leaving Chicago

When my youngest grandchild, Juniper, first came down with stuff, we assumed, well, I assumed that she caught it from her sister who had had something similar just days before. And maybe she did. But then, maybe, too, she added to the mix something from school. Why is this even significant? Because yesterday evening it was evident that Primrose was picking up symptoms of some of the stuff Juniper was now slowly getting over. Or maybe Primrose had gotten something altogether new from her school? (Because the symptoms track Juniper's, we can assume it's not Covid, but of course, we can't be sure. Time will tell!)

This is the way it is with young kids: they toss bugs between themselves as if it were a volley ball game, only sometimes there's more than one ball on the court. All this drives many parents, especially working parents, which is to say most parents, but particularly those working and living in the US where time off to actually parent is regarded as some kind of luxury rather than necessity -- all this leads them to say "I am physically incapable of adding more kids to the mix. We stop at two." 

My daughter hasn't had a night without multiple babe crying episodes sprinkled throughout for several days now and last night Primrose added her share of wake-ups to this, so that their mom was up and down and back and forth between the two kids, running on who knows what ounces of energy. (At night, though I never sleep through such stuff, I am of little help. The goal is to get the kids as quickly as possible back to sleep and the best person for that job is, unfortunately, the parent.) 

Going forward, Juniper is way better and one hopes this wont drag down Primrose, so that the household can eventually return to some level of normality in the week ahead. But it's been one interesting (challenging!) set of days. 

(not well)

It's a cool Sunday in Chicago. Again our plan for the morning has to be adjusted as Primrose has to see a doc to get the meds she needs. Still, we all find time to play and have a lovely breakfast and all in all, being home with these two silly-billy girls is always awesome. 

(while the big sister is attending to her health care needs, the little sister stays at home with me; I give her a bath then dress her in sunflower yellow, to cheer things up a bit!)

("hey, I'm plenty cheerful!")

(the last selfie...)

(Primrose is back! A little better, but she still has a stretch of recovery before her.)

(at lunch: that adoring gaze of the younger sib...)

I hate to leave my daughter alone with two only marginally well girls, but I no longer feel confident in driving long stretches at night, so I time my departure in the way that I can get home before I zonk out and certainly before sunset. In any case, the dad is on his way home. No flight delays for him, airline, you hear??!

And now I'm back at the farmhouse and I see that lilies have indeed exploded in the past couple of days! I almost want to avert my eyes. So many spent lilies to snip tomorrow! But that is in fact tomorrow's work. Today I'm thinking about grandkids: so much to work through, so many tough moments any young family must navigate! But of course, at the end of the day it's the tough stretches that open your eyes to the pleasure of having a more carefree set of minutes. And when those carefree minutes roll in, you sit back, maybe close your eyes, and think -- isn't life just grand! 

With so much love...