Q: Your child exhibits the first signs of pink-eye on a Saturday, what time is it?
A: 10 minutes after the doctor's office closed until Monday.
Thus, Saturday evening saw us back in the ER.
AW: The hospital near and named for the LovelyTownCenterWithAnOutdoorIceRink is really top-notch. We were in and out of their ER in under an hour-and-a-half, including intake and discharge.
AW: so far, MM is the only one who's got it. I'm keeping all appendages crossed that it'll stay that way.
W: He's not allowed to go to school until Tuesday and Monday is Math Game Day - there will be weeping.
At first we thought it was an unusually (for him) intense allergy attack - seeing as how Friday was field day and he'd been extra congested all evening. By five o'clock, however, it was clear that a) one eye was worse than the other and b) it now looked exactly like all the cases of pink-eye I had as a kid. And so, after an over the phone consult with our pediatrician, and calling around to various urgent care places to discover that they are all only open 9-5, M-F, we went off to the friendly ER and were treated beautifully.
And we've used more bleach and hot water in my house this past month than the whole year previously
All of which is to say, Sarah at Ratatat? I'm there with you.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
50 comments:
oh, liz! so sorry about it all -- the pinkeye, the ER, the weeping.
i'm at my college reunion this weekend, and it has all been lovely, especially our Big Class Dinner. but it is currently 1:40 a.m. in the dorm, and i have already asked teh upstairs loud people to pipe it down, with good results, and asked teh downstairs loud people twice -- the last time with 5 different requests to groups of loud people. i am about to go back out in my nightgown and a sweater, and to perhaps be more cranky this time.
Wow, Wednesday came early this week. So sorry about the pinkeye, and I hope it stays contained and goes away quickly.
Can't whine now . . . my dog is insisting (quite reasonably) that I must go to bed.
how are things today, liz?
PK, how darned late were you up??
i really did have a glorious time at the reunion! and i really did go tell those whippersnappers again they had to stop the noise, and they finally did. it's not for nothing that i used to run a dorm -- and we had quiet hours even way back when. on the other hand, perhaps the cranky 50-something in a nightgown and sweater was scary.
MM is much better today, that ointment is amazing!
yay, ointment!
Liz, yay for ointment!
Kathy A, I'm glad you were effective at getting them to pipe down. I'm not sure how late I was up, but I think 2:30-ish? Maybe 3:30-ish? *ducks head*. I'm in PS time.
I did get a nap this afternoon.
SIL is leaving tomorrow, and we're not going to be done with the decluttering/reorganizing. :( My house is a big project. The downstairs and half of the upstairs are getting close to being done, though.
OK, so I'm 3 hours behind the time stamp on these posts. *Hides*
just sat here for 6 minutes, waiting for the local forecast, and missed it.
today is the day my scary student gets sent back to class. last monday, i told him he had to see the dean, and he has. the dean sent my chair a letter reporting on their meeting. in a nutshell, the kid was apologetic when i talked to him and apparently apologetic and embarrassed when the dean talked to him, but he never denied saying the things we said he said and, according to the dean, admitted how childish and potentially bad they sounded. the student has to make a formal written apology to me and a personal apology to my in-class tutor (whom he was verbally abusive to). any slip up, and he's expelled from my class and the college. i hope it doesn't come to that because i don't think i can handle the confrontation.
i feel exhausted over this, and i wish today were over.
...and today is over and it could not have gone better. Thank any and all applicable deities.
Yay, Amy! I was an in-class tutor in my previous life and while I never personally experienced that kind of harassment, I did have a collection of strange, but harmless, students who liked to follow me around campus. My best friend in the department, unfortunately, had more experience with the creepy and disturbed.
Liz, I had a most wonderful ped when my kids were younger who would call in scrips for pink eye eradication after hours without a visit. Thrush was handled the same way. Loved her. Wish you lived closer so you could have her, too.
My whine is that I find my supervisor to be small minded and petty.
My antiwhine is that I work for really great people in every other way and that my supervisor is working mother friendly. And I can't wait to get my project of high personal significance out on the street tomorrow. So! Excited!!
Whine: It is completely thankless because it doesn't really play to any of the normal organizational recognition.
AW: but it is something that will take something very old and make it more beautiful for decades to come.
Whine: I has out of school teens, tween, and kid.
Anti-whine: They love their new money earning system and I love off-loading things that stress me out like meal prep and planning to those who think it much more funner.
They get a budget and have to have their menu approved but whatever they don't spend, they can spend on whatever junk/snacks they want. They LOVE this system and my grocery bill does too. I saved 1/3 my weekly bill this way. I only cook one night during the week. Everyone has something they like. Every night is already set for dinner. There is a limit imposed outside of Mom about how much junk can be purchased in any given week.
All kinds of awesomeness here.
YAY AMY!!!
Miranda, that sounds truly awesome. I am totally lost in admiration of your child-rearing.
Sympathy (and admiration) to all. I'm here, but not ready to talk about the changes just yet... The whines and antiwhines all feel too big, and the new job is eating my life...
Miranda - I love your plan for dealing with your stress-inducing tasks appropriate for out-of-school chickens. I will have to try that with mine.
Hello Pixies... Long time.
Antiwhine: Mr. Mac graduated from lawyer college.
Whine: The Bar. 'nuff said.
Antiwhine: My kids are adorable, sweet, and doing age-appropriate things.
Whine: They are 4 years and 20 months.
Antiwhine: I got a new doctor. She's fantastic and very highly regarded, and a nice person to boot. I totally trust her. Which is good because.....
Whine: She's an oncologist.
Ugh. Fortunately it's Stage I, operable, and generally considered to be curable through surgical means alone. But damn. Cancer.
amy, so glad things went well with scary dude!
miranda deserves an award for great parenting!
redzils, hope things settle down a bit. it's bad when you can't even whine.
DMD!! i was so excited to see you -- and OMG, i'm so sorry about the fireplacing cancer. really good they caught it early. sending love and hugs and healing vibes. also, crossing fingers about the fireplacing bar exam. when it rains, it pours, eh?
DMD!!! I missed you so much!!! I'm so really sorry about the cancer and like kathy a. said, am sending love and virtual cookies.
Please let us know if we can do something more tangible.
XOXOX.
Well. Holy cow.
I am a reluctant prophet, believe me.
DMD, sending good healing thoughts.
Oh DMD, so sorry. Sending healing thoughts your way.
redzils - you too. I hope the big stuff is less big really really soon.
Liz- yay for ointment. Lovin' the ointment!
kathy a - I love the image of the nightgown and sweater. I must remember that one for our next family reunion....
amy - sweet! I'm glad that worked out, but sorry you had to go through all that ick.
miranda - I love it when there is awesomeness to report!
Whine: My 30 hour week plan has been tanked by the big-wig church committee. Not. Going. To. Happen. So - Sept 1st, I'm back to full time OR I fight with the insurance company (which is NOT going to happen, nu-uh).
Anti-whine: REALLY good meeting with our congregational HR-type person this morning. With her and her committee on my side, I might just be able to make the 40 hour week work out and not cause me any death or dismemberment.
Whine: My laptop (the one I use for work) totally DIED yesterday. Is it a bad sign that the computer guy who guarantees his work will be done in 24 hours HASN'T EVEN CALLED????? I dropped the dead beast off yesterday afternoon, so we're now at 26 hours and counting.
Whine: They close in 25 minutes.
Whine: Teh Computer.... I think she's dead and the staff are at this moment flipping coins to see who has to call and let me know.
Amy, sounds like scary dude isn't so scary anymore. Phew.
DMD, it's been SO long. Glad to see you're back, even with the fireplacing C diagnosis.
Severe Whine: I am SO pissed off at my best friend, the one I stood by for 7 years of abuse from her dying husband, the one who asked him for a divorce with her, the one who appointed me shiva captain without even asking. That one. She promised me her husband's laptop once he died, but she gave it to her daughter, and his reserve one to her son who doesn't even NEED it because he can't have it at his residential school. And then she offered me a HUGE server with linyx on it, but nothing else. Wiped clean. So I would have to pay thru the nose to get it set up. I'm FURIOUS. Plus, she wanted me to BUY her husband's old camera, which is ancient and really somewhat worthless and named a price that was about 3 times what it was worth. And got mad when I turned it down.
While we're discussing her intense cheapness, she's trying to sell EVERYTHING he ever had, all the while getting 750K in insurance money which she held up to me like it was a prize. And her discussing her upcoming trips, a cruise in the caribbean and a trip in the fall to Spain.
I find it tasteless and declasse to brag about your riches to a friend you know can't even afford food. So I'm really pissed.
And in other court related whines, my daughter got charged with assault when a little 13 yo brat made up a huge story about being attacked by a crowd of girls. There are witnesses for us. But it sucks.
My son just had a CHINS written on him today, which I've been warning him about ALL YEAR and he didn't take me seriously. Now he does. No more verbal abuse, he has to follow the rules at home, and he HAS TO GET A JOB.
With all this going on my blood pressure is off the charts, I feel like total crap, the weather has been horrible, and I'm $500 overdrawn at the bank.
My computer is dying and I'll never be able to replace it. I was SO counting on that laptop.
Madeleine said: "Well. Holy cow. I am a reluctant prophet, believe me."
Hey, hey, hey....no bogarting my title! :P
KLee, for the no-bogarting award!
Sue, that sucks about the 30-hour week plan being tanked. We look forward to quality whining.
((DMD)) Hope the surgery is soon with nice clean margins and you can leave all this behind...
Sue, sorry to hear about the resistance to the 30 hour plan.
Whine: Bleeping website upgrade is consuming way too much of my time. Our research assistant left and the boss won't let us replace him, won't let us hire a college student for the summer. And my immediate boss is in Spain for two weeks and then immediately leaves for the west coast for a week and so I'm going to have to throw a fit the one day she's in the office and get her to pay attention to this.
Whine: D got himself sent home from school sick yet again. When we pushed him on whether there's something going on that's upsetting him at school, he eventually came out with the conclusion that he's in love with two of his friends, but can't tell them about it and it's eating him up. Did I mention that he's 8?
Anti-whine: tomorrow's his last day of school. N's already done with preschool.
KLee, apologies for the bogarting :-) I knew that phrase felt familiar. But actually we had a discussion about it at a Torah study session last weekend, so it was on my mind. All the great prophets were reluctant. Like you!
Elizabeth, hugs on trying to deal with the complicated emotional life of an 8 year old.
Whine: work, ohmigod so much work. Woke up and remembered that something I back-burnered is actually urgent. Oops. And yet I'm still not working on it, 5 hours later.
oh, elizabeth -- poor D! poor you!
madeleine, i'm right there with you on the urgent work thing that isn't getting done at lightning speed. bleah.
Thanks for the well wishes all.... Honestly, the worst issue I'm having right now is that I'm so fireplacing angry with this diagnosis that I do not have a clue what to do. Angry, Angry. I have the best looking yard on the block, free of ivy and weeds with grass so even, it looks as though I took out the scissors to cut it. Now to find another way not to take this anger out on my dear husband and children.
Another Antiwhine (yay): Miss M (my stepdaughter) arrives TOMORROW for the SUMMER! The WHOLE SUMMER! Yippee yay!
((((((((( DMD )))))))))) who the fireplace could blame you for anger? seems like a perfectly healthy response to me. seriously.
with a yard so lovely, you obviously know how to divert that energy to constructive use. but you've gotta tell us how we can help. if whining helps, you know exactly where to find us. xoxox
(((DMD)))
(((Margalit))
Sue, it *could* be that it's just taking longer than they expected? My husband recently fixed a computer for someone, and it had a special type of virus that hides itself really well below/outside the normal drives, and it took him much longer than normal to find it and get it fixed--but he was able to fix it eventually. (My DH is a Computer Guru--too bad you can't just send yours to him.)
Well, our in-laws have come and gone for our "total home makeover" decluttering/organizing/rearranging/redecorating project.
With a few minor snafus, I was really impressed with how much we got done, how good the communication was, how well we all worked together and how un-judged I felt. Overall, it went really well.
However, we didn't get finished. Our house was a big project, and adding in some decorating and cr@igslist furniture-buying/selling, and painting and that sort of thing meant that not all of the decluttering and dejunking and organizing got done. So there's still quite a lot for DH and me to do on our own. I think we will be able to do it. But still.
I know it's a very old-skool whine, but I feel whiny that they came and went and my house still looks like a hurricane hit it. There's stuff piled in the hallways, boxes to be sorted through, and piles of stuff in random places waiting to be dealt with.
And I'm really, really tired. But it is a huge antiwhine that I was able to stay as functional as I did during the 4-day blitz of working nearly non-stop on the house. I'm running very low on spoons now (look up the spoon theory if you're wondering what that means), but I think it will be OK.
My biggest whine, really, is that the creepy neighbor is drinking again. Which means he's doing and saying wierd and often inappropriate things a lot again.
Like coming over and hanging out in our driveway or garage insulting my guests whenever he sees that we're out showing someone the rabbits (which are housed in the garage). A few weeks ago we had a sweet older lady visiting, and I was giving her some rabbit manure. She was telling me about her family and the rabbits she had as a child. Suddenly Creepy Neighbor (who had invited himself into the garage with us) heaved a big sigh and said, "Is it over YET???"
I said, "Is what over?"
He said, "This STORY. Isn't she done talking yet???"
Like coming running out into the cul-de-sac yelling at my kids to get out of the road because it's dangerous to go in the street and a car might hit them, when I'm standing right there with them.
It's a dead-end cul-de-sac. I really don't have a problem with my 8-year-old and almost 7-year-old (or even my almost 4-year-old) walking across the end of the cul-de-sac from our driveway to the driveway next door while I am standing 3 feet away, watching them, and there are no cars moving anywhere near.
Last night he came over to tell my kids that they need to look first left and then right before they walk into the cul-de-sac. Then he told me, "That's my job; to look after the kids."
I said, "Well, actually, I'm their mother. Really, it's MY job to look after them. Although I appreciate you keeping an eye out." (Why oh why did I add that last part? Why do I keep encouraging him in an attempt to be polite?)
He said, "Well, I'm probably out here more than you are."
I said, "My kids are NEVER out here unsupervised" (Which is very true--largely because I'm afraid to leave them unsupervised around him, and he's guaranteed to come over and be standing in our yard talking to them if it ever even looks momentarily like they're out there without an adult.)
Then I picked up my toddler as he reached toward her, and held her away from him. I've asked him plenty of times not to hug and touch my kids. (His stroking their hair, running his hands down their backs, telling them how pretty they are, sqeezing their thighs, etc. is completely inappropriate, IMHO, although I must admit he's been better about this since the confrontation last summer.)
He said something like, "Well, if that's the way it is," and huffed away, offended, as usual.
I don't know how to handle it. We can't go out in our own front yard without having him come over, and
I think that if I flat-out asked him to leave our yard, it would affect our relationships with everyone in the neighborhood. Nobody else in the neighborhood seems to have a problem with him, and he seems to be rather a favorite with everyone. In fact, one of our other neighbors and their sweet little girl (slightly younger than my girls) are going over to share their hot tub tonight.
I may talk to Creepy Neighbor's wife, mention to her that I noticed he's been drinking again, and ask if she thinks it would be helpful for DH to ask him not to come over and visit with us and our kids if he's been drinking, though he's welcome to come over and say hello if he's sober.
It might go over better if I talk to his wife about it with a tone of, "I know you're concerned about his drinking . . . do you think it would be a helpful incentive for him if we did this?" And in the process, I can naturally let her know that he's stretching the boudaries of appropriate behavior again.
Any other ideas, pixies? Or do you think I'm over-reacting and being un-neighborly?
P_K, I would be totally creeped out. Personally, I think you should just tell him (again) that you don't want him touching your kids. If people get huffy about it, you can say that you'd rather not have to make distinctions over WHICH adults can touch your kids.
He's actually been pretty careful, for the most part, not to touch my kids lately.
It's just the constant telling them what to do or what not to do, often contradicting what I've just told them, and the constant hanging around doing things like insulting my guests, that's driving me crazy at the moment. :)
It wouldn't bother me if he was, for instance, asking them not to touch his flowers or go in his yard. But coming out in the cul-de-sac and telling them how far away from my house they can or can't go, or that they shouldn't be on the sidewalk in front of our house, or that they can't walk so far away from their mommy, etc. etc. seems out of line to me.
Speaking of Madeleine and Klee being prophets, I was reading through old posts and found one, just before Ebee was born, where Klee said, "Baby E! Come out of there with your hands up!"
Anyone remember how she finally came out?
PK, we also live on a cul-de-sac, which is generally just a very safe place for kids. we also have a crazy neighbor, although not crazy in teh same way, and i think you are doing the right things. can't do much about neighbors or relatives except figure the work-arounds...
let me guess, ebee was hands-first?
oh PK - how creepy awful!
(((margalit)))
PK - you were right. The computer may still have some life in her yet. It's just taking a bit longer than the repair guy thought it would. They have to completely reinstall the hard drive. The good news is that there weren't a lot of pictures or music on it to save, so that part is pretty easy for them.
It's still going to be a few days.
Whine: Worst wedding rehearsal tonight EVAR. What a bunch of impossible people!!!! No one would listen, they all brought their children - which would have been fine if they had told them that throwing Bibles to each other in church is bad form - and the whole thing took TWO HOURS. My rehearsals are usually finished in 30 minutes.
Argh.
I will be SO glad when this couple is married and gone to get drunk at their big party, which I'm thankfully not attending.
wow, redzils, that is a tough place to be. whine when you're ready.
sue - i'm feeling anxious and stressed just reading about that rehearsal. i try really hard to help my daughter behave appropriately, so it is hard to imagine kids running wild in a church while the adults did nothing. gah.
my final whine is that i am getting my a$$ squarely kicked by my friends at some scrabble-type game on facebook. i like scrabble, i do, but i so rarely win, it's ridiculous. (i wonder how many points 'ridiculous' would score...)
sue, i'm donning my cranky lady outfit on your behalf, and voting for a cluestick posse on miniature horses for the little ones. sheesh. and 2 hours of that?
Keep whining folks, I'm putting up awards after work tomorrow.
Wow PK, that would be so hard. My instinct would probably be run away from creepy neighbor, but who knows? How do the kids feel? Are they learning to politely not listen to him?
Darn, Sue, I had hope the 30 hour/week schedule would have gone over better. And your wedding rehearsal, ahem, it shall make for an interesting wedding, if you can laugh at it.
Hugs to Margalit and to Redzils.
Miranda - I love your summer shopping plan.
Kathy A - good to hear you still have dorm power. Glad the reunion was fun!
Hugs to DMD. Anger seems an appropriate response to cancer. Fight hard.
Anti-whine: I did not get the baby's pink eye, although I may have stopped the drops a bit soon as she was gunky again today. Not to jinx us or anything.
anti-whine: the kids are having friends over more (and I need to keep pushing myself to call other parents to turn these events into summer trends ) and it is marvelous how they are entertained.
whine: my grandmother has been having some anxiety and perhaps some health issues. And my mom has been bending over backwards to help. And my grandmother has not been appreciative, so my mom is upset. And it makes me sad that my mom is sad, but as the same time, my grandmother has rarely ever sounded appreciative. Even if she is. And there is no quick resolution. And we are generally passive to passive-aggressive on that side so there shall be so air clearing discussions or heartfelt hugs. Yes, whine just about describes it.
Old Skool nomination to amy for this gem:
"just sat here for 6 minutes, waiting for the local forecast, and missed it."
Hugs to P_K on the terrible situation with your creepy neighbor. Do you know if his wife *is* concerned about his drinking? Because if she isn't, that part of the conversation could be very uncomfortable. Drawing boundaries about touching was successful, so maybe you need to draw a line about giving the kids safety advice, also. "That's my job as their parent. Please let me do it myself."
Sarah, so sorry about your grandmother's illness and your mother's distress. From a distance it's easy to say "don't expect any gratitude," but up close is s different elephant.
sarah, sounds really hard with your grandmother and mother. it is probably helping your mom for someone [you] to hear her frustrations, even if there are no ready solutions.
public service announcement: father's day this sunday in the US. our plans remain rather unformed, although the relevant parties have been notified.
nominate amy for old skool, for getting her butt kicked in scrabble.
i've been reasonably productive this week, but this somewhat urgent thing that needs doing? i keep lowering expectations for it, but it just keeps hanging around like a vulture, making me feel anxious and not getting done. somebody cluestick me.
Kathy A., Ebee almost had to come out via C-section because she was born with her right arm hooked up behind her left ear (after 10.5 hours of pushing and about 6 weeks of early labor). Then she liked to sleep with her arms straight up after she was born.
Madeleine, yes, Creepy Neighbor's wife is concerned about his drinking. And about his behavior when he is intoxicated. Last summer she told me that my DD telling him she wasn't allowed to talk to him was the final straw that made him seek help and join AA, and quit drinking. However, it didn't last long.
I really would like to see him (and them) get into a healthy place in their lives, and want the best for them. They are pretty nice neighbors when not intoxicated. And he's the type of guy who is always willing to help anyone or share with everyone around if he can.
I just need to figure out how to set some more healthy boundaries. I think I'll start by being a little more direct about saying, "Thanks, but I can handle it" about the parenting.
In that case, P_K, then yes, I do think your idea about talking to his wife, both to make sure she's aware and to see how intervention might help, makes a lot of sense. It's great to know that you and your family were able to help him see he needed help last summer. It sounds like he values being a good neighbor and needs some help with getting back to it.
PK, i think continuing to send the message about *you* being the parent is a good plan. his drinking isn't yours to fix, but that boundary seems do-able.
about ebee -- my son was in the butt-first position, legs straight up, and he did not go with the plan to "turn" him in utero, so i did have a c-section. and as a a baby, he also slept for a long time with his legs up! your story brought it all back. Must.Hold.Tongue. when he comes back tonight to work on his bike.
Ok, so the longest wedding rehearsal in recorded history (last night) was a lovely wedding today. The bride was only 10 minutes late.
My feet hurt.
Glad the wedding went well, Sue.
Kthy A. Yes, 100% right that his drinking isn't mine to fix, but I can choose not to be around him or have my kids around him when he's intoxicated. I do think it will be helpful for me to be more set in my own mind about that, and about not allowing him to interfere with my parenting.
Sarah at R., actually my kids fluctuate between being uncomfortable with him and thinking he's one of their favorite people. They had been uncomfortable with him last summer, but since he backed off on the touching they seem to have mostly decided they really like him at the moment. Especially my 3yo, who tends to make a beeline toward his house whenever we're outside and she sees him in the yard.
I second the nomination for Amy for old-skool.
And, Sue, I'm so sorry the 30-hour work week didn't go over. Ugh. But I'm glad you have hope.
And hugs to everyone I missed.
Oh, and I'm still coughing. I'd really like it if the cough would go away one of these weeks.
In a hurry, but many outstanding whines here. Hugs to PK and Margalit.
Whine--Went yesterday to the hairdresser--she's been doing my hair for years and does a good job. But she "got bored" with my current style (a chin-length bob) and CUT OFF most of the length and put in quite a bit of layering. It's cute, I suppose--I used to have a somewhat similar style. I spent a long time growing it out to get this bob.
And she didn't ASK me before cutting away. I had no clue she'd made a significant change until she got done drying it. I'm not good at hair & hate having to re-learn how to fix it. It's worse because I'm leaving on a trip first thing tomorrow.
AW--The trip is to the City Like No Other to visit Dancing Girl. Firstborn is meeting me there. The Muppets already took Manhattan. Now it's our turn!
Oops! Gotta go. Hold down the fort pixies; I'll be back in a few days.
NUD
There must be a special place in hell for hairdressers who change your style without asking permission. (Says the woman who has had the exact same hairstyle since mid-1993.)
I agree madeleine - stylist whines are especially heinous. it's as if they don't know the power they wield with those tiny scissors.
NUD, ack!
I'd appreciate any thoughts and prayers for our family on DH's side. We had a family gathering tonight. FIL was ambulanced to the hospital about 10 minutes before we arrived.
He seems to be stable at the moment, but things may be very unpredictable since he has cancer and a heart condition, each of which we were told 3 years ago had a 1-3-year lifespan.
Post a Comment