Friday, October 15, 2010

I'm so spoiled...

I'm spoiled because most days Ram is home. If he's not home most of the day, with the exception of a few days a month, he is at least able to give me short breaks from the boys. He's usually here to hold Lamb 3 when he wakes up from his nap. He usually changes a few of Lamb 3's diapers. He usually gives the Lambs their vitamins. He usually reads to each of the Lambs at bedtime. He usually leads devotions at lunch time. He usually cooks supper and then I just warm up leftovers for lunch the next day. He makes all our bread in the breadmaker and yogurt in the yogurtmaker. He tries to make hummus or guacamole or black bean dip regularly.

When I heard he was going to be recovering for 6 weeks after surgery, I immediately thought of the things I just listed. What I didn't plan on or remember was that in addition to all that, I still had to do the tasks that I do around the house (mainly laundry, cleaning, bookkeeping the family bills, and thank you notes/other correspondence) AND be his nurse AND take care of the Lambs.

Yesterday was so busy that I can't even list everything I did. My dad was gone at the monthly pastor's meeting most of the day so he wasn't here to help. My dad needed directions to the places he was going yesterday. Ram needs pain medication every 4 hours, Tylenol every 6 hours, and another medicine every 8 hours. I set the alarm to give him medicine at night. I didn't plan on Ram needing different food than us so I made him some food for lunch and the boys and I something else so I could try to use up some veggies from our garden. I felt like I was nagging the boys all day to pick up-their bathroom, bedroom, and living room especially. Ram is moving very slow and he doesn't need to trip over toys when he is going to the bathroom. I walked to the post office with the boys and then sorted snail mail for us and the church. I wanted to make granola but we were out of honey. I called around to try to get honey with no luck. I regret not buying honey at Costco last week. I wanted to freeze tomatoes from our garden, but I never got that far. I made bread in the breadmaker and it turned out. I believe I only had made bread in the breadmaker once before. I made Ram coffee. I believe I only had made coffee once before too. I did a lot of dishes yesterday. I tried a new recipe for supper and everyone (even Ram) ate it. I began to organize the medical bills as I know it will be important to keep up with them as they arrive. We have already received many medical bills from his tests this summer. I wanted to get that organized before I added in the major medical bills from his surgery.
It was my turn to serve Ladies Aid last night and a member volunteered to do that for me, but I asked her to make sandwiches and I would do dessert. My dad went to Ladies Aid and took my dessert. I had made ice cream in our ice cream maker and homemade chocolate sauce earlier in the week. I was so glad I had done that before Ram got home and it got so busy. They made their own tin roof sundaes and they were a hit.
The Lambs have been well behaved, they just want someone to play with them. In between his two meetings yesterday, my dad helped the Lambs build a big train track in the living room. They enjoyed his attention. I read a few extra books at bedtime. They liked that and it sort of made up for our crazy day.
I know that things will improve as Ram recovers slowly. Yesterday was probably the worst because my dad wasn't here to help and I wasn't quite prepared for such a busy schedule. I will get used to being wife, mom, daughter and cook, maid, nurse, teacher, babysitter all at one time. I'm thankful that normally I'm spoiled. After 6 weeks Ram will go back to his tasks and I'll go back to mine and some tasks will be shared again.

1 comment:

Joelle said...

Wow! B. does do a lot normally! Matt doesn't do nearly that much, but that is okay. I feel spoiled, too, when I think of those I know who have a husband who travels for work regularly. Hope that you quickly get things figured out and things start to go more smoothly. Hope B. heals quickly!!