Lots of people have already been back to school for several weeks, but the Baboos start on Wednesday. So, back to school whining it is. Though I actually have NO whines about sending them back to school. In fact, I may have a party.
Thank you to all the pixies for all of the prayers, good thoughts, and crossed fingers for Sweet's foot surgery. For those not following along on facebook, here is the recap. If you were following along, you can just skip this part. We went on Monday for a last consultation with the doctor, when he decided to operate on only one foot (the left), as the right looked better than he had remembered. (By the way, this is corrective surgery for club feet, in no way related to her prematurity). This was confirmed by some way-cool technological foot testing. (A pressure plate and a picture of the bottom of her feet while she was standing on them. Very nifty stuff). Tuesday was the surgery, when he put a pin in her heel bone and cut one of the long tendons on the inside side of her foot to lengthen it. The pin was to correct the heel bone's angle without more tendon damage, thereby resulting in a stronger foot in the end. But that necessitated a thigh-high gigantic purple cast. Like it's bigger than she is. We were expecting a knee length walking cast but got this instead. The next 48 hours were not very pretty, with variations on "my tummy hurts" and general grumpiness. Anesthesia stinks. Cast will stay on for 6 weeks, then after another surgery to remove the pin, a knee-length walking cast for 2-3 weeks, then we aren't sure what yet. She is figuring out how to maneuver around the house, and we hope to return to our regularly scheduled chaos soon.
Hospital related whine: pretty sure I have a mild case of NICU PTSD. The hand sanitizer smelled the same. The pulse ox monitor alarmed the same. I was extremely ready to be discharged, and we may have left without signing something we were supposed to. They know where to find us.
That's pretty much all that's been going on in my world, to the exclusion of things like buying toilet paper and washing clothes. What's happening with you, pixies?
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26 comments:
There is absolutely nothing soothing or peaceful about the contemporary hospital experience. One night in the pookie for my hysterectomy has left emotional scars so I can only imagine what it was like for you having to revisit those horrible NICU memories. Anyway, may the time in itchy, heavy, immobolizing casts pass quickly.
My whine is that going across six states to see my beloved step daughter graduate HS will be not less than $2K for one weekend. If we fly, that is doubled. Travel to small towns in states with few electoral votes kinda sucks. At least it is near an interstate so there are crappy motels that have rooms for rent. At exorbitant prices. It's not quite Windy City pricing but given that I actually like the Windy City, you get my consternation. Oh, and it is the same time the other team lead is trying to travel abroad.
Double whine: One more year I don't get a "real" vacation. I also hope this doesn't mean I won't be able to afford one week along Lake Michigan with my good pals. Unlike family and ex-laws, they are kind, cultured, considerate, and caring. Getting a week off for a trip where all but my mother intend to shun me and then possibly not getting a week off for my real friends is also not making me have happy feelings.
The kids are back to school tomorrow. The logistics are already nearly impossible.
Pass me the cloning potion please.
poor sweet! anesthesia really does suck, and so do hospitals. sounds like she is ding great now, even with the giant purple cast! at least it isn't two casts!
miranda, congrats on your stepdaughter's graduation! but wow, that sounds like a grueling trip. boy, that family thing where you expect mass shunning does NOT sound like fun. hope you get that week with friends that you really need.
i'm making plans for boxing up all my giant project stuff and clearing the decks for the next project, but somehow it has not really moved into the implementation stage yet.
instead, i'm mucking around, and sewing some quilts for the local shelter. (i'm selling this to myself as a housekeeping project; this ridiculous amount of fabric is taking up space.)
miranda is an early contender for mullet, with "pass me the cloning potion, please."
I totally want the cloning potion, Miranda. What a fantastic idea.
I feel like I have used up my whines but I'm in a parenting crisis right now due to some very poor choices. I also hate the dominant culture. These items are closely related. The worst part is I think all of this was A Cry For Attention. I hate passive aggressive and this kid is exceptionally verbal. If desired, this kid could be captain of any debate team anywhere. I'm annoyed because I feel like we are back to toddlerhood, "Sweetie, use your words to tell Mommy how you feel."
Thank goodness there is only one more kid to guide through puberty. I am so over this parenting gig some days.
(But as I said on FB, I am also keenly aware of how little time I have left with them and that makes me sad too.)
miranda, anyone parenting a teen-ish person in passive-aggressive and/or meltdown mode deserves a trophy. it really is that hard sometimes, and not just in your house. xoxo
hugs and party favours for the back to school celebrations!
I'm glad Sweet is coming along, but it is just so awful to watch your baby go to surgery. Been there, it was terrible. Hugs for everyone and boo to hospital memories!
(((Miranda))) I hope you get to go to Lake Michigan. It sounds like you will need it. Sympathies on the teen thing. *shudder*
kathy a - quilting to clear away accumulated fabric! I love it!
AW: great return to work on Sunday. Good to see everyone again, nice coffee time/reception after service. Lovely!
W: Two days. Two days back in the office and the list of "Immediate Urgent Red-Alert" crises continues to grow. This may have something to do with my exhaustion last spring when I started sabbatical.
AW: The difference is that now I'm rested, have a much clearer perspective, and feel better able to juggle it all and let a few things fall into the capable hands of others.
Hugs for the overworked and the over-teenager-ed.
hi, sue! sounds like your sabbatical was much needed, and it did the job of healing. and a nice welcome-back!
so, on to the triage! everybody is going to think their thing is top of the list, but they can't all be. excellent that delegating is in the tool-box!
p.s. to miranda -- now that i think about it, this sounds like one of those very scary parenting situations. xoxox
you have not used up all your whines!
Whine: Arianna's dad picked her up for the one of two overnights he has with her, and treated me just like something he'd scrape off the bottom of his shoe. YOU HIT GIRLS, YOU CREEP. DON'T LOOK SO FIREPLACING SMUG. (Is there some kind of award I can get for *not* bringing the Bodily Fluids, especially someone else's?? Grrr.)
Antiwhine: They're *really* small shoes, if you catch my drift. Heh. Also, having a place to whine again takes the edge off wanting to smack him with a Cluestick.
Also, my house smells like yummy food, and the cookbook work is going much faster now that school is in session. Virtual grain-free chocolate-chunk brownies all around ;)
(Esperanza, I totally get you on the hospital PTSD. And tell your Sweet Baboo that putting up with the nasty surgery and casts is going to allow her to not ruin all of her cool shoes by oversupinating, like I do to mine! Such a brave girl!
Oh Esperanza - full cast! ugh! Hope she figures it out and time flies. Oh my.
Miranda - I'm so sorry. I hate not feeling like there is enough time or vacation to do the things that enrich the soul.
Sue - sounds like the sabbatical was good, even if the transition is hard.
Debangel - whining is good. So good. Hope the situation improves.
Whine: the kids are having good days at school so of course they are short tempered at home.
Whine of unbloggable nature: my expectations and reality so rarely get along. And I am too damn stubborn.
Debangel, I'd forgotten about your feet. She's now wearing out the toe of her good foot's shoe by crawling around. Ah well, shoes are replaceable.
Sarah, your last whines are mine! How did you know. What is with the good behavior at school and crummy behavior at home? And expectations and reality, how seldom they get alone
AW: It felt *really* good to disappear some toys and organize the rest of them while the Baboos were at school today.
AW: The Baboos were at school today!!!
Esperanza - good for you for the toy arrangements.
I don't even think I have words - but WHINE! RAGE! I'm even thinking in ALL CAPS. Wow.
mmm, debangel. thanks for the brownie! phooey on the creep.
i remember the kids being angels at school, then melting down at home. i think that they are so engaged at school that they just get worn out; and also, it is safer to be crabby at home. so, it's kind of a compliment! kind of.
yay for the toy roundup!
((( sarah )))
(((debangel)))
(((Sarah)))
I have a smart son
A son so smart he makes jokes
on and in haiku
Also, he's a geek.
liz and her son for style! both poetry and style divisions.
Yay for Liz and her creative son!!
my good college friend -- you know, the one i could always talk to, even in panic? the one who made me sing and laugh, who loves birds and quotes poetry? she wound up in the hospital with a bowel obstruction, and her surgery was supposed to happen today, but yadda ya put off.
she's at the hospital where my mom died. it's a good hospital, and my friend isn't dying. and bless the young volunteers in the gift shop, who really had no idea how to take this order, but found a perfect vase of fuschia roses, and the very cutest stuffed cat they had ("they look great together!), and worked around the lack of "get well soon" flower cards.
i met her 37 years ago. i don't know how that number is even possible, but it's true.
and next week -- happy hour with my best friend from high school, who i met close to 50 years ago, although we didn't really become good friends for another 10 years.
these are antiwhines, the long ties that hold us together.
Excuse me, the *hospital* gift shop had no get well cards?
Hope she's better pdq.
Awards tomorrow? Not tonight.
we work with what we've got, right? they wrote my message on something, and ran it on up to the room.
Oh, Kathy. {{hugs}} Hospital PTSD is the worst! I remember, about 2.5 years after my mom died of lung cancer, having to go to Urgent Care for walking pneumonia. The minute I saw the hospital gown on the bed and heard the "hiss" of the oxygen, I burst into hysterical sobs. My ex-husband (the really, really nice guy) actually held my hand, because my then-SO was busy that evening. I vote we give you the Virtual Stuffed Kitty-Cat Award for awesome friendship in the face of awful memories.
I need to go make some more virtual brownies now!
Oh Kathy - scary stuff. The Get Well Soon award too!
Can I just whine that tonight is my one night of alone Sarah time? 3 weeks backward and 2 weeks forward. And that's OK. Except the stupid mortgage processor screwed up the paperwork and my ex and my kids were still here at 7:30 and they decided it would just be easier if they stayed the night. Because they have to be here early for my ex to take my oldest to cheerlead at a game (and leave the other 2 with me). And while that's not unreasonable...I lost my night off. And grr. ugh. argh. And it isn't unreasonable I want a night off. I went to Target. It was OK. But argh!
sarah -- THAT IS NO FAIR! xoxo
esperanza, i forgot to say this before, but one cannot stress enough the importance of having adequate TP reserves. conveniently located.
my friend is hanging in there. apparently the surgery was postponed because of signs that "this too might pass." ahem. she's pretty miserable in the meanwhile. and this story features the conundrum of: pain meds cause constipation. as emily litella used to say, "if it's not one thing, it's another."
cross fingers, because daughter is applying for a PAID internship at a decent zoo! and everybody else in the world will also be applying. so, onward ho! cross fingers!
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