A New Saint

Guess what? We're sick again. The boys are recovering from the croup and now Toddler Boy (TB) and I are down with some kind of achey flu. I was feeling quite miserable today and unable to cope with TB's incessant whining. I was trying to chop up some carrots and broccoli to nourish my ailing family in their time of need when I noticed that the sound of the knife on the cutting board was getting louder and louder as I let my frustrations out on the innocent, albeit wilted, vegetables.

My reaction had me thinking about how difficult it is for me to care for sick people and how selfish I can be. You know, a basic mother shame spiral. I started to reflect back on my blog posts and remembered one where I discuss how I'm a better mom to sick kids than to healthy. Ha ha! Not only am I a deficient parent, I'm obviously emotionally unstable!

Or perhaps I'm a saint. The evidence? I was listening to a radio programme last week about a very popular saint, Padre Pio, whose bones were recently put on display. Apparently one of the proofs of his saintliness was "bilocation" - an ability to be in two places at the same time. My first thought was that bilocation is wasted on saints and should be reserved for mothers with young children. It would certainly come in handy around here. But then I realized that I do have this gift; I have the power to hold two utterly opposing thoughts about myself simultaneously.

This made me think of Niels Bohr and so I'll conclude with a quote from him: "The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth. How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress."