Single Parents Rock!

If you have a single parent friend - go give them a hug.  A bottle of wine and offer to baby-sit their kids.  Seriously.

I'm currently living the single-parenthood life for the past few days (while having sinusitis it turns out) as SH went from being "Super Hubby" to "Sick Hubby".
He hasn't eaten since Monday day-time, had fevers, chills, lethargic, body shaking coughs - you name it - he had it.
Caring for 3 very different children and 2 dogs has been quite exhausting to be honest!
Then why is she blogging?!
For the sake of calming myself down and because the ice-cream needed to be drank anyway.  (Keep reading).

Well, today was the big step for him.  He woke up this morning and whispered to me, "Can you take me to the hospital or call the doctor?  I think I might have pneumonia."

I don't know about your partner but mine is the stereotypical man.  He won't go to the doctor for anything and SH has Crohn's and despite the painful flare-ups he's had - nope.  Despite horrible viruses and flus combined with said Crohn's - he still doesn't go.
Once I was done wrestling a child into their clothing and scraped my jaw off the floor - I told him to get a hot shower, get clean clothes and I'll take the munchkins to day-care and call the doctor's office.

I did just that and because it's hard to get a call in, I requested a call back and was home to see SH had taken a shower and was back to lying down again - with some slight difficulty in breathing.
Shortly after I got a call and the nurse suggested that if SH had flu symptoms, he should just try to take ibuprofen and paracetamol and it'll calm the flu down.
And because he only had a fever for 3 days (and ongoing) - of nearly 39*C that he has to have it for 5 days, the fever leave then come back again and it's considered pneumonia.
He's never had pneumonia before.
Anyway, I play the Crohn's card and tell her he at least should see the duty nurse because he's very weak, not himself and he has never once been to a doctor since we moved here nearly 6 years ago (and yes he's been ill) and the fact that he's asking to go in - says A LOT.

We got an appointment at 10.  I got my prescription for sinusitis - antibiotics for a week...I seriously cannot believe I've gone nearly 30 years without having one - wow it hurts like a bitch!
And after checking SH out, he was whisked away for a blood test.  I guess his infection rates were extremely high because they shipped him off to across the road to the hospital for x-rays of his chest.
Then he came back.  And of course he didn't have his phone, keys or bank card - nothing with him but the sweat pants and "sick clothes" (stuff he won't feel bad sweating in) and his bus card on him.
Funny enough the nurse that was on the phone was the one who took his blood and temperature and other diagnostics and said slightly ashamed that it's a good thing he did come in because his blood infection levels were so high.
A friend suggested I complain and I don't see the point.  She was doing her job and probably has had hundreds of similar calls recently and didn't want to waste the doctor's time or resources.  Another friend advised me there's also a lack of doctors currently - either actual lacking in quantity or they're sick too.

I could only stay so long before rushing out to get a bit of sanity groceries (aka Ben and Jerry's over-priced ice-cream and rotisserie chicken so I didn't have to cook tonight) and also swung by school to show my sick leave note and explain that I'm in a bit of a crunch currently because SH is in the hospital.
By "crunch" I mean my flat looks like a freakin' hidden objects game, the trash needs to be taken out (done it!), my dogs need the bathroom (took care of that too!), someone crapped themselves, someone else is climbing the shelves and dumping my spices on the stove/floor/in a pot etc., the groceries are being torn apart, I need to do a crap load of laundry and dishes and I have a thumping headache and pressure on my face like I'm being sat on by all 3 of my kids at the same time (ON my face).

Then my teacher asked how I was coping.
Cue the flood gates....
I'm horrible when it comes to someone asking how I'm doing - and I KNOW she means well and she's a really sweet teacher (no kids) and I try to push the flood away and just murmured "I'm going to buy some Ben & Jerry's and I think there's a box of red wine at home for tonight."  She smiled, patted me on the back and agreed it was an excellent idea.

So now SH is hanging tough at the hospital for the night and I miraculously got all 3 kids asleep by 9pm - truly impressive considering they're usually asleep by then but with two of us keeping them in their rooms (M-Girl and A-man in 1 room and V-Man on his sofa).

I honestly just shoved a straw into my melted (it was in the fridge for the past 7 hours because my freezer is packed) B&J ice-cream and slurped it up like a milk shake.
I'll probably regret it later.

Anyways, huge props/respect/admiration for all the single parents in the world.
Whether you choose to or it just happened - I applaud you.  It doesn't matter if it's one child or 15, disabled or not - this is definitely not easy and it's testing my patience to the extreme.
I figure if the child is still alive by the end of the day and hasn't hurt anyone else - you're doing an AWESOME job.  It gets better - in case you've had a rough day.
And it can always be worse!

Alright - before I start babbling about useless things - I'll sign off for now!
BIMU

PS On the flip side, I've been hitting my fitness goals with my Polar Loop fitness tracking watch thing.  Amazing what happens when 1 parent is out sick for a few days and can't help out. And I managed to read a JD Robb novel today - thanks to waiting for all of SH's various tests.