As much as I love it, it is just running.  There are many aspects of my life that are WAY more important.  Today is day 14 that I haven't ran.  I hope to get back out this week, but we shall see...

My 5 year old had his tonsils and adenoids removed a week ago, Thursday.  The two days prior to his surgery were spent with doctor's appointments and making arrangements.  He had severe sleep apnea and his oxygen saturation was 95-96% when he was awake.  Things went from, "ah, he should see an ENT" to "we need to take these out ASAP!".  His recovery has been hard, and I have spent my days pushing fluids, and snuggling.   I wouldn't trade that for anything.  But I haven't been able to run, because I can't leave him alone, and as soon as my husband gets home from work, I am out the door to work. I thought he could go back to school today, but the last couple of days he has been bleeding from his nose (from the adenoid removal) when he gets too energetic.  I don't want to send him to school when he is bleeding from his surgical sites.  In rare circumstances it can become very dangerous.

On the very first night my son slept through since surgery, my 3 year old daughter was up throwing up all night.  Her fever was up to 105 yesterday.  Today I am cuddling two and pushing fluids on them both.

I love them both to death and I wouldn't trade my time with them for anything.  Running can wait.  Babies (or small kiddos) don't keep!

So what can you do today, that you will thank yourself for tomorrow?

Some days, for me, that is running.  Some days its being okay with not running, and living in the moment with the ones I love.

I have so much admiration for people like you, Chloey. Young mothers, young fathers... It's rough. I've been through it and yes, it's rough to make everything hold together. What I do today I could never have done when my children were your kids' ages. I'm glad that you have your priorities right. Your children are your life and your responsibily. And you are all that they have. Running is not all that you have... it's just one thing among many other things. Your little one will get better soon and you'll be able to get your me time once again. A well deserved break! Until then, snuggle up with him, he will thank you for it later in life.

Yep, you got your priorities on straight. Time spent with and for our children is never wrong.

Dtothe2nd, how many days past surgery were you when you had the bleeding?  He is 12 days out now, and was bleeding last night again.  So far, we haven't seen large amounts of blood, but that is why I am afraid to send him to school.  I am afraid they won't make him be calm, and that he might start bleeding a lot and need to go back to the hospital!

You are doing EXACTLY WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING!!  The kiddos are for more important.

I quit running when my two were young for a few years.

Running will always be there, but this time with them (even if it's taking care of the sick them) sure goes by fast.

I hope they feel better soon!

There have been threads in the past on RWOL where people have said something like, "I'm going on vacation with my family and I'm worried I won't be able to run as much as I'd like."  I tell them they have their priorities screwed up as the proper question is, "I'm going on vacation with my family and I'm trying to figure out where we should go and what we should do."  I have gotten blistered for that response but I have never and will never back down one iota from it.  You worry first about your family and then about your running.  I went to Disney in the middle of training for my first marathon and managed a whopping 10 miles that week.  I'm willing to bet that my marathon time didn't suffer more than 15 seconds because of that.  Rather than building my aerobic system and my muscles that week, I built memories.

Having said all of that, I also remain convinced that regular exercise helps us to be better parents.  We have the energy to run around with our kids.  We are not the parents forced to stay on the sidelines while our kids run around in the field.  Exercise gives us an outlet for our frustrations so we take that out on the road rather than on the family.  It is too easy I think, to decide that life is too busy for regular exercise when the reality is that life is too busy not to engage in regular exercise.  My wife and I get pretty much the same amount of sleep.  I exercise; she doesn't.  The difference in energy levels is fairly striking.

At least for me then, it is important to find that balance.  I'd love to say I have figured it out but I get it wrong on occasion.  There are times I'm kicking myself for skipping a run and times I'm kicking myself for going running.  Still, the fact that I think about it means that I probably get it right most of the time.  It sounds to me like you are striking the right balance.  Get back out there when you can.