quarantined!

at this very moment, i *thought* i would be sitting with lauren in a large room with lots of other parents and grandparents.  i *thought* i would be watching as mikey and allie and the rest of their classmates stood on risers in front of us and sing their joyous easter songs.  i *thought* i would be simultaneously snapping pictures and trying to keep lauren from wandering off.  i *thought* i would later bring home my pictures and video footage and post them here, to relive a happy event in the kids’ lives.

but all that was not to be.

instead, we’re now quarantined.

this morning started off like any other, as i came out to find mikey in the living room playing his leapster.  he tends to be the earliest riser of all of us.  actually, lauren wakes up early too but hangs out in her crib until i’m ready to get her.  which isn’t usually til much, much later.

so where was i?  oh yeah, this morning.  nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  i gave mikey some milk to drink and then went to get allie up.  i was in their room picking out their clothes to wear for the easter celebration at their school when from the living room a small voice called out, “mama, i threw up!”

i think this could very well be my least favorite thing my kids say to me.

i clean up mikey and the mess (on the couch, no less), then go back to the business of getting everyone ready.  it was a pretty small amount of you-know-what, and i was deciding that maybe it just came up as a result of a random cough he had.  otherwise, he seemed fine and didn’t appear to be feeling sick at all.  i was pretty sure he’d be staying home just in case, but still had to get allie to school.

as we were getting ready to leave, mikey runs to the bathroom and gets sick again.  this time, a LOT sick.  poor kid.  but how thankful i was that he made it to the sink this time!

we dropped off allie at school, and let mikey’s teacher know that he’d been sick that morning and so wouldn’t be at school.  she was disappointed for mikey’s sake (they were having a party in the class that day, followed by the special performance for the parents), and said he could join the class for the singing if he was feeling better.  because at that point, he was his usual cheerful self and was relishing the attention he was getting for being sick and for the opportunity to go back home with me.

we returned home and i started to make breakfast for the three of us.  mikey requested eggs and toast and really seemed like his normal self.  i was figuring in my head what time we should leave in order to get to school in time to find seats near the front.  i was also thinking that perhaps mikey would be able to join his class after all, too.

just as we were about to sit down to eat, the phone rings.  i see that it’s the school.  uh-oh, i think.  it’s never a good thing when they call…  or maybe i’d just forgotten to sign the tuition check i’d just dropped off that morning.  yeah, that must be it.

turns out, that wasn’t it.  they were calling to tell me that allie was having some major gastrointestinal issues.  the good news was that she made it to the bathroom in time (thank you LORD, because she was wearing a white skirt of all things!).  the bad news was that she needed to go home.  they also advised me to stop by the market beforehand to pick up some medicine, pedialyte, and food to put her on the brat diet, and pronto.  so yeah, apparently it was bad.  her wonderful teachers took good care of her though and she seemed just fine by the time i got there.

so now, we are home having an impromptu sick day.

poor little baby.  changing her out of her white skirt was the first order of business once we got home.  but she still insisted on trading for another skirt.  she loves the flowers on it.  i love the camouflage capabilities of it.

recuperating with curious george.  note the tell-tale bucket behind him.  just in case.

i feel like this right about now.

well actually, i felt like that about when i was at the market with mikey and lauren in tow trying to figure out what i needed for allie.

but now, i’m good!  really!  God gave me the gentle reminder that in spite of all MY plans for this day, i am just exactly where He has planned for me to be right now.  and He’s given me His grace to gently care for these two sick little ones and just enough energy to keep up with the extra messes of this day.  i can choose to be disappointed and upset over my botched plans, or i can rest in the knowledge that God has placed me just where He wants me- He knows my present circumstances and is faithfully walking through this day with me.  and so i am joyful, remembering all that He is for me and has done for me.  what little i can do for my children pales in comparison with what He has endured for me.

and that is exactly the easter message i needed to hear today, in exactly the way i needed to hear it.