I was almost caught up. A day or two more and I would have the house clean and ready for lessons on Monday. The Christmas decorations are packed away. The main floor has been purged and straightened up. Today and tomorrow were dedicated to the upstairs where my bedroom and our learning room are in dire need of some decluttering and cleaning.
Mary was going to be going to Build a Bear Workshop today with her Aunt Kerry. She was given that fun trip as a Christmas present. She has been looking forward to it all week. "Is Friday almost here Mommy?" "How many more days until Friday?" she has asked countless times this week.
This morning she woke up, vomiting. I waited to see whether it was just an empty stomach that needed some breakfast or a full fledged stomach virus. It turned out to be the latter. This should not have surprised me because just the other day, Ben had a 12 hour bug that wiped him flat. By bedtime he was just fine and today you wouldn't know he had been sick at all.
So this morning, instead of feeling sympathy for my little girl and her missed trip to Build a Bear, do you know what I felt?
Frustrated.
Frustrated that my big plans to get it all done were foiled by this sick and needy child.
I even grumbled to my husband about how I was "almost caught up".
Well, after my bout of grumbling and mumbling, Mary called me to the bathroom. She was crying about how she hated to throw up. She just wanted me to keep her company so she didn't have to be "sick aw awone". I held back her hair and rubbed her back while she threw up again. It hit me right then and there that there is nothing I should be doing, nowhere more important than where I was at that moment, holding back my three year old daughter's hair.
Whatever we do for the least of these little ones, we do for Him. That is the lesson that has hit me over and over these past few months. Sometimes the "little ones" are sick three year old girls, sometimes they are big boys who still want to be tucked in at night. Other times they are babies who weigh twenty eight pounds and want to be carried all day long. Sometimes they are grown men who need us during that much coveted free time when the children are all asleep. Once in a while they are an elderly mother who is tired after a long day of work, grumpy and wanting a warm meal or a friendly smile. All of us are "little ones" to Him.
It took me all of a moment this morning to get over my pity party. I set up a little makeshift bed for her in the living room so she could visit with the rest of the family. She is very social and does not like to be isolated, even when she is sick. We snuggled her in some flannel sheets, set up a little garbage can nearby (just in case), surrounded her with lots of good books, a favorite episode of "Magic 'Kool Bus" and put on some cinnamon tea. Her brothers and I have been keeping her company all morning, in hopes of lifting her spirits. She is still feeling sick to her stomach and is in and out of sleep. She is not "aw awone" but has all of us to love and care for her.
So, so much for my grand plans. Turns out the plans were not so grand after all. The real party is in the living room, with the little girl in the horsie nightgown.
