Survival Mode

Amy & I often talk about the different modes of parenting that we go through on a daily basis. The good days are the organized days where as a parent you know what needs to get done, where you and the kids need to be, and when you need to be there. This mode requires thought and planning up front, which at times can be a downer because we don't want to feel like we have to live by an hourly schedule. But we have learned it is not a good idea to open the freezer at 5:45 and look for things to cook for dinner. A little planning helps ease the stress in the long run.

The other mode is survival mode, which is used on those days where you do whatever has to be done just to get through the day. Survival mode at our house involves more TV than we would ideally like (Curious George, Clifford, and Cars are periodic life-savers), take-out dinner, and questions like "Is a diaper really full if technically one of the adhesives is still attached even though the diaper is dragging on the ground?" I think all parents go through survival mode from time to time. It's not like we're the only ones by any means. And survival mode can work in the short-term, but we have found it wears us out if we try to stretch it into more than a couple of days.

This week at our house has been one recurring survival day after another. Perhaps Amy & I got spoiled last week when Billy and Elaine were in town to visit and there were four helping hands to entertain the boys. But several things have shoved their way to the front of the line this week. Three of our four are sick as the cough, cold and fever bug has landed at our house. Owen's fever topped out at 105 yesterday which had us watching him very closely. The sickness has thrown off everyone's sleep. Gus has refused to nap which sends him over the edge late in the day. Amy & I have been getting up at night like we did when the boys were newborns. Our neighbor saw Amy one night this week and remarked, "Wow, you look rough."

So needless to say it has been a survival week. One more day and we should get a reprieve with the weekend. In the meantime when we ask the boys if they love their mom or dad and one of them (Gus) responds with, "No, my love Monkey George!" we just have to shake it off and realize that survival mode is temporary.

Cheers!