Things were starting to get to a head as they sometimes do last week. I had a baby goat in my living room that wasn’t doing well (luckily she is thriving now), children going crazy from nearly 4 months indoors, a home to keep, the pending growing season, it all seemed like a lot, and “just do the next thing” wasn’t cutting it. I was feeling overwhelmed and crazy. Then one afternoon things changed.

The children were starting to act tired and in need of a rest. The baby was sleeping more and more, though still eating and with a mild fever he wanted to go back to bed after only 2 hours awake. I lay down with him and felt his fever rising fast. He was asleep, I didn’t want to wake him but knew I needed to get his temperature down. Then he had a seizure. We have experience febrile seizures. Though it was scary it wasn’t a panic situation. I had neighbors come a stay with the children until my parents could arrive and called an ambulance.

I was just a fever related seizure. We were home 4 hours later after numerous tests and we went into hibernation. For one week we didn’t leave the house as the sickness worked its way through. I had a mild case, moms don’t have time to get sick. I had children and animals to tend.

I have a new perspective now–saying yes. For the past couple of days I have tried to look at my days as not a list of tasks to finish, or something to get through, but an opportunity to connect. My oldest is 9, half way to 18 and things are flying too fast, “do the next thing,” doesn’t cut it when you have lots of loving and cuddling to do (I have been known to write those on my to-do list).