The kids....

Well, remember I did not call 911.  That is the good thing for the kids.  They did not see their daddy being put on an ambulance.  They knew he was sick, had seen him at home not looking great but they never saw him in ICU. 

Our pastor talked to them and let them know that Daddy was in the hospital and would be in the hospital for a while.  They had no clue what was going on, but in my opinion in a good way. 

I remember Slick saying at one point, “Mom, I think this is hard on you…but we are going to the movies, having sleepovers, etc.”   I will say that it was hard on me.  I gave my kids to my parents and my friends and just focused on Mr.   I don’t know if I would do this differently.

One day our pastor told me, “Go spend time with your kids.”  I was like, oh yeah…them.   Sounds really bad, but it was our reality.  I asked them what they wanted to do....their response, "Can we just go home and hang out?"....This was another of my *crap* moments.  I felt like a horrible mother.  

The hospital stay and the fact that it was Christmas break was not so great.  They were not in school all day, so their normal was already off.  The fact that nobody was at home just made it that more “off”.

I truly think it was harder on them when Mr. came home (December 26th) and was not himself.  That was hard on all of us (Mr. included) but the reality of Daddy not being able to walk or really hold conservation was real.  Now, at this time he was talking and all, just not quite who we knew him to be. 

This made us a stronger family unit.  It made us rely on each other like we had never done before.  It made us know that true love was and is a part of our family.  It changed us, but for the better.  The kids may not make it through a night at a sleep over, but who cares.  They will one day.

We did have a some fun in the hospital.  We would go up and down the stairs, get totally lost, drive through the parking garage for fun just to get to the top, we played lots of card games, and we still laugh about Mr.'s "meningitis brain" moments.  

Dressing up at the hospital.

Ninjago battles

Smiles.

Perspective: Kids are amazing creatures.  They are stronger than we give them credit for.  They are smarter than we give them credit for.  They are such a source of joy (well and sometimes annoying fighting among siblings) but let them be.  Because all in all- kids are real and full of truth.  Listen to them, they know more than us at times because they take the time to listen.