Table for Self Pity? Party of One?

Wow.

Last night sucked.

My two youngest have contracted the usual creeping crud that is so common this time of year. Poor Zoe has coughed so much she's hoarse (then again, she's young, so wouldn't that be poany?)

See that? That miserable attempt at humor? That is the result of three hours of interrupted sleep. You see, the family that shares together suffers together. Being the loving father that I am, I couldn't in good conscience let my children go through an illness without going through it myself. Last night I lay awake in bed, exhausted, but unable to sleep from the sinus pressure directly on my brain and the constant flow of post-nasal muck. You know how it is, no matter what you do, you can't get comfortable enough to sleep.

Sometime in the next two hours, I did manage to drift off. Naturally, that's when my beloved two-year-old decided she had enough sleep and it was time to torture mommy and daddy. Awoken from a very shallow sleep, it was another hour or so before I could manage to nod off again. Stacy got it even worse. Scarlett finally fell back asleep right on Stacy's shoulder. After suffering as long as she could, Stacy moved Scarlett off, which woke the little angel up, of course. It's all elbows in the face and pokes in the eyes after that, it doesn't matter how many cartoons you stick her in front of.

So, come the alarm in the morning, I hobbled out of bed like an old man, a cranky old man. I owe Stacy my apologies, I wasn't exactly a sympathetic ear to her perfectly valid complaints this morning. She's still got to take care of four sick kids and keep a household running. I just have to stay awake during a full day of meetings and find a sitting position that doesn't send excruciating pain shooting up and down my back.

Pain pills and caffeine are my friends today. Okay, I'm done whining. Anyone want a precocious two-year-old? No reasonable offer refused!