This week has been a difficult week in the Fabfrocks household. Last Monday I took Wilbur to the doctors with what I thought was a nasty cold, only to find myself in the children's ward of the local hospital an hour later. My little man had acute bacterial tonsilitis which had caused a dangerously high temperature and left his heart rate beating much too fast. He looked very small sitting in his hospital bed, and scared the living daylights out of his mummy and daddy!
From the minute we had our first scan to the moment he was born and on a semi-regular basis ever since, we remember to be thankful that Wilbur is a healthy and happy boy. (Definitely not taking that for granted) What that means though is that when he's poorly, it hits you like a ton of bricks! He was soon home with his antibiotics and being as demanding as you would expect an unwell two year old to be. In real terms that equated to sleepless nights (and when he did sleep, it was on mummy on the sofa, meaning that I didn't sleep) lots of cuddles and attention, plenty of fetching and carrying, and absolutely no opportunity to do any work (because Wilbur couldn't go to nursery and didn't want to be without his mummy for a moment!)
I love working for myself, but this week I was reminded of the obvious drawbacks. When you work for yourself, you can't just take a couple of days off: client deadlines need to be met, there's no one to pick up the slack for you, and when you don't work you don't get paid. That meant working late into the night and in every available snatched moment to get everything done and not let anyone down.
Basically the point of this post is that poorly kids are hard work, man! Especially when you have other commitments and other people depending on you. I think 'work at home mums' are an often ignored group in the working mum/stay at home mum debate. My mummy friends often tell me how lucky I am to have the best of both worlds because I get to do the job I love and I never miss out on any of Wilbur's key moments: we play everyday, I take him swimming and to his dance classes, we paint and go on play dates.
Most of the time I feel lucky. I do have the best of both worlds, but it comes at a price, such as having to work long and peculiar hours to ensure that my working doesn't impact on Wilbur's life too much. But this week I think I probably experienced the worse of both worlds too.....
Luckily Wilbur is on the mend now, and back to his normal self. Let normal service resume!
Love Tor x
