Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Why I Haven't Blogged Much Lately
A typical morning for us, child is age 20 months:
Fed kid breakfast while making lunches for everyone. Got kid dressed and headed for the bathroom
to take a shower, with kid in tow. Was
intercepted by Husband who wanted me to put lotion on his back because he can’t
reach. While putting lotion on his back
I hear the shower start – Uncle in the other bathroom. So I turn on cartoons for the kid and hang
out with him for a few minutes while Husband finishes dressing and Uncle
showers. When he’s done I close all the
doors and strip for my shower while the kid pulls things off the counter. I ignore it and get in the shower. I soon am joined by Husband’s deodorant canister
and a plastic cup. Whatever. Husband comes in and takes the kid somewhere
else and soon I hear crying because Husband has no clue what our routine
is. I finish my shower and the kid comes
bouncing back in and Husband asks if he can leave yet. I say goodbye and then try to get dressed
while the kid clings to my leg. We brush
our teeth. Well I brush mine while the
kid throws things into the sink for me to try not to spit on. I empty the sink three times. I brush the kid’s teeth. I put on makeup with one hand while being
pushed away from the mirror by the kid so he can ransack the cabinets
beneath. The kid is chewing on
something. I pull a piece of broken
plastic out of his mouth and soon realize that the lid to my deodorant has
shattered due to being thrown around the room so many times. I pry the kid off of my leg so I can spray
perfume on myself but not him. He cries
and runs out of the bathroom. I pick
everything off the floor and put it all back where it goes, close the door
behind me. Kid is back from his
mysterious errand by now and helps me by emptying my sock drawer onto the
floor. I put on a pair of socks which
have a hole in the toe. I take them off
and search out another pair. Meanwhile
kid has escaped bedroom and runs off to bother Uncle who is about to leave and
has left every door in the house open, again.
I put on my socks while he announces the kid has pooped. I put on shoes and find the kid, take him to
his changing table and discover he is clean and dry. I redress him. Say goodbye to Uncle who skipped off to work
without a care in the world. I shut all
of the doors, again, and wander off to find my purse, keys, a sweater for the
kid, kid shoes, turn off the unwatched cartoons in my room and shut that door
behind me. Dump all the crap on the
coffee table and realize that the dog has to go out at least once that
day. Head for the kitchen, let the dog
out, put the kid back in, and start making his juice cups. Take the plants outside, put the kid back in,
pick the empty cups up off of the floor and start to fill them. Hear the neighbor’s dogs start barking at my
dog and look out to realize the dog is caught on the abandoned wheelbarrow out in
the yard, and is stomping all over the berry bushes while trying to bark at the
neighbor dogs. Kid loses his shit when I
push the cups out of his reach so I can get the dog. I untangle the dog, prop up the plants and
get the dog back in the house, and the kid back in the house and am confronted
with spilled milk and juice everywhere.
I lose my shit and start yelling nonsense about the dog ruining
everything. I clean up the mess, lock
the back door, refill the cups, put shoes and sweater on the kid and haul us
and all of our shit to the car so I can go get gas and take kid to daycare
where he clings to me and doesn’t want me to go, ever, and in spite of that and
knowing I’m leaving him with five other toddlers who will bother him all day,
one of whom is obviously oozing snot and another who looks really out of it, I
walk away so I can come here. Then my
husband calls to tell me to have a good day and all I can do is mumble ‘thanks,
you too’.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Sick Little Boy
On the weekend after Christmas Ruckus fell ill, to a very persistent stomach bug. He began vomiting about every 12 hours or so starting at around 3 am Sunday morning. I woke in the night to the smell of it permeating the house, and went to investigate. This is not something I recommend. But, it had to be done. I found him lying in a pool of sickness which he had sprayed all over his crib, so I scooped him up and changed his clothes, and wiped him down as well as I could at that hour with a house full of sleeping people. I changed his sheets and started laundry, all before four a.m. He seemed otherwise fine, and a little confused about what was going on. I put him back to bed, clean and dry, and went to bed as well.
When we all woke up again everything seemed fine, but I kept with the no-food-after-puking rule until around noon when I gave him a few crackers and juice, and later, some milk. That afternoon, around 3, he threw it all up, this time on the living room rug. Clean up, round two. More laundry was started, and some blotting of the carpet. Milk vomit is very stubborn and smelly.
Things seemed fine, again, for many many hours, and he went to bed as normal that night without a lot of fuss, in spite of having a mostly empty belly. Still, that night, it happened again. Juice and some bits of soup reappeared hours after he'd eaten them, seemingly undigested, and I was washing things in the middle of the night again, tired and grossed out.
In the morning I called his pediatrician who was of course closed because of it being New Year's Eve. They tried to cheer me up, saying how good I was doing and to hang in there. The cheerfulness of the nurse grated on my frayed nerves but I tried to put on a brave face and acknowledge that this too should pass. This time, I kept him off of food much longer and felt like I was starving the poor kid. He cried and tugged on me, basically begging for food. I stuck with it though, and gave him only Pedialyte for the rest of the day on Monday, and just a few light things sprinkled through the day when I couldn't take the crying any longer. Small children do not understand that their tummies need rest after being so sick.
Tuesday came and all seemed okay, for the most part. Slowly, I resumed feeding him some mild things, and soy milk because it is a little easier on the digestion than regular milk. He did not throw up at all, and I was encouraged.
Wednesday dawned bright and cheery and I figured the worst was over with, and that it was time to resume our normal routines. I packed Ruckus off to daycare with instructions to push juices and headed off to work. I waited all day for them to call me and say he had vomited, but nothing. Wonderful! That night I picked him up and he seemed alright, so I took him home and fed him dinner. We were just settling down for our bedtime routine when the gates opened up and huge amounts of baby sick came pouring out, all over the living room, again. Dang it!
It seemed that none of the food he'd eaten over the past day had digested at all, and that the kid wasn't too good at chewing things either. I recognized the breakfast I'd fed him 16 hours before, along with his lunch and various snacks. After the cleanup efforts I put him to bed and we all had a fairly restless night. In the morning I phoned his doctor and found that they were still closed, taking a long holiday, so I took him to daycare so I could attend to a few things. I fretted all morning over what to do, then decided to pick Ruckus up from daycare and take him to a doctor, any doctor, to sort out what was going on.
At that point he had been throwing up for five days, and hadn't pooped in more than three, so we all feared the worst. I took him to his doctor's office and found that they were opening shortly after 1 pm so we sat and waited outside the door and then went inside to beg to be seen. We were brought in right away once they heard what was going on, and his doctor recommended a complete rest of his stomach for about a day, with no food at all, only Pedialyte and perhaps a spoonful of broth for dinner. This seemed incredibly harsh, but I was determined to do whatever it took to get him better. She was concerned about a possible bowel obstruction and we were all very worried.
Friday came and he still had not thrown up, and seemed to be staying hydrated. Relief! I spoke with her on Friday morning, and she said that we could resume feeding very bland foods a little at a time throughout the day, so I gave him some cream of wheat and a half a banana. I spoke with her again in the afternoon and things seemed to be holding, so she said to continue with the mild feedings and that she thought he'd poop sometime over the weekend, assuming that he kept the food in long enough for it to be digested.
Sure enough, after some very gentle foods and a lot of effort, Saturday brought with it a poopy diaper and we all celebrated a little. The danger had passed, along with the worst stomach bug I hope to ever experience with Ruckus. By Sunday, he had moved on to a new cold and teething, so all seemed back to business as usual.
When we all woke up again everything seemed fine, but I kept with the no-food-after-puking rule until around noon when I gave him a few crackers and juice, and later, some milk. That afternoon, around 3, he threw it all up, this time on the living room rug. Clean up, round two. More laundry was started, and some blotting of the carpet. Milk vomit is very stubborn and smelly.
Things seemed fine, again, for many many hours, and he went to bed as normal that night without a lot of fuss, in spite of having a mostly empty belly. Still, that night, it happened again. Juice and some bits of soup reappeared hours after he'd eaten them, seemingly undigested, and I was washing things in the middle of the night again, tired and grossed out.
In the morning I called his pediatrician who was of course closed because of it being New Year's Eve. They tried to cheer me up, saying how good I was doing and to hang in there. The cheerfulness of the nurse grated on my frayed nerves but I tried to put on a brave face and acknowledge that this too should pass. This time, I kept him off of food much longer and felt like I was starving the poor kid. He cried and tugged on me, basically begging for food. I stuck with it though, and gave him only Pedialyte for the rest of the day on Monday, and just a few light things sprinkled through the day when I couldn't take the crying any longer. Small children do not understand that their tummies need rest after being so sick.
Tuesday came and all seemed okay, for the most part. Slowly, I resumed feeding him some mild things, and soy milk because it is a little easier on the digestion than regular milk. He did not throw up at all, and I was encouraged.
Wednesday dawned bright and cheery and I figured the worst was over with, and that it was time to resume our normal routines. I packed Ruckus off to daycare with instructions to push juices and headed off to work. I waited all day for them to call me and say he had vomited, but nothing. Wonderful! That night I picked him up and he seemed alright, so I took him home and fed him dinner. We were just settling down for our bedtime routine when the gates opened up and huge amounts of baby sick came pouring out, all over the living room, again. Dang it!
It seemed that none of the food he'd eaten over the past day had digested at all, and that the kid wasn't too good at chewing things either. I recognized the breakfast I'd fed him 16 hours before, along with his lunch and various snacks. After the cleanup efforts I put him to bed and we all had a fairly restless night. In the morning I phoned his doctor and found that they were still closed, taking a long holiday, so I took him to daycare so I could attend to a few things. I fretted all morning over what to do, then decided to pick Ruckus up from daycare and take him to a doctor, any doctor, to sort out what was going on.
At that point he had been throwing up for five days, and hadn't pooped in more than three, so we all feared the worst. I took him to his doctor's office and found that they were opening shortly after 1 pm so we sat and waited outside the door and then went inside to beg to be seen. We were brought in right away once they heard what was going on, and his doctor recommended a complete rest of his stomach for about a day, with no food at all, only Pedialyte and perhaps a spoonful of broth for dinner. This seemed incredibly harsh, but I was determined to do whatever it took to get him better. She was concerned about a possible bowel obstruction and we were all very worried.
Friday came and he still had not thrown up, and seemed to be staying hydrated. Relief! I spoke with her on Friday morning, and she said that we could resume feeding very bland foods a little at a time throughout the day, so I gave him some cream of wheat and a half a banana. I spoke with her again in the afternoon and things seemed to be holding, so she said to continue with the mild feedings and that she thought he'd poop sometime over the weekend, assuming that he kept the food in long enough for it to be digested.
Sure enough, after some very gentle foods and a lot of effort, Saturday brought with it a poopy diaper and we all celebrated a little. The danger had passed, along with the worst stomach bug I hope to ever experience with Ruckus. By Sunday, he had moved on to a new cold and teething, so all seemed back to business as usual.
Christmas
I'm (obviously) a little late with this post but I've been busy so we'll all have to give me a pass this once. I might do it again some day so please forgive that in advance.
Christmas was spent with some of our extended family and we had a nice time for the most part. I say for the most part because it was kind of stressful, as Christmas sometimes can be, and I was very sick for the holiday which took a bit of the fun out of it for me. I had scheduled a week off to spend with Ruckus and was sick the entire time. There are those people who say that moms don't get sick days and they are so right because in spite of my illness I still had to do everything I normally do, plus entertain and be entertaining for out of town family who were visiting us for the first time in a year.
Most of the family was able to gather together at my mom's house the Saturday before Christmas, in spite of a mondo snow storm which settled in the area the day before. All told about seven feet of snow fell in the surrounding mountains which made travel difficult for most of us, and impossible for my aunt and cousin. We had a nice dinner with my mom and brother and nephews, and Ruckus seemed to have a good time.
On Christmas day I asked my family over to open presents Christmas morning and stay for a nice turkey lunch. Ruckus is still too young to really know what Christmas is but he did help open a few presents and seemed to enjoy the things Santa brought for him. He got a sweet wagon from Grandma, and a scooter from Santa, as well as a couple of very cool guitar toys and lots of big boy clothes. He is going to be in size 2T so the wardrobe additions and new shoes couldn't have come at a better time.
The day after Christmas I took down the tree and put all of the Christmas clutter into storage for another year. I don't usually take it all away so quickly but having a toddler in the house changes things, and the added stress of keeping him from knocking over the tree or smashing the ornaments to shards was getting to me. It was really a nice holiday and I was glad when it ended.
Christmas was spent with some of our extended family and we had a nice time for the most part. I say for the most part because it was kind of stressful, as Christmas sometimes can be, and I was very sick for the holiday which took a bit of the fun out of it for me. I had scheduled a week off to spend with Ruckus and was sick the entire time. There are those people who say that moms don't get sick days and they are so right because in spite of my illness I still had to do everything I normally do, plus entertain and be entertaining for out of town family who were visiting us for the first time in a year.
Most of the family was able to gather together at my mom's house the Saturday before Christmas, in spite of a mondo snow storm which settled in the area the day before. All told about seven feet of snow fell in the surrounding mountains which made travel difficult for most of us, and impossible for my aunt and cousin. We had a nice dinner with my mom and brother and nephews, and Ruckus seemed to have a good time.
On Christmas day I asked my family over to open presents Christmas morning and stay for a nice turkey lunch. Ruckus is still too young to really know what Christmas is but he did help open a few presents and seemed to enjoy the things Santa brought for him. He got a sweet wagon from Grandma, and a scooter from Santa, as well as a couple of very cool guitar toys and lots of big boy clothes. He is going to be in size 2T so the wardrobe additions and new shoes couldn't have come at a better time.
The day after Christmas I took down the tree and put all of the Christmas clutter into storage for another year. I don't usually take it all away so quickly but having a toddler in the house changes things, and the added stress of keeping him from knocking over the tree or smashing the ornaments to shards was getting to me. It was really a nice holiday and I was glad when it ended.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)