By the Wayside
My friend Elizabeth is expecting her ninth child. It seems that this little gal is in a hurry to get here, so mama has been advised to take to her bed for the duration. Having been both on bedrest and restricted activity for several of my pregnancies, I can relate to the feeling of dread at having one’s activities curtailed. When you are a type A person, who has energy to burn, this is a truly terrifying prospect. So I’ve compiled a list of things that she can try in order to make life in the not-so-fast-lane a bit more bearable.
Get a bell and ring it. I’m actually quite serious.
Have a television or laptop brought up with a stock of your favourite flicks.
Catch up your reading - all those titles you’ve been salivating over.
Schedule visiting time with each of the children - read a book together or just talk.
Chat on the telelphone to a friend.
Excercise your feet and arms. Try drawing out the alphabet with your feet. The little ones love doing this with mum.
Keep meals light, and have a small stash of comfort treats.
See if you can get someone to pick or bring some fresh flowers. Put them next to a collection of family photos on a table you can easily see from the bed.
Light a candle or two.
Plan little handcraft projects that you can do with a tray in your lap - make chaplets, rosaries, sacrifice beads and pray as you go. Knit booties, hats, soakers. Crochet doilies. Make small felt projects like pincushions, gnome homes… Try origami figures with the children. I’d suggest needlefelting, but that’s pretty dangerous. LOL.
Pray constantly.
Know you are loved.
Hang in there, we’re all praying for you.
P.S. As a last resort, you *could* just get all of your Christmas shopping done.
