sometimes

October 29th, 2009

Sometimes you have to laugh or you’ll break down and cry. Today is one of those days.

At least one person in our house has been sick (and not just a little bit sick) everyday for the last 12 days running. It started with our oldest suddenly spiking a fever and doubling over in pain from his aching head. Then our youngest overlapped, followed quickly by their sister and Mr. T. High fevers that raged for days, binding headaches, sore throats, racking cough. It would seem (and the doctors agree) that our family got THAT flu. You know the one I’m talking about. Super.

At the height of it all last week, our pediatrician called to let us know that the kids had pinworms (sorry you had to read that, Grandma). As if I wasn’t busy enough, I now had to bleach the bathrooms, the bedding and probably the kids (kidding about that last bit!). I hauled them all into the doctor’s office Monday to get prescriptions and have them weighed. And NO, I couldn’t just weigh them myself at home. They HAD to all come to the office. While we were there she checked them all over, at my request (I was so not leaving that office without making darn sure I wouldn’t be on the phone with them the next day begging for an appointment). One was fine, one had fluid in her ears but it was likely just from her stuffy nose and the littlest one had an ear infection plus chest infection. MORE antibiotics. We packed up and stopped in at the nearest drugstore where I discovered that the medicine she had “prescribed” (the one we all had to come into the office to get a prescription for) was an over the counter remedy that was on back order and unavailable. As in no one in the entire city had any. While the pharmacist told me that I wouldn’t be able to treat the kids and that he had no idea how I’d get the medicine or get rid of the pinworms, he waved a box around as he spoke. I notice a cartoon picture of a worm with a slash mark in it. Struggling to maintain my composure after having wasted so much time already that day and trying to hold my now screaming two year old at the front of a rapidly lengthening line, I politely asked what the box of medicine he was holding was for.
Oh, it’s for pinworms.
And is there any reason why I couldn’t buy that box of medicine for my children?
Well it’s pills and the doctor wants you to have liquid.
But there isn’t any liquid available anywhere.
Nope. Just the pills.
Is it the correct dose?
Yes. But it’s pills.
What if I were to grind it up in my mortar and pestal and give it to them in some jam?
Well, now! That would work. And then you’d be able to treat them after all. Pesky thing, those pinworms.
And then I said nothing because I really just wanted to punch someone in the teeth.

Fast forward to this morning. I was awoken at 6am by my daughter clutching my arm whining that her ear huuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrt (you might remember her as the one with fluid behind her ears that was just build up from her stuffy nose). I was so tired that all I could say was, darling husband, it’s your morning to get up with the kids. Deal with this. And then I went back to sleep.

When I got up, we packed the two oldest off to school (forgetting about the ear ache because it hadn’t been mentioned again) and I took our youngest to swimming lessons. When I pulled into the garage, Mr. T flung open the door to the house and informed me that he had just returned home with our daughter who was now weeping on the couch because her ear hurt so badly she couldn’t stay at school and she ended up missing her class costume party. The party I specially made gluten/dairy free sugar cookies for. And iced them with orange icing because that was what she really wanted. And I wanted her to feel normal at school instead of always being the kid who can’t eat the treat so I made them, even though I didn’t have the time or the energy. Now she is sleeping (thank you inventors of Advil and Tylenol) and I am sitting (on a towel because someone peed on the couch today) here laughing at how ridiculously silly my life is sometimes.

On days like today I like to drag my little point and shoot around with me. Looking at the images from my day helps me to see the humour in them or to find the tender moments to store in my heart. Here are some of today’s shots.

My sick little girl. Now who wouldn’t feel sorry for her?

This is what I did for most of the afternoon- snuggled Mr. Grumpy and his sleeping sister.

Me laughing because there is pee on my couch and laundry falling on my head. Someone really should deal with all that.

Snuggling with my ugly shoes, of course. Is that not the first thing you think of when seeking comfort?

Dear Children,

Please get better so I can finish all of the projects I have on the go.

Love, Mom

Lunch! Food makes him scream. Cookies do not. My head was hurting. Call me weak. I don’t mind. Really. Besides, someone needed to eat all those cookies.