Be Careful What You Wish For

I have decided that God is trying to tell me something.  He is kicking me in my lazy butt and telling me to get over myself.  I know this, because, when it comes to me and my family, He has a twisted sense of humor though this really isn't funny.  I suppose that after all these years of me being unmotivated and a reluctant housekeeper, he decided to give me perspective.  Granted, I needed perspective.  It had to be something that I could not deny, and something profound, and it was. 

Let me give you some background.  I am married with four children.  There is always laundry to do and something to clean.  Dishes seem to be used by an army as I wash them repeatedly just to find them dirty when I need them.  My goal has never been to keep a spotless house.  If it were, I would fail miserably.  My house looks lived in.  Sometimes it's messy, and others not so much.  If I have more of the latter than the former I am happy.  See, I'm pretty easy when it comes to my house.  I learned a long time ago that if I strive for perfection, I would just give myself an ulcer.  Now, I don't worry so much...unless I'm expecting company, then I am a crazy cleaning lunatic. 

Okay, so for the past few months, I really haven't been motivated to scrub much of anything.  I clean and do what needs doing, but no more, no less.  I kept wondering how all these Moms keep such clean houses all the time.  Well, I know one who is always spotless, everyone else is normal...clean but still lived in.  Lately, I have slowly been buried by a to do list of seemingly simple tasks.  Simple is always complicated when there is a baby demanding attention and a 4 year old who needs equal time or feels left out.  The little things slowly add up to a gargantuan amount of work that there really isn't any time for.  Enter the powers that be.

My 5 year old, who will be 6 in a few days, has had a runny nose for years.  He has trouble sleeping and snores a lot.  I knew he had mild allergies and he was on Claritin as per the doctor.  After an influx of pollen, he had a severe reaction.  They put him on Zyrtec and eye drops and nighttime allergy meds all of which took a week to make a real difference.  So, I finally took him to get tested for allergies.  I dreaded this because I knew he would be in pain.  After having to hold him down as he writhed on the table as they were doing the scratch test (52 total), I then had to hold him still and try to calm him down when the itching was so bad afterward.  Well, he is allergic to so many things.  He is allergic to everything except for our cats, practically.  He is now on a morning regimen of Zyrtec, nasal wash, nasonex, and eye drops.  $200 a month on medicine that I pray works.  He will need two surgeries in the summer and then a four year regimen of allergy shots.

I'm not complaining really.  All I can think of is how lucky we are that it's just allergies.  It could be so much worse.  Allergies are manageable, for now.  It's a little scary to think that he's allergic to so many things from trees, to bugs, to grass, to dust.  At least he doesn't have food allergies, but the doctor warned me that allergies usually get worse or new ones many start in the coming years.  That isn't a good feeling at all.  So the shots are in hopes of preventing the allergies from escalating. 

So, I've gone from kind of cleaning, to having to steam and vacuum the beds and furniture on a regular basis.  I have to steam everything and try to keep it spotless.  I have to dust everything every other day and not have the dust go into the air, (I see a yard sale in my near future). I have to dehumidify a house,in Florida, where it is almost always above 70% humid this time of year, and I can't even get rid of the cats.  This will take some time to get into a routine.  I'm still working on trying to irrigate the nostrils of a five year old.  He stresses and is unable to relax and let the saline drip out of the opposite nostril.  I've done it, it sucks when you know what you're doing.  Hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon, because it's killing me to make him so miserable.

I asked for a little motivation.  There's nothing like your child's health to motivate you.  "Be careful what you wish for", is absolutely right.  I am officially motivated.  Now if my body will work as long as I need it to before my arthritis stops me in my tracks, it'll be great.