The Flu and Gratitude

We are all on the mend, but tired and cranky. Everyone caught the flu in the end, but my youngest daughter's breathing remained clear despite the cough, for which I am grateful. Thank you for your prayers.

I take a nap between each household task. Dose out the medicine; take a nap. Load the dishwasher; take a nap. My husband has been well enough to fix soup and toast for the kids. I have eaten about a dozen crackers over the last two days, which is enough to keep me alive, apparently.

My husband claims that if our marriage is ever in trouble, he will move us all to Iceland. He says I love him more when it's cold. And he says life gets very simple in Iceland: you need to find food and stay warm, and everything else is optional. I'm sure there are many Icelanders with complicated lives who could correct him, but it rings true about a house with the flu. Things have been very simple here this week. Keep the kids' fevers down, keep them hydrated, and rest. Everything else was an extra we could ignore.

Last night we watched The Aristocats, each of the four kids on a chair or the couch, quietly curled under a blanket. The only movement was the taking of turns in my lap. Everyone wants Mama's arms when they are sick. I looked around at my slowly mending family, and I felt so grateful for all the things that let us heal. We are blessed with so many things we could not earn, so many complicated, wonderful things that let us keep our life so simple this week. And because this is my blog and I get to say whatever I want, and because I'm coming off the flu so I know you'll all be extra patient with me, I'll end this post with listing the many things I am grateful for that made surviving the flu a relatively easy thing for this family.

A solid home
A relatively safe country
Running water
Reliable heat
Analgesics and fever-reducers
Blankets
A fully operational immune system
Children's cartoons
Crackers and soup made by someone else in a factory somewhere
Reliable medical advice
Loving family and friends