Sickness for Everyone!

Until this year, sickness has not been an issue in my family. But now, it has hit, and hit hard. As a working mom, this is a HUGE balancing act. And with my husband working crazy hours so frequently, a little stressful. 

How do you know when to stay home from work? How do you know when to keep your kids home? How about both? These are the problems I am currently trying to work out.

My heart says, kids are sick, stay home. Cuddle them. Make them comfy pallets on the couch and give them meds and Pedialyte. Let them watch their favorite movie. My mind says, you have a job with a lot of responsibility, and when you aren't at work you put someone else out. So where is the balance? (By the way, there is that horrible word again!)

I'm thinking follow your gut. In my mind, your gut is where your heart and mind meet and make the real decisions. Recently, I didn't follow my gut, and I'm regretting it: 

So my precious little 9 month old baby gets a hacking cough, that doesn't go away. I take her to the doctor. Just a bad cold. I feel in my gut I should keep her home, but I go to work anyway - I have things to do. A couple days later my babysitter and her daughter come down with it. I have to go to work, so I take the girls anyway. Now almost every member of my family has it. If I had followed my gut and stayed home with my baby girl, then I could have spared a lot of people the sickness.

So tonight, we are laying around in sweats, with blankets and pillows on the couch, watching our favorite movies. Tomorrow? Well, we will see what the gut says...