E is still sick.
She's had 9 days of fever, headache and cough. Thankfully she hasn't been acutely ill: she's been keeping up her fluids, eating occasionally, and generally happy to chat and watch a variety of screens, but it still hasn't been much fun, poor kid. And at night is when the fevers are worst and the anxiety as a parent is highest. Today was supposed to be her first day back after her holiday break, but Al is home with her today instead. We will try another antibiotic today (there's a possibility she has whooping cough), and hopefully she will finally be on the mend. Having sick kids is hard because not only is there the caring responsibilities and feeling bad for your little one, its also the uncertainty and decisions to make: Should we go back to the doctor? Is the antibiotic working? Should I cancel that activity in two days? Hopefully we are on the home stretch now.
No fun at all for poor E.
Our visitors have gone home.
We had some extended family (Al's parents and an adult niece) visit us for the past 2.5 weeks, and it was so great to see them. They were also really great with the kids and helped us look after E, and make her time stuck at home a little more fun. Al's mum cooked delicious food many nights and kept the house in order too, which was so appreciated. But 2.5 weeks is a long time to have guests (even family!), and it is nice to have the house back to ourselves and some alone time this week.
I've been walking almost every day!
I am part of Elisabeth's Cool Bloggers Walking Club this month, and have aimed to walk at least 10 minutes every day in April. With the exception of a couple of days when I was sick Sunday and Monday, I have done this every day and it was felt good. By setting the bar very low, it always feels doable, and usually a lot more than 10 minutes is spent walking.
This is my lunchtime walking route. Pretty lucky.
I have NOT been planning.
With visitors and illness in the house, I have not been paying any attention to my Q2, monthly or weekly goals, or making my daily goals. I just felt... unmotivated, even though I usually love this. I am feeling motivated now to plan out my week this week at least in my Erin Condren, so I will do this today, however, I will set the bar LOW until E is better and we are back into our normal routines.
I HAVE been working on my novel outline.
Hooray! This turns out to be something I can do while also looking after a sick 6 year old at home, and I'm really enjoying working out some key characters, backstory, and story lines. At this stage I'm working on it using pen and paper in a notebook, rather than typing anything. It allows me to brainstorm, and write anywhere, including in bed with a cup of tea, outside in the sunshine, even on a walk. This is such a fun part of the process and its been a couple of years and I'm happy to be back into this creative process.
That’s all from me. Hope April is treating everyone well so far!
Oof, you've had two hard things- a sick kid, and houseguests. i know it was family and it sounds like they were great guests, but it's still so hard to have other people in the house. Well... I hope everything can get back to normal now. Or at least, soon.
On the bright side, your walking route is beautiful! And, you worked on your novel- that's exciting.
It is so hard to have a child with extended illness for all the reasons you mention. I definitely start to struggle with all the decisions (do we cancel, do we go back to the doctor or wait it out). Especially with fevers. When our son was little he had a fever for 11 days and we could not figure out why. The last time I took him to the hospital a young doctor was on call who had a child who had just gone through the same thing and he basically said - all the tests are clear, I think you'll just wake up one morning and it will be gone. And the next morning it was, but those…