Day Forty-Eight, Much Needed Massage!

Wednesdays are literally insane around my house...after getting Jamie and Kaylee off to school, Abigail has dance class, Justin has a massage, I have a massage, then Jamie and Kaylee have a half day and come home early, just in time for piano and chores...we quickly shove dinner down their throats in time to make it to their youth church program...sigh...then they plow in the door around 830pm and the whole bedtime routine starts. 

So, needless to say, we don't really look forward to Wednesdays all that much, however, we have gotten used to the chaos.  This particular Wednesday I was not feeling well at all and I could tell by the way Tim was moving he wasn't either.  The hard thing about being the spouse of a chronically ill person, is you don't ever get the chance to be sick!  I watched him take pain medication and rub his head feeling completely helpless when he said to me, "I need to get a massage, I'm having muscle tension headaches," (which are the worse!).

Normally, he would have to wait a day or two to get into a massage and with his work schedule, it probably wouldn't have happened at all.  So I got really excited and said, "You can have my massage appointment today!"  He was a little surprised because missing a massage appointment even for one week can have pretty devastating consequences on my back.  However, I felt certain that this was my gift for today and he accepted it.  I had hoped to possibly get in later in the week...ultimately I didn't, but I was really excited to give him my massage appointment when he needed it.  My back pain will still be there next week and he got to be sick for the day.

By the time the kids started tumbling in the door that evening, I was feeling considerably better.  I was able to get up and help them get their stuff put away.  Suddenly Abigail pulled off one of her shoes and poured a bucket load of sand on the floor.  Oh my!  Under usual circumstances I would have asked my respite provider bathe her, but I was feeling remarkably well.  I grabbed Abbey and put her in the tub with lots and lots of bubbles when Jamie decided she needed a bath too.  I had both girls in the tub and scrubbed their hair as they splashed and squealed loudly.  Both Tim and my respite provider stood outside the bathroom door and told me to go lay down, they'd finish up but I said "no, I'm good!"

I felt a deep joy as I bathed them, brushed their teeth, did their hair and put on their jammies.  I realized, I hadn't bathed and brushed my girls teeth in at least six months.  I then even had the energy to rock Abigail for a long time and we read books and laughed and laughed so loud I thought we were going to wake up the other kids.