Yes, I’m getting this post out late today. My apologies. I had planned to get it written yesterday and then schedule it to run first thing this morning, but I got hit with a ton of deadlines. I have four e-chapbooks (smaller than an e-book, bigger than a breadbox), coming out in the next week or so, and I had to get a lot of stuff done to make sure that happens.
So today’s post is late, but that’s okay because the whole day was sort of thrown out of whack when Pixie woke up this morning sounding like she’d swallowed the granddaddy of all bullfrogs. My poor little pooter has a mild fever, a runny nose, and a nagging cough. None of this is slowing her down, mind you, but it is enough to keep her out of preschool for today and tomorrow. Can’t be too careful with the H1N1 virus running around, I suppose.
So I unexpectedly have a child home today, a sick child whom I cannot take to the Y nursery anymore than I could send to preschool, and that puts all my carefully laid out plans for the day into the trashcan. Or does it?
I actually look forward to the days the kids are home sick. It somehow lifts the burden off of me to meet any other responsibilities beyond bringing my baby warm ginger ale to sip and watching Disney movies on the couch with her. I call these days “Blow Off Days,” because I have the perfect excuse to blow off work, exercise, what have you. Depending on the severity of illness and my desire to take a break from the usual routine, I may blow off everything or just a few select items on my daily to-do list.
Since Pixie’s really not all that ill and since I’m gung-ho to catch up on a lot of stuff I’ve been putting off all summer, I opted to only skip a few things today. Rather than hit the Y this afternoon for a lengthy karate practice, I pulled out EA Sports Active (yes, my one month moratorium on that game is up) and did a short 20 minute workout. Then I popped a Disney movie in the DVD player for Pixie and hit the office. While she played downstairs and watched her movie, I worked on finances, e-mail, and other odds and ends. I took a break every now and then to check on my little poot, but she was doing fine, so I let her be.
At lunch, I decided to pop Pixie in the jog stroller and I took her for a nice walk around the neighborhood. Nothing too fast, just a chance to get outside for some fresh air. We stopped at the local playground for a bit and played there, then returned home. Pixie is in bed now with some of her Barbies while I finish up more work in the office.
I did not get the hard-charging workout I had planned for today, but that’s okay. I had other options, and I think that’s what’s important. It’s hard to keep up with kids, work, AND exercise if you don’t give yourself options. And while I might miss the sweat inducing activity I had planned, let’s face it. If my kid is sick, I may be sick too soon. Taking a bit of a break right now instead of running myself into the ground might not be a bad idea.
Pixie will be home again tomorrow; she has to be fever-free for 24 hours before she can go back to school (again, can’t be too careful). But that’s okay. She’ll be well enough that I can take her to the dojo with me tomorrow for kobudo class. I have a kobudo test coming up this Saturday, so I need the class. But I won’t be staying for the class of open-hand karate following afterward.
After all, I got a sick kid, and we could use the break.
*****
I believe on October 4th, Nintendo releases the new Wii Fit Plus. I’m chomping at the bit for this one. I love Wii Fit, but I’ve done it almost to death at this point. I need something new. EA Sports is also releasing an update to EA Sports Active, which includes new exercises and workouts. I had thought about pre-ordering this, but decided I’d rather look into some other Wii fitness games instead, like My Fitness Coach. This game actually looks like it might include some stretching exercises, something that both Wii Fit and EASA have so far ignored. Although, maybe the new Wii Fit will surprise me in that aspect. One can hope.
I hope your little Pooter feels better soon.
She's okay, just a mild fever. She's tearing up the house right now, in fact. Joy! I expect she'll be back in school very shortly 😉
If you read an e-book on your Acer, is it really bigger than a breadbox?
Sorry to hear about Pixie, but then it sounds like she's recovering nicely, and hopefully the rest of the household won't be affected. Is the 24-hour w/o fever thing something you've chosen to follow, or is it from some guidelines from somewhere. It's not one I'm familiar with, but it does sound like a good idea.
The 24 hour guideline is standard for all childcare facilities and schools I've dealt with. Both Princess' and Pixie's preschools, the Y nursery, and Princess' elementary school have the same guideline, and it's a good one, I agree. I'd rather keep the kids home and not spread that stuff to everyone else. But then, I have the option of keeping the kids home, since I work at home.
I think my Acer is about the size of a smallish breadbox. Packed with an e-chapbook, it would definitely win in the size contest 😉
The new EA SPORTS Active (More Workouts) does include stretching as well as warm up and cool down. Just wanted you to know 🙂
Active_Girl,
That's good to know about EASA. I really need to stretch when I work out, and when I don't, I'm the worse for it. Still, I'm going to wait on EASA. I have knee problems, and made the mistake of trying the 30 day challenge, which pretty much killed my knees. Even when I stopped the challenge and did custom workouts leaving out those exercises, I continued to have problems, so I'm going to take it very slow getting back into EASA for the time being.
Thank you for the info!