Tomorrow marks a full week since the Soto clan came down with the Flu. Well, everyone but me.

It was UGLY. It was seriously like an episode of the walking dead around here for the first 24-48 hours. But by and large - everyone just needed a lot of rest. All three kids and my husband hardly made it out of bed.

My oldest, who was the first to get sick, seems to be better today. The rest of the gang is fever free but still sleeping the day away and clearly not 100%.

It goes without saying that seeing your kids sick is horrible. You want so desperately for their pain to go away. Obviously. But this is the internet, so in an attempt to deter some trolls I must preface what I'm about to say with reassuring you that I do in fact love my children and don't wish the flu on (almost) anyone.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way - I will say my family having the flu and being out of commission for five days has selfishly been amazing for me. I'm not sure how I managed to remain healthy - but at least this far -I did. The first day or two I was consumed with a combination of fear "any minute now I'm destined to join this crap shoot with them" and cabin fever "I need to get out of this house!". But the days went on and miraculously I didn't get sick, or out of the house.

Prior to this nasty flu I was getting snappy. Overwhelmed by the demands of three small children and no family support locally. Escaping for yoga was nice, but I still came home to the chaos and the stress never really went away. Short breaks never feel like enough to me.

But five days straight for my brain to REALLY unwind? Amazing. I wasn't running around town trying to squeeze a million things in because I knew I only had so.little.time. before I had to get the kids back. I was forced to stay in the house and REALLY relax, and it was exactly what I needed.

Three tiny voices weren't constantly demanding three separate things from me. I played on my phone until I was bored and didn't have to feel bad about it. I showered when I wanted and by myself! I cleaned the house and it stayed that way. I didn't have to cook or stress over dishes for 5 people. I didn't have to feel guilty because the kids were asking 12304987 questions to someone else allowing me this break. I didn't have to share my food. I didn't have to break up sibling fights, or listen to them at all. I got to be lazy - good old fashioned sit on the couch and read a book all day long lazy. It was amazing. There was no nagging feeling of 'this is my last day before getting back on the grind- have to make the most of it!', there was no clear end in sight, which was likely the best part!

In a backwards way I'm thankful for the flu that allowed me to take a break that would have been impossible otherwise.

So here is to the kids and Milton continuing to recover and to us all having a healthy Easter. And to me not eating my words and catching the horrid crud that is the flu!

Oh- and in case you didn't notice - I officially missed my first day of 365! womp womp! I was too caught up in the Florida Primary election and got distracted. I did take some pictures with the good old iPhone so those will have to do!

Day 121 : March 14, 2016