I had an appointment today with my pain doctor for my neck. I like him and feel he listens and blah blah. However, he is super chatty, he will talk your ear off. So today he started talking about the education system and how messed up it is and what should be done. Which, he knows I am a teacher, and proceeds to tell me that once teachers have tenure, they don't feel the need to work anymore. Ummmmm, so you're telling me I don't do anything anymore? That seems like a poor choice. I have been teaching for 13 years and bust my butt, as do 99% of the teachers I know. I am the first to admit there are some crappy teachers, and a few changes should be made but telling a patient that they are bad because they have been at the job too long?
I felt like I couldn't really get to upset because he will be giving me neck injections at some point. And quite honestly, I don't feel like having to defend my profession everywhere I go. I don't to his office and tell him what is wrong with health care. These would have been better topics:
My neck and current pain levels
Plans to treat above
Weather
Local sports team
New movie releases
What I am eating for dinner
When was the last time I scrubbed the toilets at home
I don't truly think he meant to offend, and he seems like a nice guy, just maybe politics should not be discussed with clients or patients.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Really?!?
Since the end of March, Maddie has had two ear infections, strep, and now scarlet fever*. Ellie has also had two ear infections, some other viral thing, Owen had some sort of virus with a fever and red eyes.
Honestly, I can't take it anymore. At one point Maddie's fever went up to 105, I felt like I was running around the house with one of those thought bubbles that said " oh shit, do we go to the ER?" going around in my head. I could hear of speak to anyone I was freaking out so much. We did not go, we were able to get the fever down with Tylenol. She had missed her last dose, because, ironically (I think this is actual irony, feel free to correct me) we were at the doctors office because she was sick. Oh universe, you are so funny.
*Scarlet fever is strep but with a rash... who knew?
Honestly, I can't take it anymore. At one point Maddie's fever went up to 105, I felt like I was running around the house with one of those thought bubbles that said " oh shit, do we go to the ER?" going around in my head. I could hear of speak to anyone I was freaking out so much. We did not go, we were able to get the fever down with Tylenol. She had missed her last dose, because, ironically (I think this is actual irony, feel free to correct me) we were at the doctors office because she was sick. Oh universe, you are so funny.
*Scarlet fever is strep but with a rash... who knew?
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Well....
What an awfully long pause. No point doing the whole "why I haven't posted in decade" thing. Everyone one knows, everyone is busy. I have been reading and commenting when I can think of any think to say.
Like everyone else, we have suffered with the unholy plague of 2011. We have been to the new pharmacy* 3 frillion times in the last 6 weeks. On the first saturday of spring break Maddie woke up with blood shot eyes. We figured pink-eye and took her and Ellie to the doctor ASAP. She had been coughing for a week or so, and had a low grade fever. It was not pink eye, she had coughed so hard she had broken blood vessels in her EYES. That was disturbing. Both also had ear infections and some giant tonsils.
Owen is currently on his second day home, with a fever. Usually my kids are pretty healthy. [Which I am totally taking credit for, when they are 60 with a heart like a 20 year old I will say "It's because I nursed you for a year damn it. Be grateful.] So this 6 weeks or so of crap is killing us, and using up tons of sick days. On a better note only 7 more weeks until summer vacation.
* Story for another day this week.
Like everyone else, we have suffered with the unholy plague of 2011. We have been to the new pharmacy* 3 frillion times in the last 6 weeks. On the first saturday of spring break Maddie woke up with blood shot eyes. We figured pink-eye and took her and Ellie to the doctor ASAP. She had been coughing for a week or so, and had a low grade fever. It was not pink eye, she had coughed so hard she had broken blood vessels in her EYES. That was disturbing. Both also had ear infections and some giant tonsils.
Owen is currently on his second day home, with a fever. Usually my kids are pretty healthy. [Which I am totally taking credit for, when they are 60 with a heart like a 20 year old I will say "It's because I nursed you for a year damn it. Be grateful.] So this 6 weeks or so of crap is killing us, and using up tons of sick days. On a better note only 7 more weeks until summer vacation.
* Story for another day this week.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sick Day!
Ellie has been sick with a fever for the last two days, so I am home with her today.
First a visual aid:
4:15 am -4:30am Neighbor's barking dog wakes me up.
5:20 Ellie wakes up, luckily I am still awake from the dog.
7:00 Bud leaves with the kids
7:02 Ellie hits her head on the counter and cries
7:03 Yo Gabba Gabba (apparently you shouldn't hit your friends, are they advocating hitting non- f riends? must check into this)
7:10 Ellie hits her head on the table and cries
9:00 Ellie falls asleep on me and I realize I have not yet eaten.
9:30 Try laying Ellie on couch, she starts screaming before her eyes open
10:30 Find poop on my sweatpants. 99% sure it is Ellie's, wash laundry
12:00 Lay her down for nap. Eat lunch of tater tots (dipped in butter, they are potatoes, don't judge)
12:11 Yay Ellie's awake
12:15 Ellie hits her head on the fridge and cries. It her head bigger than it was yesterday? What is the problem?
And the rest of the day was a blur of over tired toddler smacking her head into every object in our house, wiping snot on me, and me trying to cook dinner.
However, she did give me a kiss completely on her own. And she got a diaper and layed down on the floor and said "poooop". Clearly she is a genius, at least before she whacked her head 75 more times.
First a visual aid:
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| Saddest baby evah! |
5:20 Ellie wakes up, luckily I am still awake from the dog.
7:00 Bud leaves with the kids
7:02 Ellie hits her head on the counter and cries
7:03 Yo Gabba Gabba (apparently you shouldn't hit your friends, are they advocating hitting non- f riends? must check into this)
7:10 Ellie hits her head on the table and cries
9:00 Ellie falls asleep on me and I realize I have not yet eaten.
9:30 Try laying Ellie on couch, she starts screaming before her eyes open
10:30 Find poop on my sweatpants. 99% sure it is Ellie's, wash laundry
12:00 Lay her down for nap. Eat lunch of tater tots (dipped in butter, they are potatoes, don't judge)
12:11 Yay Ellie's awake
12:15 Ellie hits her head on the fridge and cries. It her head bigger than it was yesterday? What is the problem?
And the rest of the day was a blur of over tired toddler smacking her head into every object in our house, wiping snot on me, and me trying to cook dinner.
However, she did give me a kiss completely on her own. And she got a diaper and layed down on the floor and said "poooop". Clearly she is a genius, at least before she whacked her head 75 more times.
Monday, December 20, 2010
You only think they aren't listening
Owen brought a ton of stuff home in his backpack this week, we found this amongst the pile.
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| Easier to read if you double click |
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| double click to gahhh you already know |
Monday, November 8, 2010
Why do YOU have cats????
When you think of all the reasons a person might have cats you think maybe:
cute
companionship
funny personality
low time commitment
mostly self sufficient
apartment sized
Or if you are more practical:
less smelly than dogs
eat bugs
keep feet warm at night
scares away mice
eats mice to stupid to be scared
We have two cats. Two (2) (dos) (deux)
So imagine my surprise a year ago when we had ........ an effing mouse living in our house. I lost my shit. Bud was doing a lot of trap setting, not a lot of mouse catching. I suggested putting the cat food away, eventually they would get hungry enough to DO. THEIR. JOB. For some reason Bud didn't like my suggestion ( I still think it's good). It took a week or so before he finally caught it. Whew.
Then a week and a half ago I went to the kitchen to make lunch and out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. I never really SAW anything, but I was pretty sure it was another mouse. I pretty much stood in one spot crying for ten minutes. So again Bud put out the traps, I glared at the cats and nothing happened. Then one day I saw the bastard run across the counter. Bud hurried an moved things off the counter while I stood on a chair screaming "There, there, there it is, there, there on the counter" in an endless loop. He finally trapped it in a bowl and took it outside, he meant to release it over the back wall, but it got out in our yard. Awesome.
Two days later Rigby (gray cat) struts into the house with live mothafrackin mouse, and lets it GO. In. my. house. Luckily Bud saw it grabbed it by the tail, ran out and threw it way over the wall into the street. (He is my hero, also he scrubbed his hands really good). What kind of cat does that? Srsly
Three days after that? Chloe (orange cat) does the same damn thing during dinner. I first ran screaming, but figured I better help catch it if we didn't want it in the house. I grabbed a broom, Bud got a diaper and we chased it back and forth til Bud caught it. It was d-e-a-d but Bud told Owen it was just playing dead, like a possum. It would totally come back to life out on the street.
I hate my cats. Obviously we need to keep the screen door locked because they can open it. However, the children are not overly conscientious about keeping it closed. Every time one of the cats comes in I check it's mouth before I open the door.
Anybody want an extra cat or two?
cute
companionship
funny personality
low time commitment
mostly self sufficient
apartment sized
Or if you are more practical:
less smelly than dogs
eat bugs
keep feet warm at night
scares away mice
eats mice to stupid to be scared
We have two cats. Two (2) (dos) (deux)
 |
| The water is there all day, I don't know why they both get thirsty at the same time |
Then a week and a half ago I went to the kitchen to make lunch and out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. I never really SAW anything, but I was pretty sure it was another mouse. I pretty much stood in one spot crying for ten minutes. So again Bud put out the traps, I glared at the cats and nothing happened. Then one day I saw the bastard run across the counter. Bud hurried an moved things off the counter while I stood on a chair screaming "There, there, there it is, there, there on the counter" in an endless loop. He finally trapped it in a bowl and took it outside, he meant to release it over the back wall, but it got out in our yard. Awesome.
Two days later Rigby (gray cat) struts into the house with live mothafrackin mouse, and lets it GO. In. my. house. Luckily Bud saw it grabbed it by the tail, ran out and threw it way over the wall into the street. (He is my hero, also he scrubbed his hands really good). What kind of cat does that? Srsly
Three days after that? Chloe (orange cat) does the same damn thing during dinner. I first ran screaming, but figured I better help catch it if we didn't want it in the house. I grabbed a broom, Bud got a diaper and we chased it back and forth til Bud caught it. It was d-e-a-d but Bud told Owen it was just playing dead, like a possum. It would totally come back to life out on the street.
I hate my cats. Obviously we need to keep the screen door locked because they can open it. However, the children are not overly conscientious about keeping it closed. Every time one of the cats comes in I check it's mouth before I open the door.
Anybody want an extra cat or two?
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Terrible Fours??
I have started this post so many times, but I am determined to push through it today. I have no idea what to do about Maddie. Last year was tough with her, but she was three so we figured things would get better. We thought starting preschool this year would help. But the last few weeks have been a nightmare.
At school she is an angel, everyone there loves her. They tell me how kind, and sweet and wonderful she is for them. I don't know that girl, the girl I know is angry and stubborn and always on edge. I see brief glimpses of the girl they know, but she is a fleeting image. The girl I live with dominates the house with her frustration and anger.
We are trying new behavior systems, Owen and Maddie each start the day with three magnets. Fighting, or freak outs or tantrums result in the loss of a magnet. Once they lose all three, they go to bed. We keep track of how many they had at the end of the day and have a reward at the end of the week if they earned it.
On Monday, the first day, Maddie lost one in the car on the way home. She was losing her shit because her artwork did not fit her homework folder. When we got home she started her homework. The assignment was to circle pictures that started with the letter M. There was a bottle of medicine with a spoon next to it. She knew medicine started with an M, but spoon started with an S so it shouldn't be circled. BUT, there was no way to circle only the medicine without also touching the spoon. We tried explaining that the spoon was part of the medicine. No dice. She started screaming and scribbling on the paper. We finally had to take her to her room and leave her there until dinner.
When she traces her letters, she cries because she "can't write the letters perfectly". Her grammar is very precise for her age. She loses her mind when she can't do something "right". We keep trying to explain, practice....blah, blah.
She is so mean to Ellie, she pushes her down, takes things away, has said she wants Ellie to be eaten by a monster. I get the resentment, I do. But lately she has been going into Ellie's room and waking her up from her naps. Which just kills us, Ellie is super unpleasant without a nap. She lashes out at Owen, hitting him, and scratching him until he bleeds. He does torment her, and I think she waits until he doesn't expect it. Which, I get.
What really gets to me, are her meltdowns. She will lose her mind completely, even if she is getting her way. Today she spent 20 minutes crying because she wanted to wear legging, and I said OK. But she felt she was going to be to hot. So I said, don't wear them. Then she said but she wants to wear them. Ok. But what if she was to hot. She argued with herself for 20 minutes. I have no idea how to handle that.
Once she starts a meltdown there is no way to stop her. I know this all sound like typical 4 year old stuff. I can't put into words how it feels around here. I wake up every morning wondering how bad things will get. When we get to the end of the day at work, we dread coming home. We just don't know how to help her, I am afraid we are doing it wrong and we will ruin her.
Should we get a child psychologist for her? Should I drink more? Maybe I could stay with my mom until Maddie is six?
At school she is an angel, everyone there loves her. They tell me how kind, and sweet and wonderful she is for them. I don't know that girl, the girl I know is angry and stubborn and always on edge. I see brief glimpses of the girl they know, but she is a fleeting image. The girl I live with dominates the house with her frustration and anger.
We are trying new behavior systems, Owen and Maddie each start the day with three magnets. Fighting, or freak outs or tantrums result in the loss of a magnet. Once they lose all three, they go to bed. We keep track of how many they had at the end of the day and have a reward at the end of the week if they earned it.
On Monday, the first day, Maddie lost one in the car on the way home. She was losing her shit because her artwork did not fit her homework folder. When we got home she started her homework. The assignment was to circle pictures that started with the letter M. There was a bottle of medicine with a spoon next to it. She knew medicine started with an M, but spoon started with an S so it shouldn't be circled. BUT, there was no way to circle only the medicine without also touching the spoon. We tried explaining that the spoon was part of the medicine. No dice. She started screaming and scribbling on the paper. We finally had to take her to her room and leave her there until dinner.
When she traces her letters, she cries because she "can't write the letters perfectly". Her grammar is very precise for her age. She loses her mind when she can't do something "right". We keep trying to explain, practice....blah, blah.
She is so mean to Ellie, she pushes her down, takes things away, has said she wants Ellie to be eaten by a monster. I get the resentment, I do. But lately she has been going into Ellie's room and waking her up from her naps. Which just kills us, Ellie is super unpleasant without a nap. She lashes out at Owen, hitting him, and scratching him until he bleeds. He does torment her, and I think she waits until he doesn't expect it. Which, I get.
What really gets to me, are her meltdowns. She will lose her mind completely, even if she is getting her way. Today she spent 20 minutes crying because she wanted to wear legging, and I said OK. But she felt she was going to be to hot. So I said, don't wear them. Then she said but she wants to wear them. Ok. But what if she was to hot. She argued with herself for 20 minutes. I have no idea how to handle that.
Once she starts a meltdown there is no way to stop her. I know this all sound like typical 4 year old stuff. I can't put into words how it feels around here. I wake up every morning wondering how bad things will get. When we get to the end of the day at work, we dread coming home. We just don't know how to help her, I am afraid we are doing it wrong and we will ruin her.
Should we get a child psychologist for her? Should I drink more? Maybe I could stay with my mom until Maddie is six?
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