After two decades of parenting and a few bouts with illness, I've finally discovered the best way to handle sickness in our family.
First, a tip: this last time our family was ill, I had just done a full day of deep cleaning. The next morning, I had a vomiting child. So, first of all, Moms - you must simply NEVER do too much deep cleaning. I think it stirs up something. Although, if you're going to have children sticking their head in the toilet, it might as well be clean.
Once the sickness begins, here's how you need to handle it:
1. The first one down should be a child, but one of the bigger children, preferably a responsible teenager who can make it to the bathroom, leave as little mess as possible, generally clean up after himself and give you some warning that the rest are coming.
2. Next, all the Littles should be sick at once. There is something lovely about having all the small children lay on the floor on top of a blanket with there little puke buckets (remember, you were warned it was coming) while Mommy nurses the baby and reads Bennet's book of Children's Virtues.
3.Now, it is best if Mom is generally unaffected by the illness itself. She will, of course, be nauseated by all the vomiting and diarrhea that is happening around her, but she really cannot afford to come down with an actual illness herself. If she is tired and happens to throw up once or twice, it's really just a side effect of caring for all the others.
4. This is the time to have those older children who have not yet gotten sick catching up on schoolwork and chores and helping keep things under control. Dad should get to the store for supplies - it's okay if he doesn't usually do the shopping - he's more likely to overbuy than underbuy, and at this point, you want all the help you can get. He should also pick himself up something for dinner because he'll still have his appetite, but cleaning up vomit and cooking just should not go together.
5. The other bigger children and Dad can get sick when all the Littles are done with the grossest symptoms and have moved on to lethargy. This way, Mom can take care of them (with the help of that responsible teenager who got sick at first and is now feeling much better), while the Littles are generally content to lay around with books, or even watch TV. Families - if you never let your children watch television or sit with their face glued to a Kindle - NOW is the time to just let it happen.
5. Lastly, I highly recommend picking up a bug with a short life span. Those 24-hour ones are probably the best bet. That way, with this method, you can have the whole thing out of the house and everyone recovering in about 72 hours. This is so much better than the method where one child gets sick, gets better, then another gets sick, slowly passing the crud through the family, one by one, for weeks at a time, always wondering who will be next.
On one last note, if your husband happens to be a Pastor, I would suggest not scheduling this ordeal on Ash Wednesday or any other major feast day. Otherwise, you're welcome, because at least now you know that even if you can't control the illness that attacks your family, you can come out the other side with a sense of humor.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Genghis Khan story review
This is a story review by Tyler Johnson (age 15) on the story of Genghis Khan and his Hawk.
He writes:
A very good story with a good moral. Genghis Kahn was a fierce general who ran his army. He went hunting with his hawk. I believe this is a very happy and sad but fun story.
The main characters are Kahn and his Hawk. Kahn is a large, fierce man. His Hawk is an agile bird with long wings. They are motivated by their love to hunt. Khan is very rash. The hawk is a little too prideful.
Kahn needs water. He was chasing a deer and got lost. He then thirst. He found a stream. But, the hawk wouldn't let him drink. He moves toward the source of the stream, but the hawk still won't let him drink. Kahn is angered.
In the end, Kahn kills his friend, and throws his cup only to find the water was poisoned. He grieves over his friend. He learns that it's not always for pleasure or gain someone does something. It has an overall theme of friendship and loss.
Khan is very relatable. We all have been too harsh at times. We all have been like the hawk, trying to help and only being punished. It's kind of ironic. Kahn was super smart and strong yet wouldn't listen to his best friend. I think that Kahn killing the bird makes the story so much more powerful. I was very intrigued by what would happen. It added to the story to keep the venom hidden because then when he found it the poison was all the more surprising.
I was quite surprised by the snake. I had no idea the snake would be there. I felt very sad about the bird dying to save one. It is obvious the author is trying to tell us sometimes we should just listen. It teaches us that standing up for another is never wrong. It is motives that can go astray. I found it a fun, sad and interesting read.
Tyler read the version of this story by Lori Verstegen, through the Institute for Excellence in Writing curriculum.
He writes:
A very good story with a good moral. Genghis Kahn was a fierce general who ran his army. He went hunting with his hawk. I believe this is a very happy and sad but fun story.
The main characters are Kahn and his Hawk. Kahn is a large, fierce man. His Hawk is an agile bird with long wings. They are motivated by their love to hunt. Khan is very rash. The hawk is a little too prideful.
Kahn needs water. He was chasing a deer and got lost. He then thirst. He found a stream. But, the hawk wouldn't let him drink. He moves toward the source of the stream, but the hawk still won't let him drink. Kahn is angered.
In the end, Kahn kills his friend, and throws his cup only to find the water was poisoned. He grieves over his friend. He learns that it's not always for pleasure or gain someone does something. It has an overall theme of friendship and loss.
Khan is very relatable. We all have been too harsh at times. We all have been like the hawk, trying to help and only being punished. It's kind of ironic. Kahn was super smart and strong yet wouldn't listen to his best friend. I think that Kahn killing the bird makes the story so much more powerful. I was very intrigued by what would happen. It added to the story to keep the venom hidden because then when he found it the poison was all the more surprising.
I was quite surprised by the snake. I had no idea the snake would be there. I felt very sad about the bird dying to save one. It is obvious the author is trying to tell us sometimes we should just listen. It teaches us that standing up for another is never wrong. It is motives that can go astray. I found it a fun, sad and interesting read.
Tyler read the version of this story by Lori Verstegen, through the Institute for Excellence in Writing curriculum.
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult a book review
Our book club just read Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult.
She has an interesting theme in her books of tackling an environmental or social issue through her story. In Leaving Time, Picoult spends a lot of time discussing elephants and their emotional responses to their environment, specifically grief.
She accomplishes this by creating a character whose job it is to study elephants and their emotional responses.
One thing that really sticks out in this novel for me is the Point Of View changes. They seem to be a common technique among contemporary writers, but I find them aggravating as a reader. They make the whole book FEEL like fiction.
Character viewpoint changes force me as a reader to do extra mental work of keeping up with who's talking when. I want the author to do that work for me, so I can benefit from the enjoyment of being drawn into the imaginary time and place and just enjoy the story.
Fiction shouldn't be so hard.
Picoult is not the first author I've read that does this, but it is very frequent in Leaving Time.
As to this specific novel, there is a lot of spirit/ghost/reincarnation conjecture presented as truth, right alongside the scientific information about elephants. One being so far-fetched makes me wonder if the facts about the elephants are real or made up. I don't know enough about this author to know how she does her research.
The changing Point of View combined with the presentation of the Netherworld come together in the end to bring about a surprise ending to the book, which I won't give away here at all, except to say that everyone in our group was not expecting it to end the way it did, and you probably won't expect it either.
Even though, in the end, I did see the benefit of the techniques she used and how it brought the story all together, I did not enjoy the journey.
So, if you like to read for literary analysis, or because you promised your book club that you would, there is an ending that will give you something to talk about. But, if you like a novel simply for the pleasure of it, I can't recommend Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult.
She has an interesting theme in her books of tackling an environmental or social issue through her story. In Leaving Time, Picoult spends a lot of time discussing elephants and their emotional responses to their environment, specifically grief.
She accomplishes this by creating a character whose job it is to study elephants and their emotional responses.
One thing that really sticks out in this novel for me is the Point Of View changes. They seem to be a common technique among contemporary writers, but I find them aggravating as a reader. They make the whole book FEEL like fiction.
Character viewpoint changes force me as a reader to do extra mental work of keeping up with who's talking when. I want the author to do that work for me, so I can benefit from the enjoyment of being drawn into the imaginary time and place and just enjoy the story.
Fiction shouldn't be so hard.
Picoult is not the first author I've read that does this, but it is very frequent in Leaving Time.
As to this specific novel, there is a lot of spirit/ghost/reincarnation conjecture presented as truth, right alongside the scientific information about elephants. One being so far-fetched makes me wonder if the facts about the elephants are real or made up. I don't know enough about this author to know how she does her research.
The changing Point of View combined with the presentation of the Netherworld come together in the end to bring about a surprise ending to the book, which I won't give away here at all, except to say that everyone in our group was not expecting it to end the way it did, and you probably won't expect it either.
Even though, in the end, I did see the benefit of the techniques she used and how it brought the story all together, I did not enjoy the journey.
So, if you like to read for literary analysis, or because you promised your book club that you would, there is an ending that will give you something to talk about. But, if you like a novel simply for the pleasure of it, I can't recommend Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult.
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