Dominos

Nope, that's not a gift the kids got for Christmas. It's the way this ravaging stomach flu has worked in our house. It has methodically taken us down one by one. It took me as a victim on Wednesday and effectively ruined Wes' Christmas today. (Sidebar: I'm so sorry to those who came to our house to watch the BYU game in the middle of this. I truly thought we were done with it!)

I realize that this whole flu topic may be getting a bid tedious but I bring it up one last time for good reason. I have decided that it is the closest thing I will ever experience to knowing what would happen to my family if I disappeared one day (not that I'm planning a departure.) I have ADD, and don't sit still, well really ever. So there's no way I could otherwise conduct this experiment unless my physical condition absolutely prevented it. This flu qualified- you know the sit in a fetal position rocking while you pray that you feel better or die soon. I could not have helped my kids, done a dish, folded a piece of laundry or anything relating to that if I had to. Thankfully, Wes has the rest of the year off, so he put on his mommy hat (not literally) and took over. I could do physically do nothing but be vaguely aware of the chaos outside my bedroom door.

I am happy to report that in my forced absence, the kids ate, were bathed and dressed, and kept out of harms way for a day. Wes is a roll up your sleeves and help out kind of Dad, so I wasn't surprised. The Result?: I deducted points for the McDonald's dinner and the lack of any evidence of fruits or vegetables served, but he received bonus points for untangling and styling Sophie's rat's nest for hair. He did leave the boys behind while he ran to the store. I counted seven neighbor children in the backyard, but only one of mine while he was gone. They all listened to his strict instructions to not come in the house and my missing son eventually reappeared, so I let that one go. Overall, he did pretty well. He has proven his sprinting ability, but the marathon? Hard to say. I did get a good chuckle out his comment after I emerged from the bedroom after 12 hours...

"Did you know that these kids are a mess? All I have done ALL day is clean up after them! I got nothing done."

Really?

To be fair, I too was surprised at how hard it was to teach a few of his classes for him. Maybe it is good to switch roles every so often to appreciate each other.