Interrupted Days

Megan spent most of last week at home with strep throat.  

This morning, after a busy weekend, after taking Craig to the airport, after making breakfast and lunches for four kids and getting them all out the door, I thought I deserved to have a couch day.  It's one of those cold, blustery days today and Downton Abbey on my DVR called to me more loudly than driving all the way to Plano for Institute.  So I snuggled up in my jammies with a blanket and slippers and happily planned to spend my day with just a remote control and a good book.  

And then Megan texted that she felt terrible and needed to come home.  

The day did not belong to me after that.  I forced myself to get up, get dressed and get in the car in 30 degree weather that felt like 19 degrees.  

Megan came home and slept and snuggled with me for a little while before the after school rush started.  Savannah came home at 2:30 and McKay at 3:00.  Emma texted at 3:15 that she did not have rehearsal today after school, so I picked her up.  At 3:55 when I thought the coast was clear to slip back into bed with that book I've been trying to read all day, Emma came in and said that she actually DID have rehearsal and would need a ride back to school.  I tried again a few more times to sneak back into my bed, but the colder weather meant that little boys were inside my house instead of outside of it, that missionaries were looking for warm refuge, and that children would be looking for a hot dinner.  

So, my plans for a quiet day with a book and a blanket didn't come to pass, but tonight when I tucked them all in early at 8:45 and finally got back into my warm bed that had been waiting for me all day, I didn't regret one bit the way that my day had unfolded.  

This is where I'm supposed to be.  It is not my JOB to be their mother.  It is my calling, my joy, my fulfillment.  And even though I think sometimes at 8:00am that the day would be better spent relaxing in some way, it's always better to spend it with them.  Sick or not sick.  Grateful or not grateful.  Happy or unhappy.  These children are the reason I'm home in the first place, and the days that they'll need me are numbered.  There will be plenty of days in the future that will belong to me…just not this week perhaps.