216

216. What is 216? That is the number of hours I have been continuously with Mason, taking care of him while he was sick. Morning, noon, night, and middle of the night. 216 hours. That is 12,960 minutes without the ability to be by myself or go anywhere other than the doctor's office or hospital. I'd like to say nap time I could be by myself. But I really couldn't. "Nap" time on steroids equals about 20 minutes. Less than that if you check on Mason every time his pulse oximeter alarms.

Some may say that 216 hours is not much. Perhaps they are with their children even longer than that without a break. Last summer my friend Meghan endured 21 days with her kids. Her somewhat saving grace, is she was able to be "in public", have playdates, go out to eat in restaurants, etc. Not so for us. Quarantine means just that. Stuck at home, unable to have playdates, be "in public", go out to eat, etc. (unless you count the drive through Starbucks). Others may say, 216 hours "oh that's a LONG time". Those are the moms who have time to themselves daily or every few days. To those, I say, congratulations. I hope you are saner than me.

What did I do with my "free time"? I drove 20 minutes to Lauren's school and waited 30 minutes in the lot to pick her up. We then had an outing. Where? Let me tell you where. The only place I have frequented in the past 2 weeks. The doctor!!!! Luckily, this was a "well check". But, yes, my 50 minutes of "free time" (in the past 12,960 minutes) was spent waiting for my other child....to take her to the doctor.