WOW. I was so looking forward to Sunday. I was looking forward to relaxing and getting things back to normal. I had BIG PLANS! I was gonna make the kids a fancy french toast breakfast, finish cleaning up the house, go to the gym, finish up baby gifts then go to a baby shower for my cousin.

TMI from here on out ... you should probably stop reading ... srsly ...

Instead, I puked so hard my throat wouldn't stop spasming. I couldn't breathe and panicked and ended up cleaning it off the walls and floor. And the Hubs was working out of town for the weekend. It was truly horrible. And that was just 5am. It went on until about noon. Then the other issues that tend to go with stomach flu started :-/

And throughout it all, there was this pain. Like every nerve and every muscle in my body hurt. I had the worst headache and couldn't even sleep because everything HURT so bad.

But I saw something amazing that day. I saw the amazing young woman my daughter is turning into right before my eyes :)

By the time the kids were up at around 8 they were playing quietly in their room. Which was good because I literally only had the strength to listen and make sure nothing horrible was going on.

When they started to make noises about the BIG FANCY FRENCH TOAST BREAKFAST I promised, I told them to wake up Teen. She came to the door and could tell something was up. I told her I was SERIOUSLY sick and could she poor the kids some cereal for me and keep an eye on them for a bit while I tried to rest so I could get up before too long.

The little ones heard CEREAL and were all AWWWWWW! so she asked if she could make them breakfast instead. I was a little nervous at first but she took a cooking class this year and REALLY wanted to make them something. I knew she learned a lot about cooking safety and I was so out of it that I basically just had to say OK, let it go and pray ... really hard.

I couldn't sleep so I listened. Pretty much all day. When I wasn't puking or passing out for 10 minutes here and there, I was listening. This is what I heard ...

• I heard her take control of breakfast and look up a recipe for french toast to make her sister happy.
• I heard them all happy and talking and laughing and enjoying her meal.
• I heard her DOING THE DISHES withOUT being ASKED!
  
• She unloaded and LOADED the dishwasher, even rinsed the dishes!
• SHE CLEANED THE STOVE TOP.
• I heard them all playing games and GETTING ALONG!
• I heard them all laughing and enjoying each other!
• I heard her make lunch without being asked.
• And then I heard more dishes being done :)
• I heard a quiet time instituted and a certain NO NONSENSE voice come out of Teen when the little ones tried to put one over on her ;)
• I smiled when I heard that voice OH YES I DID ;)
• The rest of the afternoon went about that same way and she even asked me if she could make dinner!
• We had nothing she could make so I ordered pizza
• I came downstairs for all of 13 minutes to wait for the pizza man before I drug my sad behind back up the stairs.
  
• I heard dinner go PERFECTLY and then more dishes :)
• I heard her tell the girls to get jammies on and make sure they brushed their teeth and got their stories read :)
• Before they went to bed I told them all how great they had all been, how much that helped me and how much I loved them.
• I told Teen how much everything she did meant to me, how much I adored her, and how proud I was of her.

I came down the next day to find that the house was lovely. The kitchen counters were clear, as was the table and the living room! That's a rarity around here :-/ and it was LOVELY to come down to :) Especially since I still had the worst headache of my life and felt like my skin was trying to separate itself from my body.

Anyway, all of that to say I have the best 13 year old daughter in the world :) I was pretty sure about that before this SICKNESS but what I didn't know is how mature she's really getting and how well she manages to take care of herself and others when the need arises. I saw what a amazing woman she's going to be and I couldn't be prouder of her :)