by Brittany Plancarte

The sicknesses come and go
A lot more go lately
Fevers, coughs, upset tummies, infections
It gets overwhelming when the symptoms works their way through the house
One baby after another, after another
I get so exhausted I forget to pray
I can’t focus on who the true healer is
But I can focus on the bad, the fatigue, the bags under my eyes, being overwhelmed 
That’s easy
It’s easy to focus on how exhausted in both mind and body I am
Or how sick my babies are, all back to back, week after week
Especially how it feels like I can never catch a break
It’s easy to focus on how they’re missing out on school, extracurriculars, and most
importantly family time
I can
I can focus on the bad
 times 
But I won’t
Instead
I’ll look at the good buried deeply beneath layers and layers of bad
The silver linings
The light in the darkness
The time I get to hold them and keep their hot little bodies in my arms
I mean, how much longer will they want me to cradle them?
We may have all been sick but we got to lay around holding each other, spending time together, 
doing nothing
No distractions of school and activities
We weren’t on the clocks time for once
Just going back to the basics of love
Loving each other and stopping the never ending schedule that keeps us away from each other
The busyness, gone
I won’t focus on the bad
Instead
I’ll pray through it
I’ll deal with it
Give God my worries, burdens, and my babies health
The bad will no longer be my focus.

Brittany Plancarte holds a B.S in Criminal Justice. She is currently a stay-at-home mom to four children. She has always found comfort in expressing her feelings through poetry.