Overwhelmed

I have been just barely keeping my head above water these days. Working 5 days a week is a lot harder and more than I bargained for. I just can't seem to keep up. My husband travels weekly for work. Two of my boys are playing football. I have four kids in four different schools. I have been battling The Crud for 6 weeks now. Although I feel better, I am still hacking up a lung. Maggie and Patrick have come down with it as well (Maggie missed 4 days of school last week--so much homework to make up!!) and now Mary is starting to cough. I cleaned my house this week for the first time in about six weeks. I was afraid we were going to wind up on one of those reality shows that show people's really dirty houses and send in a team to intervene. You think I'm kidding, but I think one of my crazy neighbors would totally turn me in. In short, I am overwhelmed.

I had good motivation to clean up. My parents were coming for the weekend and I didn't want my mother to think she had failed in my raising. She raised me better than to be a pig and live in utter filth. I didn't want her to see the truth--that we are indeed, pigs and living in utter filth. Sigh...

My mom, God love her, did somewhere near 432 loads of laundry in the 48 hours she was here. I only helped her with two. My dad provided support in other ways; he laughed at my jokes and let my daughter do this:



Is there a cooler grandpa anywhere? No. No, there is not.

My folks came to watch Sean's game on Saturday and James' game on Sunday. I am happy to report that both teams were victorious. Sean got in on a couple of good tackles and had some good blocks. James also made his way into the backfield and caused some grief for the other team's offense and he held off some seriously big dudes on the line. Really--there were THREE triple stripers and two double stripers on the other team. (If a boy is over a certain weight he gets a stripe and cannot run the ball.) I think one of them may have driven himself to the game. While shaving his beard. And registering for the draft. I kid. But those boys were BIG and a couple of them could really move. Still, our boys managed to dominate, which was a nice change over last weekend. I told my sons that they'd better win their games since their grandparents would be there to watch. I threatened them with no dessert for the rest of their lives if they lost. Do you think they believed me?

Anyway, it was nice to have my parents here. I felt my shoulders come down from around my ears for the first time in weeks. They may regret coming, however, as our house sounds like TB ward. At least they won't get Whooping Cough.*

Oh yes. I almost forgot. James tried very hard to give me a heart attack. He was injured in the last minute of the game. He was in the backfield trying to make a diving tackle and was kicked in the head. It rang his bell. He lay there face down trying to get up and looking dazed. I sat on the sidelines next to my mom while we alternately said "Get up. Get up James!" Soon three coaches were on the field and rolling him over. Then they were easing his helmet off and I was trying not to hyperventilate. After a few minutes they helped him off the field. My beloved was running the chains and my dad was standing on that side of the field with him. When my mom could stand it no longer, she called my dad on his cell and made him find out what was going on.

The coaches gave him The Concussion Questionnaire (seriously-- a list of questions to help decide if a player has been concussed. [I love that word. Not it's implications, but the word is a good one.]) He met only one of the criteria--although once we got home he complained about dizziness and being sensitive to light--so we took him home and settled him in with an Advil and low stimuli. He seems to be doing just fine now. But seriously, after an injured knee in the preseason and now this, I am stating here for the record that he has exceeded his quota of Mother-Scaring Moments.

So here it is, Monday, and I am staring down the barrel of another loaded week. I am not sure exactly how I'm going to make it through. I'm not really sure I want to try. I am feeling overwhelmed. But the pint of Ben and Jerry's I have hidden in my freezer may just get cracked open and help me to feel less so.

On the upside, at least I don't have to do laundry. For a day anyway.

*Maggie was tested for Whooping Cough. It was ruled out, thank goodness. This "old" disease has made a comeback around these parts and while my children have all been vaccinated, they can still get a milder from of the disease. If she had tested positive, our entire family would have had to be treated. I'm not disappointed that we won't all be getting dosed with antibiotics, but I sure wish we could find something to get us over The Crud once and for all.