Time Well Spent

This past weekend was pretty crazy for me. Sophia came down with the stomach flu. I hardly slept Friday night and Sebastien was revved and ready to go first thing Saturday. When he woke me up in the morning, I wanted to die. I was so tired, I knew I wasn't going to make it through my day having just been up every half-hour with Soph. At that moment I was really grateful that their grandmother lives only two minutes away and is always willing to help. Between Sophia's bouts of illness, I managed to pack the kids up and trek them off to grandma's house. After an afternoon of help and a chance to nap on the couch with Soph, I packed her up and brought her home with me and Sebastien stayed "chez mamie's".
As most of you know, it's exhausting having a sick kid; but once I got home, it was so calm and so relaxing. Sophia, who I was certain until this weekend didn't believe in cuddling, snuggled right up and slept in my arms. It was so nice! We watched movies together, slept on the couch together, and just did NOTHING together. I felt awful for her and hated seeing her like that, but it was so nice to put everything else on hold, and not worry about whether or not the house was clean; or have my mind race with the 500 other things I wanted to do. I think it's the first time, it's just been her and I, other than when she was a newborn. There are times where I think about how nice it would be to spend the day with each kid separately. To really give them my full attention and spend the day doing something they love. It's unfortunate that Sophia and I's first real quality time together was when she was sick, but I can tell it changed our relationship. It brought us closer together, and it was clearly a big deal for her as much as it was for me.
I think sometimes we get too busy trying to multitask and handle everything that is coming our way, that we don't spend the kind of time with our kids that they expect us to. I've always been a firm believer in "The mess will still be there tomorrow" idea, but it doesn't always mean I follow it.
As tiring as it is to deal with a sick child, and as bad as I felt for Soph this past weekend, it forced me to slow down and enjoy her, and spoil her rotten with love and cuddles. I needed that as much as she did. It was a really good wake up call for me too, that even though there is a lot of pressure on me right now, it doesn't mean that I can't sit back and enjoy my kids. The only person putting pressure on myself is me. Which means I have the ability to control that pressure and how I deal with it. This may be the first of many answers in how I can deal with my stress. I also think that sometimes the only person stressing me out is me. Definitely gives me some food for thought.