Tag: health

children, family, gratitude, health, kids, motherhood

Love is Patient, Love is Kind

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I’m actually kind of speechless. Since I am a writer what does that make me? Wordless?

I cannot wrap my brain around the fact that we were given the greenlight to have my dog come home. About two years before I started this blog, we had to relocate her because T.Puzzle wa allergic to her. It was heartbreaking to lose her but it was the right thing to do. He basically had a runny nose for the entire first year and half of his life. I knew as soon as the words ‘dog allergy’ left the doctor’s mouth, my dog had to go.

As the years have gone by, T.Puzzle’s health began to improve. His eczema vanished, he outgrew his egg allergy and he had less and less sick days at school. Recently, I had started to suspect that his dog allergy had diminished as well. For my own peace of mind I scheduled an allergy test. It showed a vast improvement in his dog allergy which means my little, white fluffy ball of love can come home!

She is not a perfect dog and certainly no longer a puppy. She is sometimes a dog only a ‘mother’ could love. It is also very possible T.Puzzle may not respond well to having her around. There are a lot of variables I have no control over.

What I can control is how much I love her. I plan to care for her for as long as I have her. I want to give back to her at least some of the unconditional love that she has given me. She sat with me every day while I had the worst morning sickness of my life during my pregnancy with Full Speed. She would snuggle up for the long haul when I had yet another pregnancy related migraine or vein infection in my legs (yes, it is miraculous I endeavored pregnancy twice). It was during that time that she taught me about loyalty, patience and love.

Her official return date is early next week. I still can’t believe she is coming home. The good news is, she never once has left my heart.

Newborn Full Speed is carefully watched over
Newborn Full Speed is carefully watched over
T.Puzzle gets a little love
Baby T.Puzzle gets some of that unconditional love
children, family, health, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Tell Him Something He Doesn’t Know

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Today Full Speed had an evaluation by an allergist.  I have suspected that he may have some seasonal issues and frankly, if he has my DNA, odds are he might be allergic to something.  Fire ants, anyone?

He was quiet as we waited for the nurse to perform his skin tests.  He did not enjoy the process.  He writhed about and complained vociferously as over 50 scratches of allergens were placed up and down the length of his back.  Then, all we had to do was wait fifteen minutes for the results.  He questioned me emphatically as to why this craziness had to be done, and I said so we could better understand how to treat him when he is sneezy.

“Once the doctor returns, he’s going to ‘read’ the marks on your back and let us know if you’re allergic to anything,” I explained.

“I already know, Mom.  I’m allergic to needles,” he said.  At this point he was ready to pack it up and be on his way.

Good point.

Miraculously, despite his direct genetic link to me, he was allergic to absolutely nothing (switched at birth?).  Well, not including the needles.

children, family, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Armed with Love

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Look, Mom! My huge pipes are just fine.

T.Puzzle is now doing really well so I feel comfortable writing this.  On Thursday after school, it came to my attention that he had developed a skin infection on his right bicep.  He came waltzing into the dining room where I have the boys’ homework stations set up (yes, kindergartners have homework these days), and proudly announced, “Hey, look at my big muscle!”  He thought his swollen bicep was hysterically funny.  If my Mommy alarm hadn’t gone off at full volume, I would have thought my little Popeye was hilarious, too.  Instead, by the feel of his heated, red skin, I knew it was time to head to urgent care.

He was quickly diagnosed with a soft tissue infection and prescribed an oral antibiotic.  Fortunately, he seemed to act fine, didn’t have a fever and by all accounts, looked as if he would make a speedy and complete recovery (so far, so good).

Any reasonable person would probably think that T.Puzzle was in no danger.  As a not-so-reasonable Mom, my mind kept going to scary, flesh-eating bacteria places, and I couldn’t get myself back. I hovered over him like crazy and kept wishing I could give him my arm to replace his infected one.  T.Puzzle responded to all this over-attention by patiently allowing me to smooch him dozens of times, and saying it was okay to snuggle with him because he could still hug me with his ‘good arm’.

As I explained to Mad Dog why I had become so consumed with worry over a very typical, routine sort of infection kids get all the time, when it comes to any possible threat to your offspring, logic leaves you.  It gets up, runs away and is almost impossible to retrieve.

Even with two good arms.

motherhood

Mom’s Day Off

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Mad Dog thinks this note is highly entertaining. I plan to make several copies and use it indefinitely on an as needed basis.

See?  I even had medical documentation to take a day off.

It all started off innocently enough.  We were headed to a car show with the boys.  It was at a car dealership nearby and had reached full capacity for parking.  We were redirected to a field where we could hop on a van to return us safely to the show across the highway teeming with cars.   As we got on the van and I held T.Puzzle on my lap, a fire ant got hold of my left foot and went to town.  By the time his attack was over I had been bitten at least five times.  I have been allergic to these bites in the past but I have never had five bites at once. My body decided it was having none of it.

The reaction was almost instant.  I will spare you some of the humbling details.  Let’s just say there were hives EVERYWHERE.  My body felt like it was a mass of fiery itching.

Instead of a car show, we dropped the boys at Grandma’s and spent a lovely afternoon at Express Care.

There absolutely were some positives.  The nurse and doctor I had were exceptional.  They made sure I had a blanket when I got chilled so I could nap (yes, that’s right, you read correctly, a MOM got a nap during the day!), they put cool compresses on my swollen foot and generally fussed over me the way a Mom fusses over her own sick kids.  And, the steroid and Benadryl shots the nurse administered were miraculous in how quickly they improved my symptoms.  My body has actually returned to human form overnight.

Wow, what a Mom won’t do to get a little attention and a day off!

bad day, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Next?

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It’s official.  The internal struggle is over.  I am ready for the boys to start school.  This home stretch to their first day is taking a toll.  Every day I strive to keep them physically active.  Every day I work with them to keep their minds growing.  Every day I make sure all of their needs and most of their demands are met. 

I am doing my part.  Apparently it is not enough.  No matter how much I have planned I get asked by the boys ‘What are we doing next?’ about 557 times a day. 

If I get asked one more time today this same question I’m pretty sure my head is going to explode.

Believe me the irony will not be lost on me when after it explodes I will have to clean up the mess myself. 

Inevitably one or both boys might say, “After you are done cleaning up that mess, Mom, what are we doing next?”

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