24 Hours

Thank God (the Universe, or whatever you believe in) That there are only 24 hours in a day, and that the crowning glory of our species is that we MUST sleep for a minimum of 5 hours in order to perform the following day at any sort of competent level. I am home with two children for 72 hours strait...It's miserable outside and both of them are sick and have been awake at all hours of the night. Daddy is away on a business trip. I have slept for no more than 30 minutes at a time....I am desperate..... Do I call 911? I imagine the fire engines and ambulance showing up in the early evening, I look particularly strung out, and completely at wits end, turning myself in with any ailment that will god willing show up in my body. I once did Children's theatre and was a huge hit in the production Oliver! I know that I can pull this off, and I'll simply act like I am faint and out of it...like a mental patient. I will hope that they put me in a comfortable hospital bed with all of the ginger ale that money can buy. Crushed Ice...hospital food... TV! I'm dreaming. As I snap to reality I realize how desperate I have become and have absolutely NO idea how I will survive the next 48 hours. Self Medication? Pills? Alcohol? They are both taking turns vomiting now, and fevers are high...my two year old feels like he could heat a small department store. Did someone tell me recently that having three kids is the new two? NO THANK YOU. I'm covered in bodily fluids and I have no idea if I can squeeze a quick shower into the intervals when my stomach starts to roil. The urge to throw up is so great as I am laying my son in the last set of clean sheets we own praying that he will finally sleep when the force of the sick pulses through my body. Now, it's every man for himself and I lay with my children in the hallway of the upstairs trying to gain some sense of control over a completely unmanageable situation. By the time my husband arrives it's Friday night. The three of us are sitting at the table playing with play dough and eating crackers. We are finally through the worst possible sickness we have all been through and as he hugs us we meet each others eyes, realizing that we are survivers.