When Everyone Is Sick

Well, not quite everyone, but it feels like that when seven out of the eight children, at home, are sick!

It looks like the children all have the flu. Fevers for days, cough, headaches, painful chest, completely wiped out for days, yep, sounds like the flu, or at least a very nasty cold.

I thought I would share some things we do during times like this. Actually, it is very rare, as these children are extremely healthy. This is the first virus we have dealt with all season.

I highly recommend DVDs watching when everyone is so miserable. The children watch about an hour of TV a week, (19 Kids and Counting) so this is a treat. Who wants to read when their eyes are watering from fever and the head is pounding? We pull out the Little House on the Prairie series, Christy and Anne of Green Gables. This is one time I am okay with vegging out in front of the TV.

When I was little and sick we got popsicles or slushies from the Dairy Queen. (how I survived ) For my children, I made them my version of those slushies.

Into the blender:

• Water
• big handfuls of organic spinach
• frozen strawberries
• frozen blueberries
• sweetener of some sort (I was feeling sorry for them, so I added sweetener)

Blend and serve in disposable plastic cups. (so you can just toss them) You absolutely cannot taste the spinach and these taste amazing! I was slurping them down today too.

Now is a good time to whip up some nourishing chicken soup. If you have been making your own broth and have some stashed in the freezer, pull it out, slice some carrots and celery, add some broken spaghetti noodles and viola, better than Mrs. Grass’ Chicken Soup (which is what I had as a kid)

Can I just say that it apparently takes a lot of team work to keep this house running. I am blessed with wonderfully helpful children. What I am trying to say is THEY DO A LOT! And I am so thankful for them.

Even with a house full of sick children, I did have a delightful morning. They were all watching Little House on the Prairie (even the ‘bigs’ but don’t tell them I told you) and I was doing laundry, scouring out sinks, wiping down toilets, washing a few walls and organizing some papers. All things that often feel like luxuries when your days are filled with managing and schooling! I know, a bit crazy, but I love to scour me out a sink, and I rarely get the opportunity to do it. It did help that my computer died and I had to wait for my son to come home.

Recap: Flu = DVDs, Slushies and Chicken Noodle soup!

Pray would be appreciated