WHAT GREAT THINGS WILL HAPPEN IN 2026?

“When there is sunshine in my life, I have a wonderful everyday life”

I just wrote in my first post of the new year about how difficult it is to plan anything with children. https://littlepuzzlesandme.com/new-year-no-challenges-and-satisfaction-guaranteed/

And that’s exactly what happened to me. Posts were piling up, and a few were even created, but nothing was published.

What was the main reason?

Since 2026, my family and I have been affected by almost every possible version of the virus.

Is your sick time also like this:

• one child is sick for 5 days,
• in the meantime, on the 2nd or 3rd day, the other one starts to get sick
• and both of them recover from the virus after a maximum of 7 days,
• but when the virus gets to you, it is three times stronger,
• and lasts five times longer?

Viruses all around

And I must admit, the first such apocalypse wasn’t easy to survive, but we returned to the world of the living. We went back to work for a week, and the children went back to school. We had barely caught up on our chores when the children started coughing again and developed fevers overnight.

And all of this only happened in January. In February, we planned a Valentine’s Day evening without the kids. https://littlepuzzlesandme.com/what-do-children-create-on-valentines-day-2/

The grandparents agreed to babysit the grandchildren for the evening. And on Friday morning, the preschool called to say that Dora had thrown up.

I wonder if 2026 started off so hard just for us? And will we, the parents, continue to be tormented by further apocalypses?

Because it’s not about the children; they’re like little Terminators; they cough here, get a runny nose there, but after a good night’s sleep, after a few doses of Nurofen, they return to normal faster and louder. It’s about us, the parents. I no longer want to go to work with a runny nose, bone pain, and a migraine so severe that even the sound of the microwave hurts.

What’s more? No one can excuse me from household chores and childcare, so I don’t have time to be sick, let alone recover. The virus wreaked havoc on my body for seven days, so when I returned to work, I entered a “slow-motion” mode that many of my employees love, but not me. I don’t want to spend two or three hours on a single task that takes 15 or 20 minutes. But after all these illnesses, it’s become a permanent part of my routine. It’s the same at home; whenever I try to speed things up, something slips out of my hands. I recently dropped some sour cream, the kids ran into the kitchen, and Patrick’s comment was:

‘Seriously, Mom?’
And then Dora asked (which really touched me):

‘Are you okay, Mom?’

And inside I’m screaming: “No, I’m not okay!” I need a moment of peace, I need a good night’s sleep, a day without responsibilities or planning. But on the outside, I smile and tell my daughter, “Everything’s fine, Dorothy, I’m just so overwhelmed.”

Grayness all around

I haven’t added yet that for about two months in my Czech town, we haven’t seen the sun. The level of depression is reaching its peak. Moreover, viruses continue to attack from every side.

I eagerly await sunny spring days, birdsong, and most of all, a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius.

My level of perseverance and joy diminishes with each passing day. Beautiful spring mornings, fragrant blooming chestnut trees, lilacs—I picture them in my mind’s eye. I want the colors of spring—not gray. I want to inhale that warm freshness of spring. Right now, on the balcony, one inhale, and one exhale at -15 degrees Celsius creates ice in my nose and on my eyelashes. (photo below) https://littlepuzzlesandme.com/original-mountain-legends-and-more-2/