Finding a Sense of Humor

This has been a hard week for my family. It started off great! Last Sunday we took a drove into the mountains and it was cool, cloudy, and rainy thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Harvey. It was the first time we’ve driven to the mountains since the boys were born that didn’t result in any meltdowns – it was a perfectly pleasant drive there and back and it gave me such hope for future rides! Matt and I used to drive to the mountains all of the time, especially in the fall, and I was starting to believe that it would never be possible again. But it is!

On Monday, we took a family trip to the grocery store. My youngest (seen above) still chews on everything, and I have to imagine that he picked up a bug by sucking on the shopping cart in the store. Because by that night, he was coughing, crying, and barely sleeping. Which meant that I spent Monday and Tuesday nights caring for a crying and cranky baby. On Wednesday morning, my oldest came down with it as well, so I spent Wednesday and Thursday night doing the same.

The pictures above are when they were both a little bit pathetic with their respective illnesses. After spending four exhausting days caring for them, what do you think happened to me? Yup – I got sick too. I left work very early on Friday because I didn’t want to spread anything around.

And here is the embarrassing story of the week: As I was getting ready to shower on Friday night, I vomited. To add insult to injury, as I was crouched over the toilet, naked and shivering, I peed on the floor (thanks vaginal deliveries). I cleaned it up as best I could, limped into the shower with my pride barely intact, and cried under the hot water. When I got out, I could hear that my youngest was still awake. I went up to check on him and he had a fist full of poop waiting for me. Friday was rough all the way around.

But here’s the moral to my story: I felt defeated and planned to go to bed as early as I could. Neither of the books that I was reading were calling to me, nor were any other special projects. I scrolled through pinterest and a Natalie Goldberg quote jumped out at me, which reminded me that I’d recently ordered Writing Down the Bones. I knew right away what I needed to do. I boiled some water in the teakettle, made a cup of tea, and curled up on the couch with a quilt and the book. And it was exactly what I needed. I’ll be writing more about the book itself soon, but this simple practice restored my sense of humor for the night. The hot tea soothed my aching throat. The book lifted my spirits. I was having such a hygge moment and I couldn’t help but be thankful for everything in life.

It’s helpful to have some special books hiding in the recesses of your bookshelves. After ordering this one and then putting it on my shelf, I hadn’t thought of it again. I’d completely forgotten about it already. But one little reminder was all I needed and it turned my weekend around 180 degrees.

Tomorrow is Monday and we’ll go through all of the maddening routines again. And again. And again. But I’m going to do my best to savor a cup of tea, find some inspiring books, and revel in the season. I hope you can do it, too.