The thing with sickness

Matthew has roseola, you know, that crappy illness that all babies get once, with a high fever, and you're like what the hell, and then they get the rash and you are all like oooohhhh, now I know. Except  I knew after 12 hours. You know, because he is my third baby I am amazingly smart.  He's at the rash stage. It's mainly on his face, and he's a little painful to look at right now.

While I feel bad for him, and I felt terribly at night when his fever would spike to monstrous levels, I will admit that I enjoyed a little bit of it. I mean, all the sleeping and the cuddling and the not-moving were nice. I got a LOT of housework done during the long naps, and a few times I got to hold him while he napped. That was wonderful, and I missed that, he is so busy now, it's hard to get him to stay put for long. Plus, I got to feel like important Mom, the Mom who knows how to lower a fever, who correctly diagnoses her child and who is doing her job, thankyouverymuch. Don't worry, I don't like it that much, I don't have Münchausen syndrome by proxy or anything. It was just nice to have him slow down his pace for a minute.

That being said, I am very glad that he's feeling better before his birthday and our vacation. I'm hoping to not have sick kids for our vacation, especially after last year when Drew and I got a stomach bug on vacation when Matthew was only 3 weeks old. Worst. night. ever.

Poor baby feeling better, before the worst of the rash.

Swine Flu for Me and You? Well no, not you, Drew

Yesterday I was embroiled in controversy. Well, this definitely is may be an overstatement. My four year old son, Drew got his H1N1 vaccination, or as some would say, we protected him against the Swine flu. (Hopefully the pork council won't hunt me down for calling it that.)

After much careful deliberation (reading what little information I could find on the Internet about the vaccine), I asked my co-worker what she would do if she were me. My co-worker always has advice for me, and it usually is great advice being as her previous job involved working with children in a social worker-type- role, even if the advice is mostly unsolicited. Yes, after all the information I read, I based my decision to get Drew's shot based on my co-worker's feelings, because I felt so mushy and turned around I wasn't sure what to do, and after reading about the shortage of seasonal flu vaccines all around our city, I felt he definitely needed some protection, like NOW.

I rushed out of work to go pick up Drew and hurried him to the Middle School where they were having the clinic. Pulling in, I noticed two cop cars, and policeman patrolling the entrance to the parking lot, where I had to talk to a volunteer, who told me to "park anywhere". Wow, her job was necessary.

We parked, and Drew started to saunter towards the line. "No, Drew-bear, let's walk extra fast- can you do it?" Being the total asshat I am, I sped walked my way in front of a few people who were taking their time walking up to the line that stretched out past the courtyard and spilled out onto the sidewalk by the parking lot. In my defense, I had to urinate this whole time.

As we were waiting in line, policeman patrolled the area. I'm not sure if they thought people were going to start freaking out and frothing at the mouth, like in zombie movies. I mean, for god's sakes, it's just children in stroller and parents. There were large signs all over courtyard that if you had flu symptoms (Fever and cough/or sore throat) you could not come into the facility. Loud speakers announced this as well and could be heard throuought the courtyard. It felt like we were waiting in line for the worst Disney World ride ever. Immediately I felt the need to cough, and was worried that the policemen would come over and take me out of line for coughing in which case I would have to drop to the ground and scream "My baby! My baby needs this shot, please, officer you have to help me!" (Or not.) The whole scene was like something out of a Roland Emmerich movie. I felt all valiant that I was saving my son, even if I wasn't going to make it, at least for a second, and then I remembered I was in real life, and real life is not as exciting or dangerous.

We were finally allowed to enter the school after a quick screening of Drew's eligibility (thank goodness Drew is tiny, I thought, and no questions about his age), and I had to sit and speak with another volunteer about when Drew's last flu shot was (hadn't had one yet) and so they told me he could get the flu mist). Of course I had a million questions for her, which she didn't want to answer or didn't know.

Next, we waited in another line. Drew started to whine, a four year can only be patient for so long! I told him he could play with my Ipod, then realized it was in my car. Then I told him he could have a piece of gum, which was dirty, so I had to take that away as well. Then I promised him candy corn at home. That satisfied him. Bribery, my favorite parenting skill.

Drew and I entered the cafeteria, i.e., crying central, and two shoots up the nose later, and no tears (!) we were finished. It took about an hour, and when we left the building, there was no line- it just figures, right?

We went back to school to pick up Jacob, you know, my unprotected son. Unprotected against the swine flu, but protected against seasonal flu. This way they can't cross-contaminate each other or something.

Once we arrived home, I was so happy to see our bathroom. Near tears, myself actually. THE END.

Conclusion?

The thing that bothers me most about this vaccination and the clinics is the lack of information out there about these clinics, and the weird rules that are spelled out and not spelled out for everyone. Drew is 4, but he will be 5 in January. Are they trying to tell me that because of these 3 months he is high risk and should not be turned away, unlike the 5 year old boy I saw turned away yesterday?

Also, there needs to be more information on H1N1 Flu mist vs. H1N1 Flu shot. My two year son, Jacob received the seasonal flu mist, so now he is not eligible to get the H1N1 shot for another month. Drew received the Flu Mist for H1N1, but he can get a flu Shot, just not the seasonal flu mist. What?!? I am also not excited about the fact that the flu mist contains a live virus, vs. the flu shot which contains the dead virus. Again, my information on this topic is all internet hearsay, so I have no idea of knowing what this means.

We cannot forget about the fact that Drew will need a second shot, also, which Drew have to wait ANOTHER month for, that is, if that shot becomes available, and the people I talked to at this clinic don't think it will. Don't worry, though, the one shot is "better than nothing" I was told. I understand that this is a new virus, and we are learning as we go (scary thought) but there really should be a collective way we are receiving and understanding the different shots, how they react with one another, and the location of any and all local clinics.

PS Thank you to all of the volunteers. For all my joking, everything ran very smoothly and all the volunteers were wonderful, and very friendly.


PSS Drew is doing absolutely fine today.

Venting it out

I must confess, I am letting someone get to me. I am trying to let it go. I am trying not to be upset. So far I am doing a good job (I made a promise to myself not to shed a tear because of this person's actions, I am so proud of myself that this time I haven't let the waterworks loose), but it is still in the corner of my mind, lingering. It's putting a damper on my day to day activities. You know that feeling when something isn't right- even though everything should be fine and you can't put your finger on it? That is exactly how I feel right now. That is the way this person made me feel.

Yet, I know I didn't do anything wrong. The fact that I stood up for myself and did it in a mature, honest manner should put my mind at ease. I can only answer for myself and my actions and no one else. Unfortunately I am still thinking about it, and this person's actions are still affecting me. I just don't like it when people don't like me, and this person obviously doesn't like me, and chose to act out on it in a strange, passive-aggressive way.

Don't worry about me, I will get over it, I always do, eventually. It's just a very toxic relationship that I have to deal with, and I know from experience it just takes a couple of weeks to fade.

So please bear with me for this melodramatic post. Also bear with me if I have been distant lately, I have a lot on my mind right now. Sorry I am being so cryptic, I have to be though. If you are reading this- it's not you.

The good news is- I am still healthy, and the kids are getting better. Mr. Bee is another story. (Why didn't he go to the Doctor when I told him he should?) All that hand washing, orange juice and water are working, although I am spending a LOT of time in the potty (Momspeak for Bathroom).

The sickness in my house and anger in my mind should leave by next week. (A girl can hope, right?)

A Walking Bullseye

Yesterday Drew had a fever. He also had a cough, was lethargic and didn't want to eat. Under the advice of my husband, we took the little man and the littler man (who was exhibiting similar symptoms) to the Doctor.

After waiting in a 7 X 7 foot room with one chair with all of the Bees for over an hour, we saw the Doctor. The test (which involves sticking the world's biggest q-tip up my children's noses, which amounted to lots of tears) was positive almost immediately for Influenza A. I only had to look to my left to my husband to know where they caught it.

So now I am the only healthy one in my flu ridden family. My flu ridden family that has to stay away from healthy people for 5-7 days so that others don't catch it- this includes school. (Goodbye Vacation time!)

So,
I am drinking lots of orange juice and water.
I am taking my vitamins.
I am getting lots of rest.
It's okay for the rest of the family to be sick, they don't do the bills, the laundry, the grocery shopping, make dinners. I do. Plus I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to fevers. Not Mr. Bee whiny, but pretty close. It will not be a pretty picture if I get sick.

Think healthy thoughts for me, okay?

Blockage (No, not that kind)

I'm stuck. My brain can't even wrap itself around typing out a decent post, y'all, because I have spent 24 hours this week alone doing monotonous data entry and feeling pukey and tired (no I am NOT pregnant, so please don't be the 40th person to ask).

I'm trying to even think of anything interesting that has happened in the past week to comment about (Drew's fixation on defecation, while amusing, has taken up enough of my time and energy posting updates on Facebook. All of the good stuff I have to say is being absorbed into Facebook, you should be my Facebook friend. Just sayin'.)

Screen capture: the final frontier in Facebook recycling. When I am plagiarizing myself from an hour ago, you know it's bad. No brain waves here, just the lulls.

There are some exciting ideas I have coming up though- so stay tuned. There will be changes, a giveaway for my 300th post, more pictures, and I am hoping to God, more funny on its way.

Weekend Wrap up- a Day late and not an hour short.

Hmm, I think I will have a spoonful of anarchy this weekend,
thank you very much!

Mr. Calamity was up to his no good tricks this past weekend. These tricks involved dumping a whole bag of uncooked macaroni and plastic utensils on the floor and then trying to eat the uncooked macaroni as I cleaned it up, and spilling a whole cup of coffee on the carpet, (I know what you are thinking why did you let him get to these things? but he is fast and happened to do both things within a split second) and crying nonstop. Every time he cried he wanted only me. The first couple of times it was cute. By Sunday night... after countless crying jags and more than one incident of pounding on the bathroom door and crying for me while I tried to take care of business, it was no longer so cute.

I knew something was terribly amiss with the Jacob, so I took him to the Pediatrician on Monday. After one excruciatingly long hour of waiting, I found out he had two ear infections, AGAIN. The poor guy has had a continual ear infection pretty much since he was 8 months old. So this is his last chance. He is on extreme antibiotics, and if this doesn't work he will be referred to an ear, nose and throat specialist. I really hope it doesn't come to ear tubes... crossing fingers! We just need to make it through the winter. He's taken one dose of the Meds so far and is acting like he feels 110% better.

So today is my makeup day to him. He has been getting many kisses and hugs, one for each exasperated sigh, roll of the eyes and whining from me about his behavior. The poor little guy was SICK, and here I was annoyed with him for being grumpy.

In the running for child of the year,
as long you don't count the absence of naps...
or vegetables in his daily life.

Drew on the other hand, was wonderful. A joy to be around. This gave me a glimmer of hope that this is because of his new age (4) that he is being such a good kid. Yes, I know that this is an illusion, but let me stay in my happy place for a while, okay?

We painted on Saturday (Lookit, I got crafty! It was scary, but I muddled through!) and then took the kids to Chuckie Cheeses in Lansing. NEVER AGAIN. The place was bedlam, 1000 degrees and total pandemonium. There wasn't anywhere to even sit. I thought at one point I would pass out I was so miserable. Mr. Bee looked at me when we left and said "you're going to blog about this, aren't you?" He knows me so well. We promised to get Drew a mini dessert at Applebees (his favorite restaurant) if he would just be cooperative and let us leave the madness! At Applebees, our children were wonderful. They were both so good that I wanted somebody to come up and compliment them or congratulate us on raising such adorable wonderful kids, to which I would have said "I know, thank you" for once instead of my usual embarrassed response of "umm okay, yeah, thanks." Unfortunately no one gave me this opportunity.

I have now found the key to happiness at a restaurant: starve your children beforehand. Take 'em to another restaurant so they can see and smell food, but don't let them eat. Then drag them to another restaurant across town. Hmm, I wonder if this trick always works or is just a once-off?

There is also a new member of the Bee family I am omitting from this post, just to keep you in suspense.... I was surprised by this new member, but it is a happy addition.

And hell no, I am not pregnant. That is all I'm saying for now.

House of Vomitous part 2

Remember this? Well, Jacob was sick AGAIN for Christmas Day, vomiting once Christmas Eve night, and then once on Christmas day. (Some seriously disgusting and scary vomitage.) So again, I did not spend Christmas with my husband, and this time I stayed with Drew while Shaun stayed home with Jacob, who proceeded to act like he felt fine the rest of the day. He seems fine today. I am SO not looking forward to Easter, however, family holidays apparently make him sick.

Holy Christmas Mess Batman!

And it's not just one room. Yep, that's the trash can on the counter. We're keeping it classy in the Bee House.
Also, husband got me an Ipod touch. Considering having a wild passionate love affair with it.
Tied for my favorite gift is this. Each page has a different picture made out of a stamp of Jacob's hand and/or foot.... one of my favorite pictures is below.
I'm getting a toothache from the cuteness! Thank thank thank you Childcare!
Also, thank you for all of the Holiday wishes from all my bloggy pals and all of the wonderful presents we recieved from all family members!

NaBloPoMo: Oh, yeah, the other child...

So I thought we were out of the woods, until a huge vomit happened about an hour ago that got on Shaun, Jacob, myself, our bed, clothes and carpet. Instead of focusing on this anymore. I will show you what Drew has been up to while we have been on vomit duty.....

Making "hamburgers" i.e.raisins in our ottoman cushions.

Building a Tower.

"Decorating" our Christmas Tree.

Wearing his gloves for all this hard work. (Seriously, I can't keep a shirt on the kid.)

NaBloPoMo: House of Vomitous

Okay, so my plans didn't go exactly as I expected. Jacob starting throwing up at 1am and hasn't stopped yet, along with a high fever still. Apparently what I THOUGHT was roseola is a stomach virus. This has definitely been the most challenging day as a parent I have experienced in a long time, between Jacob's sickness and Drew's attitude. (I'm pretty sure he just pretended to take a nap, no matter what he says).

Gotta love Holiday Weekends, so relaxing!

What a Weird Thanksgiving

So I wrote my thanksgiving post on Wednesday morning and post dated it. Yes, I know, that's cheating, but I didn't know if I would have time to write one. Wednesday afternoon I got a call from School (that's for you, Amber!) saying that Jacob had a 102 fever. So my thanks for a healthy family was a little preemptive. Ah well. So for Thanksgiving I got to stay home with my sick little "Jakey". (Yes, it's catchy, I am using his nickname now. What can I say? I also said clogs were the ugliest things ever and yet now I love them- so convenient!) He had a 104 fever after his nap today, although he was in good spirits, but just wanted to be held, which is very un-Jacob-behavior. I am hoping for a rash tomorrow and the fever to break, proving that it is Roseola as I am predicting. Otherwise it might be the fourth visit to the Doctor in two weeks for us. (I am pretty sure he caught it from his visit getting his Flu shot last Monday- how ironic.) Shaun went with Drew to his Sister's house and brought home leftovers. The good news was that I never changed out of PJ's today.

Another weird event: I am going to Meijers at 5am tomorrow. I KNOW. I hate Early Bird shoppers, especially when I worked in retail. I always thought Early bird shoppers were losers and that they should be at home sleeping, yet now I will be one of them. But I HAVE to go. Shaun's gift is very expensive and they have the best deal on it. (No, he never reads this, so I am safe.)

Anyone who knows me knows I hate more than life itself:
Meijers
Shopping
Crowds
Bargain Hunters
Mornings

So tomorrow will be a struggle. So is anyone else doing the Early Bird thing? If so, where are you going? And do you think you will buy more crap because you are getting a bargain on and therefore the savings you would receive are moot? (Because I'm pretty sure that is what I will do). And finally,

Does anyone hate grocery stores as much as I do?

On a side note- if you like my blog and want to follow me, I added the widget in the upper left hand corner.

Blaurgh!

Okay, so I don't have Strep Throat.

I DO have bronchitus.

When I went to ready care the Doctor (?) said that I seemed fine (strep was neg) and as long as I didn't cough into anyone's faces I wouldn't get them sick. Then he asked me if I needed a Doctor's note for work. This is after he off handedly gave me a 'scrip for z-pac when I said I was coughing up phlegm. (This is a ready care I love because they DO NOT weigh you, and also they have a built in pharmacy-feels a little like an alley in Mexico, but whatev.)

"Can I not go to work? Am I too sick?"

"No, you're fine."

"Okay, then, no. I really need to be at work tomorrow." Seriously. I couldn't believe it. I was trying to be conscientious, not trying to get out of work.

As I was leaving, he handed me a piece of paper about bronchitus, and I was like, oh so that's what's wrong with me!

So now I am losing my voice and just sound like some boozy lounge singer. It's all good though, because at least I feel better today.

Anyway, enough about the sickness.

Drew has a birthday party tomorrow. It's his first birthday party for a non-family or mom-friend. It's for a classmate of his, even though he told me that the classmate does not like him. (It was seriously the saddest conversation ever. It really broke my heart. But Drew does tell some fibs so I am wondering if there is any truth to the story.) So I need some help here. Shaun is going with Drew (yes, I talked him into it because obviously we can't bring Jacob).

How much do you spend on a 4 year old classmate's gift?

Is it wrong that I am making Shaun go? Totally bad Mommy behavior or perfectly acceptable given my current gross voice box?

And finally...

Does this mean we start inviting classmates to Drew's parties? He already has about 10 cousins (and second cousins) we invite to his birthday.

Does anyone actually follow the "as many kids as the age" at birthday parties anymore?

I know no one will answer these questions, even the lurkers that are friends and family out there... but if you have any sugestions I am all ears!

Week from hell

I have a ton of ideas from which to write about (which is unusual) but all I can think about is Damn, I'm sick.

I mean "can't swallow or sleep it hurts too much" sick.

However not quite to 'delusional with chills" sick.

Jacob is sick too, has been all week with an ear infection. This is a point of contention with me and my husband. We have the same argument every time.

Me: He has an ear infection, look when I pull on his ear he gets mad.

Husband: Well, of course he gets mad, he doesn't want you to mess with them. He is just teething, look, his hand is in his mouth, he's drooling!

Jacob: Wah!

Me: Well maybe you are right. Maybe his ears hurt from the teething. What do you think, should we take him to the doctor?

Husband: No, he's just teething.

Me: NO?!? We don't know for sure!

Husband: Well then take him to the doctor, I don't know.

Me: I need you to agree with me. I don't know what to do either!

And on and on...

This morning Jacob woke up with crusties in his eyes and so I took him to the Dr.

Result: Jacob is getting about 4 teeth in and he HAS an ear infection. Poor kid.

Meanwhile, I have been busy at work. We had a work open house yesterday. To explain what this was like I will use an example.

Take your High School open house.

Subtract friends and family, replace with co-worker and strangers you have to mingle with.

Also, subtract alcohol.

Add a sore throat and a sneaking suspicision you are giving everyone strep.

Add boss that is freaking out over every little thing.

Add different tasks that you are assigned to do every 30 minutes, like greeting people. Or directing people to fill out name cards.

It was as wonderful as it sounds.

I am home with Jacob right now. When my husband gets home I get to go to ready care. Then I will see if I have strep. If I do, I need to drive all this stuff over to a work and explain how to facilitate this training because I am the only one who has done these trainings before. If not that means I have to drive to Grand Rapids and facilitate a training all day. Either way it sucks.

Someone is up.... I will keep you posted. What I would do NOT to be a working Mom today....