The doctor called and told me I have mastitis and I should
get lots of rest. The people he should have told were my kids. I was trying to
rest my aching body when I heard two-year-old Joshua call, “Mom! I had a
accident!” I set him in the bathtub and told him to take off his clothes and
have a quick bath. As I was cleaning up the accident, four-year-old Caleb fell
off a chair and split open his tongue. He went off into hysterics, trailing
blood wherever he went. While I staunched the bleeding and calmed down Caleb,
10-month-old Jacob pulled a dozen eggs onto his high chair and was tasting his
own recipe for uncooked scrambled egg. I went to check on baby Jacob and found
a cheerful, gooey baby shoveling egg glop in his mouth. I rinsed him off and
discovered he had a blow-out (aka: soiled diaper that spills into his shirt and
pants… and stinks). I scrubbed, changed, and redressed the baby, then went to
check on my toddler in the tub. I heard the water going, but as I peered down
the hallway, there was no standing water in the tub. When I came into the
bathroom, I found Joshua taking a shower under the bathtub faucet with all of
his clothes still on. I stood in the doorway with chills and fever coursing
through my body and I remembered how the doctor told me to take it easy. I
pulled off my toddlers wet clothes and got him dressed. Then we all went to bed
early. No wonder people ask for help when they get a doctor call like that.
