I’ve been sick for a week-plus. I think I caught a virus on top of the sinus infection for which I’ve been on antibiotics for seven days. Ugh. When Lane calls, which is just about every day since he is still stateside, I want to put on my chipper face and tell him not to worry; things are hunky-dory. Instead, I feel like saying, “Come home and take care of me! Waah!” That wouldn’t do either of us any good, so I don’t say it.

I dreamed that the doctor gave me a prescription for a steroid shot and sent me home with the syringe to administer it myself! Yikes! In the dream, I was psyching myself out to take the shot, and I was counting “1 … 2 …” then one of the boys would pipe up to “help” me count, which would just mess up the sequence, and I’d have to start all over. Craziness.

I’ve had a few of those deer-in-the-headlights moments lately when it dawns on me that I’m raising five boys and my husband is gone for more than a year. My mom has been beyond fabulous in her willingness to step in and help out. She even comes over to help with laundry!! She’s a dear, indeed. Last night, a friend from church offered to bring the kids home from kids’ church so that I could just go to bed and not have to get out again. Praise God for helpers like that.

Quite frankly, sometimes it’s overwhelming to think beyond just getting through today, or this week. I realize that the odds are stacked against us to raise five boys to adulthood who don’t smoke, drink, do drugs or get someone pregnant. Out of morbid curiosity, I did a cursory search for some stats in that regard. Did you know that 70% of kids ages 15-17 have oral sex? Most of the stats I found for teen pregnancy were specific to girls, which is understandable but unfortunate. For example, 40% of females become pregnant by age 20. The web site that provided that statistic also noted that a quarter of sexually active teens will contract an STD. Unfortunately, the one stat I could find related to teen fathers (1:15) references a 1987 study, so that is hardly current information.

Sobering, to say the least. I guess the best any of us can do as parents is to love our kids, talk openly with them (I’m leaning toward an illustrated medical guide to STDs), set boundaries, get to know their friends and – last but not least – pray.