had and those that he does indeed have-was the function of his immune system.
What a treat it is to have a baby with a cold and not worry myself sick that it will spiral out of control into something much more serious than a cold!  The first couple of colds and sickies that came through our house when Sam was brand new were pretty nerve wracking.  How nice it is not to carry that worry so constantly anymore!

The other thought that struck me as I was sitting in a rocking chair at 5:00 this morning when I was hoping to be on my way to a workout class, was that that rocking chair was the most important place for me to be.  As much as I'd love to regularly be doing two-a-days, squeezing running in with cross training and strength training, rocking through the days like I did in January, it's just not happening right now.  Thankfully the weather is getting nice enough that I can get out with my kids for much of my running, and between netflix and dvd's I have workout options at home.  Let's see what Jillian can do for me this week.  While I seriously miss the class atmosphere every day, it's good to be reminded that my focus needs to be primarily on my kids and my home right now.   I certainly need to take care of myself (perhaps more so now as Aaron starts a crazy school schedule this week), and continue to prepare for the races that are on the schedule in the coming months, I just need to shift back into creative scheduling mode.  One day I'll be sleeping a normal amount of hours each night again-hopefully consecutively, one day I'll send all the kids off in the morning and have hours in the day that don't revolve around potty breaks and nap time and snotty noses.
But for today I'll love a little extra on a snotty baby and two coughing littles.