The House is Quiet*

I should probably be napping, but enjoying a few moments of quiet solitude is too tempting. Everyone but me is asleep, so I wanted to steal a few minutes to write beside the peaceful glow of my Christmas tree.

It was a long night. It’s been a long few days, honestly. H threw up all over our van while we tried to deliver Christmas parcels last Thursday, and everyone has been falling like dominoes ever since. Just as he started to feel better P got sick. Then last night I was up with M first and then S as they succumbed to this round of the flu, too. I am the last man standing… and I am basically bathing in disinfectant trying to avoid getting this plague.

To be honest, I think it should be totally illegal for parents to get the flu more than once in a calendar year. M & I BOTH had the worst flu in the world last March, which means we are SO not due for another round yet.

And yes, we are going to get our flu shots… I actually had it scheduled in my calendar to take the kids on Tuesday… then they all went down. *sigh*

I just have to make it through tomorrow. I’ve already been booked for work at my old school, and as I had to cancel a job there last Friday when H started this whole shebang, I really don’t want to have to cancel twice in a row. This whole working mom thing is challenging sometimes… I’m so grateful that I’m only doing it part-time this year.

I went out for dinner with some new friends last night and we actually spent some time talking about work / family balance with young kids. Two of the women there have left their careers and started home daycares so they could be home more, and a third quit her job to be home with her kids. I feel like I am in this really weird place, career-wise. There are days when I feel like I am ready to jump back in to full-time work, and others where just walking away and leaving it behind me sounds amazing. It is disconcerting to me because I never used to feel that way. I loved working and all that came with it, but now I just… don’t know. Is that just a part of getting older? Of hitting the 10-year mark in your career?

I still don’t feel like I know what I want to do. Maybe I’ll figure it out by the time I retire. Just kidding! I’ll never be able to retire. ha

I probably should lay down for a few minutes before I have to dash out in the rain to pick up H. Maybe I’ll rest easier now that I’ve had a good ramble. <3