Julie Pippert: Using My Words

Next week you'll hear half a sigh of relief from me. The sigh of relief half is because public school begins next week, and thus ends my ridiculous attempt to juggle working from home with caring for children (or at least for one of them; preschool starts on September 5, after Labor Day...a mixed blessing since it means one week of still juggling, but also one week of adjusting to public school before adding in two schools each day). If you wonder why I tried to juggle working with childcare, I'll be honest: it's because I can't afford to do otherwise. It's been an enormous strain on my entire family and has strung me practically to the breaking point. Taking the summer off isn't an option for me. But my earnings don't accommodate paying for childcare. You might reasonably ask why not forget working right now, in that case. It's because my career is important to me, not as important as my children, but nevertheless, valuable and something I've invest...

This weekend has been a time of change, small yet significant changes, in a very good way. Friday didn't go so well. I ended up canceling a playdate, which meant trapping the children inside the house for the entire day. That's not good. But. I didn't feel so hot. And it's a good thing I acknowledged this because by about 3:30 I had wasted away into uselessness. In other words, I had a big flare-up of the Dread Disease. Had I been out of the house, it would have been bad. I would have been unable to drive, get home, do anything, and I wouldn't have had access to my medication. I probably would have really flipped out my friend, too. Sometimes, this really, really sucks. The worst bit was the pain and the general weakness. I also had one of the numbness flares. That stinks too. No, the worst bit was the kids. The kids who were Way Too Good and I Don't Deserve It and OMFG my kids are so used to me being so sick they have learned to recognize it and have figured ou...