So, the Howler does have a sinus infection. And an ear infection. And another ear infection. But no wheeze. But it sounds "rough" in there--I assume that that's a medical term the doc used to say, "Well, no wheeze, YET, so let's do something now, before it gets worse."
They asked if we had a compressor for the nebulizer. We said yes, then My Sweetie asked me if I knew where it was. (The doc looked at us like we were stupid at this point.)
The good news is that, yes, we do have one, and yes, I do know where it is. The better news is that, since we had to think a minute where it was, YES! We don't need it all that often!
The bad news is that I won't be sleeping much tonight. I've seen the statistics on asthma, and they worry me. I worry on every cough she has...
I should've called the doc last week (not that the Gator was right) when she told me she needed to rest--but did not use her rescue inhaler--in gym class last week. Might not've changed anything, but, well, you know.
Currently awaiting My Sweetie, bearing tubing and nebulizer cups and meds and masks.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Poor, Poor Howler Baby
The Howler is sick. Actually, truly, definitely sick.
Sniffles started about 10 days ago, and we've been doing the Aunt Millie Shuffle since. (My Sweetie's Aunt Millie would obsess about colds...said she had a cold for 7 years once. Same cold. No matter how many times it cleared up, it was exactly the same cold when she caught it again. And don't even ask about bridges or railroad crossings.)
Anyway, the sniffles developed into flat out congestion. Then, over the weekend, coughing. Today, she woke up with a sore throat. My Sweetie, God love him, grabbed a flashlight and wanted "to take a look." I told him to not bother--I'd already decided yesterday that I'd be calling the doc today, so there's no point in giving Aunt Millie Jr something more to obsess about.
She didn't go to school, and the earliest the doc can see her is 3pm. I work at 4. That means the Little Mister is going to the doc's with us.
No, not because Dad can't handle it, but because I do better at making sure my Howler is well taken care of (remember, I argued against the antibiotic, and I don't let them blow off that little wheeze when they hear it--and yes, sometimes the docs in this practice try to do that.)
I have no desire to spend any part of Christmas in the ER with an asthma attack, and I refuse to be lazy enough (I know, amazing...the Slacker Mom is all proactive and demanding when it comes to NOT having the usual asthma experiences) to end up with her actually admitted to the pediatric ward. Haven't yet, and don't plan on it EVER.
So the poor poor Howler baby is playing the Aunt Millie angle to the hilt...and whinging every chance she gets.
Sniffles started about 10 days ago, and we've been doing the Aunt Millie Shuffle since. (My Sweetie's Aunt Millie would obsess about colds...said she had a cold for 7 years once. Same cold. No matter how many times it cleared up, it was exactly the same cold when she caught it again. And don't even ask about bridges or railroad crossings.)
Anyway, the sniffles developed into flat out congestion. Then, over the weekend, coughing. Today, she woke up with a sore throat. My Sweetie, God love him, grabbed a flashlight and wanted "to take a look." I told him to not bother--I'd already decided yesterday that I'd be calling the doc today, so there's no point in giving Aunt Millie Jr something more to obsess about.
She didn't go to school, and the earliest the doc can see her is 3pm. I work at 4. That means the Little Mister is going to the doc's with us.
No, not because Dad can't handle it, but because I do better at making sure my Howler is well taken care of (remember, I argued against the antibiotic, and I don't let them blow off that little wheeze when they hear it--and yes, sometimes the docs in this practice try to do that.)
I have no desire to spend any part of Christmas in the ER with an asthma attack, and I refuse to be lazy enough (I know, amazing...the Slacker Mom is all proactive and demanding when it comes to NOT having the usual asthma experiences) to end up with her actually admitted to the pediatric ward. Haven't yet, and don't plan on it EVER.
So the poor poor Howler baby is playing the Aunt Millie angle to the hilt...and whinging every chance she gets.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Please Explain
The big hoopla at the schools this Christmas season is the "play" the 4th & 5th graders are putting on across the district. It's based on the greenhouse effect, and yaps, apparently, about Santa and how all our American Consumerism is killing the elves. Letters to the editor don't get too specific, and I haven't seen the thing myself, but it there are actually parents who have pulled their children from participating in it.
Today, the Howler watched an animated video about the meaning and history of Hanukkah.
Please explain to me why it's okay to have the children brow beat their parents with music that says we're killing Santa and the elves, and why is it okay to have the children exposed to Jewish religious traditions and beliefs, but we can't have Christian prayer in public schools?
Today, the Howler watched an animated video about the meaning and history of Hanukkah.
Please explain to me why it's okay to have the children brow beat their parents with music that says we're killing Santa and the elves, and why is it okay to have the children exposed to Jewish religious traditions and beliefs, but we can't have Christian prayer in public schools?
Say It Ain't So
Ah, but it IS so. I can't help it. When I finally find that one little, ridiculous thing...I have to tell people.
Kidz Bop. Know how utterly annoying it is? It's evil. And I owe my brother a severe beat down for making copies of his daughters' (Posey & Butterfly) CDs for mine. If ever there was an action that proved he hated me...
Anyway, My Sweetie is only slightly less evil, since the Howler talked him into buying the Christmas CD from the horrid Kidz Bop crew.
It's full of stupid little voices, and the overly dramatic "I can't get a real singing job, so I ended up working here" divas (yes, even that one male voice, sorry, dude, but you suck too) totally killing any Christmas joy I was experiencing.
Until...
track #14 redeems the whole damnable mess.
It's "Welcome Christmas" or, as it is better known, "That Song the Whos Sing in The Grinch."
Kidz Bop. Know how utterly annoying it is? It's evil. And I owe my brother a severe beat down for making copies of his daughters' (Posey & Butterfly) CDs for mine. If ever there was an action that proved he hated me...
Anyway, My Sweetie is only slightly less evil, since the Howler talked him into buying the Christmas CD from the horrid Kidz Bop crew.
It's full of stupid little voices, and the overly dramatic "I can't get a real singing job, so I ended up working here" divas (yes, even that one male voice, sorry, dude, but you suck too) totally killing any Christmas joy I was experiencing.
Until...
track #14 redeems the whole damnable mess.
It's "Welcome Christmas" or, as it is better known, "That Song the Whos Sing in The Grinch."
It's Proverbial
And Hell is, indeed, freezing over.
The Toad. Oh. Emm. Gee. The Toad.
Lately, he's actually been trying to be human. He's up to something. I just know he is.
Secret Squirrel has stopped calling for him. Because he's up to something. I just know he is.
Last night, he told off the Gator. Because, you know, she's a PITA. And he's up to something.
Today, My Sweetie and I left to go do a mission from God. Getting flowers for church, re doing the bulletin boards, moving the creche figures out to the stable he built. And stuff. When we got home, there was a mystery bag of garbage by the back door.
He's up to something.
He spent the day, with no prompting, begging, or threats, cleaning his pig-hole room.
We are astounded, and quite honestly, more than a little disturbed by this.
The room is clean, AND he's doing laundry. Lots and lots and lots of laundry. Some of it even got folded and put away.
He's up to something. I just know he is.
The Toad. Oh. Emm. Gee. The Toad.
Lately, he's actually been trying to be human. He's up to something. I just know he is.
Secret Squirrel has stopped calling for him. Because he's up to something. I just know he is.
Last night, he told off the Gator. Because, you know, she's a PITA. And he's up to something.
Today, My Sweetie and I left to go do a mission from God. Getting flowers for church, re doing the bulletin boards, moving the creche figures out to the stable he built. And stuff. When we got home, there was a mystery bag of garbage by the back door.
He's up to something.
He spent the day, with no prompting, begging, or threats, cleaning his pig-hole room.
We are astounded, and quite honestly, more than a little disturbed by this.
The room is clean, AND he's doing laundry. Lots and lots and lots of laundry. Some of it even got folded and put away.
He's up to something. I just know he is.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
You Dirty Rat
So tonight I went, as the fundraising co ordinator, to the meeting for 5th grade parents about their trip in the spring. It's a big deal to the kids, and a lot of money...crap loads of money. I was there because depending on a few variables like bus cost and where they were actually going to go, the families of 5th graders might need to do more than a little fundraising.
Turns out, there were funds made available that we had previously been told wouldn't be. YAY!
Several of the Moms kept looking at me like they were trying to figure out which of the 5th graders were mine... and since fundraising for just the 5th graders will be minimal, I was pretty much there as an interested observer. (Although I did get to ask the committee to please let me know their projected fundraising dates before getting them confirmed so that I could be sure that the crap I'm handling won't conflict with theirs. Nobody makes money when the fundraising is all smack up against each other)
One of 'em made the comment that the last hoagie sale would've done better if the delivery date hadn't been on a Friday...well, DUH. It's already been noted: we were pressed for time, and were limited by the availability of the school for sorting and the company's availability to deliver when it wouldn't run into school dismissal with buses and all that. Neener neener
Then, suddenly, there were questions about the much anticipated and feared renovation. Still no firm start date (nothing better than "March 2011) and so I asked about changes for morning drop off*
Yes, I ratted those useless women out. I haven't seen hide nor hair of 'em the past 2 days. Not even in the doorway. And there was the day a few weeks ago when they stood there, totally useless and unhelpful, when whatever the unloading issue was lead a mom to coast her vehicle forward with the passenger door hanging open and the child in the front seat. By the time I got the Howler unloaded and pulled past, the mom was still 1/2 way in the lane, and those two useless lumps were still just standing there.
Oh, yeah. I'm sure they'll be told by someone who it was that ratted them out. And I don't even care. I'm sure no one likes a "tattletale" but you know what? What I witnessed a few weeks ago wasn't safe, and it wasn't right.
I'm meeting with the principal tomorrow AM to ensure that those dayumed hoagies don't get delivered again on a Friday...if she asks I do know who it was, and I will tell her that, too.
Turns out, there were funds made available that we had previously been told wouldn't be. YAY!
Several of the Moms kept looking at me like they were trying to figure out which of the 5th graders were mine... and since fundraising for just the 5th graders will be minimal, I was pretty much there as an interested observer. (Although I did get to ask the committee to please let me know their projected fundraising dates before getting them confirmed so that I could be sure that the crap I'm handling won't conflict with theirs. Nobody makes money when the fundraising is all smack up against each other)
One of 'em made the comment that the last hoagie sale would've done better if the delivery date hadn't been on a Friday...well, DUH. It's already been noted: we were pressed for time, and were limited by the availability of the school for sorting and the company's availability to deliver when it wouldn't run into school dismissal with buses and all that. Neener neener
Then, suddenly, there were questions about the much anticipated and feared renovation. Still no firm start date (nothing better than "March 2011) and so I asked about changes for morning drop off*
Yes, I ratted those useless women out. I haven't seen hide nor hair of 'em the past 2 days. Not even in the doorway. And there was the day a few weeks ago when they stood there, totally useless and unhelpful, when whatever the unloading issue was lead a mom to coast her vehicle forward with the passenger door hanging open and the child in the front seat. By the time I got the Howler unloaded and pulled past, the mom was still 1/2 way in the lane, and those two useless lumps were still just standing there.
Oh, yeah. I'm sure they'll be told by someone who it was that ratted them out. And I don't even care. I'm sure no one likes a "tattletale" but you know what? What I witnessed a few weeks ago wasn't safe, and it wasn't right.
I'm meeting with the principal tomorrow AM to ensure that those dayumed hoagies don't get delivered again on a Friday...if she asks I do know who it was, and I will tell her that, too.
Ah-May-ZING!
It's amazing what a little parent concern can do--the Howler's classroom has had leaks (that I've heard about thru that fantastic grapevine at school) for the past 3 years.
And this year, my Howler got to come home and tell me about the 2 leaks they had buckets under every time it rained so far this year.
UNTIL....the fateful day when the "waterlogged ceiling tile" crashed down during recess. On my baby's desk.
Since it was recess, the children where milling about the room, doing their children-type stuff. The Howler wasn't at her desk at the time, but she couldn't return to her desk until the water and bits of tile were cleaned up.
I emailed the principal about this--I understand that the renovation is coming, starting in March '11. And I understand that fixing this roof is something the school district has put off, and off, and off, because that renovation is coming.
But, er, ah, DUH. There's a sagging, dripping, waterlogged ceiling tile over these children's heads. And it's crashing down, by the grace of God, when it's mostly "safe" for the kids that sit directly underneath it.
The principal emailed me back--she believes it's an unusual occasion for a tile to actually break apart and FALL, waterlogged or not. And that the mess was cleaned up in an appropriate time. And that it did, indeed, fall on my Baby's desk during recess. And that the area around where all this drippage and soakage occurred is dry and not discolored or otherwise damaged... blah blah blah.
Two days ago, in Western PA, we were drowning in cold, bitter, 1st of December rain. Some places near us cancelled school due to flooding.
But not the Howler's school.
Because the flooding was OUTSIDE the building...and no drips, drops, soakage, or otherwise inappropriate water was INSIDE her classroom.
Amazing.
And this year, my Howler got to come home and tell me about the 2 leaks they had buckets under every time it rained so far this year.
UNTIL....the fateful day when the "waterlogged ceiling tile" crashed down during recess. On my baby's desk.
Since it was recess, the children where milling about the room, doing their children-type stuff. The Howler wasn't at her desk at the time, but she couldn't return to her desk until the water and bits of tile were cleaned up.
I emailed the principal about this--I understand that the renovation is coming, starting in March '11. And I understand that fixing this roof is something the school district has put off, and off, and off, because that renovation is coming.
But, er, ah, DUH. There's a sagging, dripping, waterlogged ceiling tile over these children's heads. And it's crashing down, by the grace of God, when it's mostly "safe" for the kids that sit directly underneath it.
The principal emailed me back--she believes it's an unusual occasion for a tile to actually break apart and FALL, waterlogged or not. And that the mess was cleaned up in an appropriate time. And that it did, indeed, fall on my Baby's desk during recess. And that the area around where all this drippage and soakage occurred is dry and not discolored or otherwise damaged... blah blah blah.
Two days ago, in Western PA, we were drowning in cold, bitter, 1st of December rain. Some places near us cancelled school due to flooding.
But not the Howler's school.
Because the flooding was OUTSIDE the building...and no drips, drops, soakage, or otherwise inappropriate water was INSIDE her classroom.
Amazing.
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