Letters from Lucy

Remember there is no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. - Scot Adams

This past week was a rough one. As I've written before, our family is prone to stomach viruses, which is all sorts of awesome. And last week was an especially brutal one. It started on Sunday night, when Noni spent the whole night throwing up. Then Lucy and Toby got it. (Snapshot of our family at midnight: Lucy throws up in the hallway. Toby gets up to throw up in the toilet and wipes out on Lucy's vomit.) Then Evie got it. For some reason they all managed to get sick at night, right after I had drifted off to sleep, so I spent three nights up all night and washing sheets and towels all day the next day. When I finally got sick on Sunday morning, I was actually just relieved because, unless our cat comes down with it, we have finally moved on from this nasty virus.

At any rate, about mid-week last week I sort of forgot that my life consisted of anything but washing vomity towels and comforting sick kids. When you're sleep deprived and stuck in the house all week, you start to lose perspective. (Note: I would be horrible as the mom in Room.) But just when I was feeling overwhelmed with fatigue and laundry burn-out, Lucy started leaving notes around the house for me. She left a note for me to "Loc on the fireplas", where she left me a drawing of a cardinal, my favorite bird. Then I found a note on the kitchen counter wishing me a "good morning!!!" She left goodnight notes in my bed and drawings on my desk.

Lucy began to read and write last year, but this year she's suddenly at the point where both are less of a struggle and starting to be fun. As a result, she's taken up more of an interest in doing both at home. Her timing couldn't be better. Her notes to me got me through the week. They also reminded me that being up for a week with sick kids is a small price to pay for all of the joy that they bring to my life.

Good night my mom, I love you.

(For some reason I can't get my photos to fully display on my blog - the right side always gets cropped off. Working on that!)