What is wrong?
Is it silly to go to the Emergency Room on a Sunday afternoon with a miserable toddler - alone, with his three brothers in tow? His temperature is soaring, but I can't get a thermometer near him. There's goo draining out of every hole on his face. I'm running out of tissues. Maybe I should skip the ER and go stock up on white goods at Walmart instead. Not sure which would be easier.
We make it through the night on Tylenol - what's left of it after the baby opens the child-proof cap and dumps the sticky purple liquid over his pajamas and the bedroom rug. Somehow he manages not to drink it. I sleep lightly; holding my breath for the next illness to strike in the wee hours.
 |
| Puffy brothers. |
Seven a.m. A four year old comes down the stairs to greet me; I do a double take behind my coffee. His face is so puffed up he can barely see through the slits where his eyes used to be. His older brother follows, looking similar. Who are these children and what do I do with them? When the three year old appears, still grabbing at his ears and fussing, all productive plans for the day go out the window.
So much for doing homeschool lessons this morning. And laundry. I need to share the misery with someone paid to listen to me.
I call in the big guns - grandma joins us at the clinic to hug babies and take the attention off the frazzled mother with snot on her shoulder. I try to remember everyone's birthdays in order. If I get it wrong, will you still see him?
Henry's batting a 101 temperature average and an ear infection.
Shiloh and Gavin must have reacted to the sunscreen from yesterday. We won't use that brand again. Gavin also has pink eye.
Oh, and Shiloh has a rock in his ear. Yes really.
And don't let the baby chew on his toes anymore. He can't feel them and is losing skin and toenails.
I wonder if we are the patients they talk about around the water cooler after we leave.
Thanks, Grandma. You survived admirably. Would you like a pebble for a memento? Shiloh kept it warm for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment