Start Early, Finish Late

It has been an interesting Thanksgiving. And the little ones ensured we got an early start to the day.

Monster Girl is fighting some sinus issues, and that was enough to make her fairly grumpy until the very early beginnings of Thanksgiving Day. No sooner had she calmed down and actually fallen asleep than B-Boy was calling for help with a runny nose of his own.

Mrs. Pol and I split duties, with her caring for Monster Girl in bed and me helping B-Boy. Lucky me, I got the floor next to his bed. Every so often, he would wake me up needing a nose wipe. Around 2:30 a.m., that changed, when he woke up (for what I thought was a nose wipe) after having gotten sick.

You have to love him, though. He made things quite easy because the clean up was limited to a pillow case and pajama top. We were back to sleep by 3 a.m. Of course, with him getting sick, all thoughts of making it back to my bed were out the door.

The alarm woke me at 6:20 so I could get to the pool for my swim. That went well, and I was home in time to get the kids ready for church. Early dinner with family and it was back home to get the Christmas lights up. B-Boy is VERY excited about that being done.

Now, both kids are sleeping and it's time to get to bed, myself. While all the maniacs are out trying to catch all the awesome sales, I'll be doing the same thing I did last year. Working out. We will not, however, have the same kind of day we had last year. That is the day that Monster Girl decided to grace our presence just over a month early.

At the end of the day, we have much for which we are thankful. Both kids kept us up all night, but these minor illnesses are nothing compared to the real challenges many parents face. I lost some sleep, last night, but slept on the floor of my house instead of the concrete of a city alleyway. I am tired and sore, but it is the result of decisions I made rather than unavoidable circumstances. Most importantly, I have a wife and two kids who are the most wonderful things in the world. God has blessed our family and for that, we are truly thankful.