When Disaster Strikes…

Last week was just one of those weeks that I’m glad is behind us. We didn’t have the flu but we did have a nasty case of the stomach bug, and combined with Dad being out of town and Mom having too many outside commitments (that were eventually canceled), we were a bit overwhelmed!

Since the reason of this post is to share one of the lessons learned from last week’s debacle, I will spare you the gory details of our situation. Let’s just say that “it” all started on Tuesday evening around dinnertime, when a rather yucky occurrence (perhaps the worst in my mommy history thus far) called for emergency measures – the yuckiness was, unfortunately, NOT self-contained, the house had to be cleaned thoroughly, and there was no question about it. The dilemma was that I was on my own and the kids were ready for bedtime to begin – but I could not wait on vacuuming, mopping, and laundry, it all had to be done immediately.

Much to my surprise, Christopher stepped up to the plate and engaged his little sister in building and playing in a fort in the dining room. Chairs were moved and toys were strewn everywhere, but the children were entertained and I was able to complete a whirlwind cleaning project in record time. Maria loved the attention and love from her older brother, and Christopher enjoyed spending some quality time with his sister.

Lesson learned: Sometimes, it’s good for Mom to step out of the picture for a short period of time so that the children can rely on each other. This doesn’t work all of the time, but it’s nice to know that it can work once in a while!