Working Moms and Sick Children

It has been a week. Since I am now a full time employee, I now have to worry about choosing if my children are well enough to go to school or miss work and keep them at home. It is a hard decision when you know one child wants to stay at home and may mislead a parent to get to stay home.

Since I am home with my children this week at night while my husband is in the hospital, I am the only one that can stay home.

First, I did not go to work Tuesday since my husband went into the hospital for his first chemo treatment.

Second, my daughter threw up Wednesday night so we stayed home Thursday.

Now, my son threw up on the way to school today, so we are home again.

Three days in one week. I have a great supervisor who knows our family situation. How can a parent stay home this much if they have an unreasonable supervisor or a job only one person can do? You see it portrayed on TV, the parent leaving the child with someone else because they HAVE to go to work. Or moms lying about having children so someone will actually give them a job.

My thought- if it is a problem, they will have to fire me.

I cannot leave a throwing up child with anyone else. It is just not worth it or fair to my child. I am fortunate that I can stay home, even though my sick days are almost depleted, after 45 days of work!

So continue to pray for our family. We need it!

Chemo, Chemo, Chemo

Chemo started yesterday. My husband is doing an inpatient treatment to keep him hydrated and protect his kidney. If I am lacking in my blog, you will know.

His treatments are for 5 days and out for 15. It will go over three or four courses. Keep praying!

Thank You Day!

September 24 is Thank You Day. And do we not say thank you enough? Not hardly! So I am taking the time today to thank some people in my life- some who may never read my blog... but the thanks is out there and hopefully they will see it.

Thank you to my husband for all that he does for me and our family. I could not do it without you! Thank you for your faithfulness and your bravery as the new journey begins.
Thank you to my children who teach me something new everyday and are a blessing each and every day.
Thank you to my mom and dad, who do not get enough thanks, for all that they have provided for us and the love they give us each and every day.
Thank you to my Sunday School class for the wonderful prayers of support and healing for my husband and I as he begins chemo this week.
Thank you to my brother and sisters, who is all the fun times and the annoying times, have always been there.
Thank you to Kim, Amber, and Betsy, who are my greatest friends and business partners. Thank you for the opportunity you have given me to grow and change these last months and thanks for the success we will have in the future.

And most of all, thanks be to God in heaven: without Him, I am nothing!

Post you comment about your thanks today too!

A Green Switch for your Home

I was listening to a program on going "green" in your household. While I used to be very good at recycling (I even started a school based recycling program in high school), I am not so good at it now. One of the biggest things I want to change is the amount of power we use in our house. We keep our air at 81 degrees most of the time, now going to 83 during the day while we are gone, and down to 79 when we are sleeping. That is pretty good compared to most Floridians who have their AC at a constant 73 degrees. Our thermostat is programmable, so that is very helpful, especially since I know how to program it! I try to turn off the lights as the children leave the rooms. And I even bought a counter top oven this summer so I would not be using the big huge oven each and every day and heating up the house. But our bill is still somewhat high and I would love for it to be lower.

One of the things I am most interested in is the Green Switch. It is a wireless switch that you can hook up all of your light switches and inessential electronics to turn off when you are gone. It just takes on switch. You have to purchase the outlets and the light switches, but the convenience and the power you will save look like a great benefit. It also is able to be used in any home at any time. They even say those with some electrical knowledge can install it themselves.

If you are looking to go GREEN, check out the Green Switch. Also check out the other green ideas.