And that’s not including when Phoebe is sick. When she is sick we have to do all of that plus add in closer monitoring, more frequent assessments, extra doctor visits, hospital visits (sometimes admissions), extra testing, administering treatments/medications, rearranging childcare, reconfiguring who’s taking which kid to which activity, and trying to plan when to catch up on missed school work. Just stopping to think about everything that needs to be done, whether she is sick or not, there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to do it all. But there is really is no other option than to do everything.
The girls need to be kids. They need to go to school, enjoy time with their friends, go to dance class, celebrate at parties and get lost in video/computer games. We need to be responsible parents. We need to work, pay the bills, provide insurance, cook, clean, tend to the animals and care for all our kids. We also need to provide the best possible care for Phoebe’s health. To do that we need to research, consult, monitor, assess, plan and visit with the doctors for follow ups and tests.
Though it may seem easy to say leave one thing for a later time or another day, handling all of these tasks really is a juggling act. Dropping one ball results in a domino effect of more balls dropping. And when we are faced with the real possibility of being thrown more balls to juggle when Phoebe gets sick, we need to be sure we are on top of everything as much as we can be.
So while we may end most days tattered and exhausted, we manage to keep juggling, the best we can.
#12DaysofRareChristmas