The Mother of Mothers

Perhaps I shot myself in the foot last weekend when I gloated over my happiness...now my house is filled with fever, coughs and chills.

Sick kids. Every mother's worry. Every working mother's nightmare. Next to letting my kids defend themselves against snakes, this is another area where my maternal instinct undergoes extreme conflict.

I have to go to work. But my kids are sick. But I need to get to work. But my kids are sick. But still, there's work.

Come on! Where are my priorities?

Thank God that I live near my mother who almost always will re-arrange her schedule to pinch-hit for me. She came over this morning so I could get a little caught up. (Never mind that she is now behind.) That's motherly love...perhaps I should take a few lessons from my own role model.

If there is one piece of advice I have for all young mothers out there...don't let anyone make you feel guilty about missing work for sick kids. I was lucky enough to have a mother around to help me out. But there are plenty of mothers who were made or are made to feel guilty about missing work for sick children. While I have trouble heeding my own advice, because I truly worry way too much about pleasing others, it's a ridiculous notion to put work over a sick child. Work will always be there. And, well, you know who won't. (Unless your me and are still calling your mom at the age of 40...)

The moral of the story...in ten or twenty years, who will remember if you missed work because of a sick kid?

Probably not your co-workers. But I bet your child will.