Day 7 - Recovering

I was really wiped out last night and crashed early, so it took me a day longer than usual to get yesterday's post written. Such a full day, and some days are just mentally exhausting more than they are physically exhausting. Around midnight Connor came in and woke me up, crying because he couldn't sleep. He settled in to my bed and I gave him some more pain medication, rewrapped one of his splints to make it more comfortable, and then we both went back to sleep. I slept in until nearly 8 this morning. I did some stretching and rebounding on my mini tramp. Did we go to the track? Yes! Connor felt better this morning, and I told him he didn't have to run but he could sit in the bleachers. He initially didn't want to go, but I told him he could stand to get out of the house and get some sunshine. Wish I'd taken my camera! I ran a mile. My knees finally started feeling better yesterday. I've been faithfully stretching them out throughout the day every day, and trying some different things on my rebounder for a few days, to give my body a break as well as some variety.

I injured my left knee about two years ago. No, it wasn't a "cool" sports injury or saving orphans from a burning building. I was running to the car to make my daily 5pm post office run for my eBay business and I just twisted my leg weird getting into the car. What a dorky injury! It really hurt, and I thought about going to the local bone and joint clinic, but being the stubborn type I decided I'd wait a few days to see if it got any better. It did eventually feel better and I worked my knee, babying it and stretching it, but it never quite recovered completely. Just this past Christmas, I got a JumpSport rebounder and started using it more seriously the past few months. I finally overcame that injury, and I'm guessing it helped strengthen and stretch the ligaments. I've noticed over time that while my knees are my weak point, I'm also a really good healer. If I'm persistent with stretching and exercising, I can overcome my aches and pains.


Yep, Connor sat around most of the day watching a Pokemon video I picked up for him at the library. I see lots of vegetating in our future the next few weeks. But maybe we'll have to find less-physical activities, like going to the library.

Sam was so cute in his orange summer clothes today, I just had to have a picture.

Spaghetti for dinner, I even served veggies! Broccoli is the three younger ones' favorite veggie. But even so, I'm not going to win any motherly nutritional awards. As long as they are not starving to death, I'm usually pretty content with whatever they eat. I get to the end of most days and think, "Did they eat anything today? Oh yeah, they ate (insert food name). So, we're good." Logically, I know this is not a great attitude, but there are only so many things I can juggle in my brain at any given time and I just haven't mastered nutrition yet. Mostly, I'm covering the basics like clean laundry, general kid managing (seems like somebody needs something about every 10 min), grocery shopping, cooking, errands, and my eBay business. Long-term improvements are a VERY slow process.

Connor learning how to eat with his splints on.
We usually live in chaos, I should have taken a "before" picture. Maybe some time this summer I'll be brave enough to show how messy the house gets. Housekeeping is just NOT one of my talents. But every now and then I get fed up and make everyone pick up the main areas. I made Connor pick up his own messes, even though he's an invalid. Yep, I'm just that kind of Mom.

What is it about a clean room that just screams out to children as a blank canvas? "Oooh, color me, color me!" After everything got picked up and the two main rooms vacuumed, Emma immediately set about creating a zoo with the Fisher Price toys. Sigh...