A worthless week.. but ...

This week was terrible for us. As I said in the past post, we were all sick. Out of a family of 5, 4 of us got the flu and we're just now starting to feel like normal.. Most of the week was spent sleeping in or just vegging out trying not to be too active. When we did feel well enough to do something semi-productive, Ashleigh spent it drawing, Garrett spent it playing Little Big Planet and Mom spent it scouring pinterest (which mind you, I'm addicted to) for curriculum ideas for the upcoming holidays as well as reading. Prior to getting sick, I was 2 books behind on my reading goal for the year on Goodreads, I am now 4 books ahead. Yup, thats right, I have read 6 books in the past week.. LOL

Yup.. that was basically us.. Only we didn't look this good!!!

However, this week really gave me some true insight to the closeness our family really has.

Anyone who has had a kid wonders if they are raising them right. We worry that we are either too authoritative or too lax when it comes to our parenting style... Will our kids view us as a friend but still understand that we are the parent?  I think all parents have these types of fears, especially if we grew up with broken homes ourselves. We always want better for our kids than what we had when we were growing up..  I personally came from a very abusive childhood and swore I would break the cycle...but I still worry if my actions are the right actions.. Do I raise my voice too much or in a frightening manner? Should I spank or not?? Do my kids know that I love them or are they growing up being scared of me? I know other moms who have similar worries, so I know it's not just me.

This week, with all of us sick, it was amazing to see how the kids actually fit into the family structure without any questions asked.. They say kids lead by the example set before them and I guess that means we must set a pretty good example. When Ashleigh was feeling her worst, Garrett would say "My poor Ashleigh. she's so sick".. When Garrett was feeling his worst, Ashleigh was there to hug him and cuddle him (when momma wasn't). When mom was sick, they helped clean after dinner, picking up plates and cups and taking them to the sink even though they felt rotten as well, then told me they did it because they loved me.  When Dad was sick in bed, they made sure they were very quiet to not disturb him but occasionally cracked the bedroom door to check on him.  No matter how rotten we all felt, we were all together as a family taking care of each other.  We hugged, we cuddled, we kissed the top of each others heads.. We retrieved the thermometer for one another and  brought medications to one another. (Ashleigh even read to me at one point)..

It makes me feel good to know that our family can function as one cohesive unit, even when everyone's feeling like poop..  Some families don't function all that well, even at their best.. but even at our worst, the love was strong between all of us..

Maybe we didn't get to do our math and our vocabulary this week (although I did make them read.. lol) but lessons learned were just as valuable, I think..  even if we're gonna be playing catch up next week.. LOL