Mother’s Day started on Wednesday this year, when Raine brought home a flower she potted and a card she made at school. She finger painted the pot and her teachers turned her fingerprints into adorable little bugs.

The card featured her handprint and a very appropriate poem!

Saturday afternoon is when the test began. I returned home from a Relief Society Conference around noon and Raine was very sad and clingy. I attributed it to being tired but then noticed that she felt really warm. Sure enough, she had a fever.

The rest of my Saturday was spent holding Raine, trying to get her to sleep. Any time I tried to lay her down she would wake up and start crying. It was so sad. She wouldn’t do anything, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink, wouldn’t play, just wanted to lay on my shoulder.

The REAL test came that night. Her temperature was just over 102, Tylenol wasn’t bringing it down, and every time she fell asleep, even on my shoulder, she would twitch and wake herself up. Just after 2:00 a.m. she woke up and said she was hungry. DJ got out all of her favorite foods but she refused to eat anything. So we forced some more Tylenol down her and DJ took over being the human pillow. Luckily, sometime in the wee morning hours, she fell soundly asleep and we were all able to get a little rest. Needless to say, nobody made it to church at 8:30 the next morning.

When Raine woke up the next morning, she climbed down and went over to her toy box to find something to play with — a VERY good sign. We took her temperature and it was down below 100. She still wouldn’t eat anything and we are pretty sure that she has a very sore throat, but at least she was somewhat back to normal.

The rest of our Mother’s Day was spent in a sleep-deprived daze. DJ made a fabulous dinner, complete with a BEAUTIFUL loaf of made-from-scratch garlic herb bread.

I also received some very yummy chocolates, which Raine was very eager to help me eat!

Needless to say, I was asleep quite early Sunday night and vaguely remember DJ telling me that Raine wouldn’t go to sleep, to which I think I responded very unhelpfully. Somehow it all worked out and Raine slept by herself until 5:00 a.m. when she came in to our room asking for a drink and then fell back asleep in our bed until almost 8:00. I think I passed the “mother” test, although not very well, I just hope it doesn’t come around again next year — let’s just stick to flowers and chocolate!