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Friday, January 1, 2010

Day One, Gift One

Sigh...OK, so I didn't want to get up this morning...really didn't want to. My arms and legs felt like lead. I had decided late last night that for my gift today, I wanted to allow my husband to sleep. Sounds like a necessity, right? But for him it's a gift! Since my latest flare up on Thanksgiving, my husband has not slept more than a few hours a day. He is working overtime at his job, taking care of all the kids when he's home, and waiting on me in bed rest.

As I lay there in bed this morning as sore and exhausted as I was with eleven hours of sleep under my belt, I seriously considered nudging him awake. He had had almost three hours and that was "normal" for him. He would have gotten up without a complaint and stumbled to the kids rooms...he would have never known that I had planned to give him this gift of sleeping in. I began to think of other gifts I could give. I was convincing myself I was just too tired, I couldn't get them all up and ready for the day, I couldn't even get myself up! Then I thought, I could call my respite provider and we could BOTH sleep in...but then, that really isn't a gift to him, right? That wouldn't count!

So, I lay there, determined absolutely to get myself up and get the kids up. Just then I heard our 8 year old, Dakota, and six year old, Kaylee, arguing. "Well at least your roommate doesn't throw up everywhere!"...Oh no! I thought, seriously? My husband, Tim, always deals with the throw up. This was more of a gift than I had bargained for. Then I heard Dakota exclaim, "Well, my roommate stinks!"...so then I realized both of my special needs children had had huge accidents in their beds. Grrrr...stripping down the beds was Tims job. But I couldn't leave the beds like that? My oh my, it took every ounce of my being to strip down Jamie's bed, she had thrown up everywhere. Then I had to load it in the washer and get her cleaned up. Next, was Justin who is four and quadriplegic and much like an infant. Even though I had double diapered him (this is my discovery of putting a regular diaper on then a pull up over the top) he had leaked through all over the bedding up to his shoulders with pee and poop. Seriously????

So, this meant I had to carry him down the stairs, which is difficult enough, then trudge my way back up the stairs to strip his bedding. Some days I don't even go up the stairs once...and this was exhausting. I looked in on my husband peacefully sleeping and wanted to throw something at him! Then I said to myself "the gifts are suppose to feel good!" I wasn't feelin it...Grrrr again.

Anyway, everyone is clean, the bedding is in the wash. Putting it back on will present more challenges but I'm going to wait until I feel a bit stronger hopefully later today. My husband is sleeping. I'm sure the great feeling is going to overcome me at any moment...waiting...waiting...well, I guess I'll have to get back to you on that. So, I'm going to let him sleep as long as he needs, even if it's into the night. He does this for me on a daily basis and never complains or tries to wake me up to help. OK, now the good feeling is coming. I am so blessed!

OK, so my reflection from today...it is 7pm...we had a tough morning but go through it. My husband came down a little after noon and commented on how rested he felt...imagine feeling good on six hours?!? I was so happy. He did have to head right off to work, but I was so happy to give him my gift today. As I thought about my gift, I realized that any other morning like this, I would have stayed in bed all day. I wouldn't have even made it down stairs. And while I didn't feel "great" I did push through it and spent sometime working on the computer and the phone. I had a much better day after giving this gift than I would of if I hadn't given it. I also spent quite a bit of time preparing for my gift tomorrow...you'll have to check in and see what it is!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know it is not funny but your blog made me LOL. Great Job! I am proud of you.
Because of you I left a $20.00 tip for a chamber maid today. I have been very short on money and had only $50.00 to last for 2 weeks. Initially when I thought of leaving a tip, I thought no I just can't. I walked out of the room and on my way down the hallway I thought about your blog. I turned around, unlocked the door and left the tip. I don't know how I will make it two weeks on $30.00 but I know God will take care of me as He always has all of my life. Thanks for your inspiration.

Anonymous said...

I really liked day one's gift.I think you should let me have my sleep for once...I hope I don't have any throw-up to deal with when I'm a adult...Anyway keep up the good work!

Dakota