After Kenny’s sick day this past Monday, we’ve been passing a pair of grumpy pants around the house. This is otherwise known as a viral infection. Kenny was good as new on Tuesday, but Cooper started acting like a banshee again and finally on Thursday I took him back into the doctor where they declared that his seven days of amoxicillin did absolutely nothing for his double ear infection, and prescribed something stronger. An hour after taking the first dose of Augmentin, he was a different kid, and I now hold great reverence for the folks at GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceuticals for their miracle drug:
See The Coop before his first dose…
…and after…
Seriously, though, betwixt the ear infection debacle, Casey developed a case of vertigo, which was no doubt exaserbated by Cooper’s all-night screams and my pacing the floor. Oh, and Dudley licks himself a lot when he’s stressed, so just imagine with me that he’s now missing all the fur where his manhood used to be, and you’ll have a pretty good picture of how our long-suffering dog is doing.
Kenny caught a case of the “nobody plays with me” virus on Thursday in between various doctor’s visits, and I ended up hiring a babysitter for part of the day on Friday for Cooper so that I could spend a few hours alone with Kenny. It was so much fun! I definitely need to do that again sometime.
But Saturday dawned with Kenny in a funk again, asking if he could skip swim lessons and lay on the couch instead. I think that this may have been partially motivated by the fact that he got to watch TV most of the day when he was sick earlier in the week, and secretly hoped that his ails might trigger my remote finger again.
It did.
I let him watch a movie while I mowed the lawn and Casey took Cooper to his swim lesson. Mistake on all fronts. Kenny spent most of the rest of the post-movie morning whining, and Cooper came home with a fever, no doubt finally showing the signs of the viral infection Kenny had at the beginning of the week. By late afternoon, Casey took Kenny off to play some miniature golf while I spent a quiet evening with Cooper.
Now if only I could figure out how to take a sick day myself…
Being alone with Cooper tonight, though, I reflected on how different life is for the second kid. Here it was, such a novelty to play uninterrupted with the little guy, reading silly books and giggling and playing peek-a-boo. I started thinking about Kenny at this age, and how he had my undivided attention all day long. No wonder birth order plays such a huge impact on personality! It makes me ache for time with Cooper. I don’t want to miss the little age of wonderment!
Comments
7 responses to “Grumpy Pants”
Let me know when you figure out how to take your sick day! 🙂
I have been doing the same reflections comparing how much one-on-one time my 7 yr old had compared to his little brother who is almost three. I am with you I don’t want to miss this age. Maybe I’ll use your idea of a sitter for individual time with both. Because I know there is the flip side that that my eldest son needs that one-on-one time as well. Oh, and I have to remember that my dear husband needs that as well. 🙂 Guess I better find a really good sitter!
yup… my 7 year old has a similar personality to you… and my 5 year old is very similar to me.
😳 he he… love you sis!
A Word To The Wise 4 All Moms!
I have listened to doctors, teachers, counselors as well as social workers dish out advice about our children and some of it is well taken, but all must be critically perused and evaluated by us, were the mommies! Who could possible know our children better than we do?
Some children have adverse reactions to sugar and some do not, however experts would like to paint all children with the same broad brush. Teenagers having problems in school is a good example. The first direction the experts seem to like to pursue is Attention Deficit. However a wise individual would first pursue the basics such as: Are their marital problems in the home or some type of alcohol or drug abuse? Is the child fighting thru Identity issues such as sexuality? These are just a few of the possibilities that could be causing children problems and us Mommies and Daddy’s need to make sure everything is being addressed before we push it off on a medical condition. I’m not saying we don’t look at everything; however it seems we live in a society that loves to turn directly to medication to solve a problem! Just watch the evening news and I’m sure you will see what I mean. The drug companies are now pursuing us directly to get us to ask our doctors for their drugs! The government likes to preach “Just Say No to Drugs”, and then they pitch them at every opportunity!
My 16 year old was being tortured by mean girls via email and was heartbroken. She was having some acne issues as we all did but they were extremely mean to her in nature. It was not easy but I found a site that carries Cyber Bully Alerts warning the children to STOP sending these emails as they are being watched and logged and will be prosecuted. We all know what this kind of meanness can lead to with teen suicides and all. I found the cards at http://www.hatecards.net and they did the trick! The torture stopped for Sarah and that was good enough for me. We need to find ways to overcome and adapt to protect our kids.
We can care for runny noses and chapped bottoms, but we must look out for our babies through high school and educate them to think for themselves until they learn too!
Billie
At Home Mom in MN
OOOOOOOOOh the ear infections—I feel the pain. I have twin daughters who had to have tubes put into their ears because of constant ear infections. You like, Augmentin–wait till Omnicef! I just came across this blog and love it!
I completely know what you mean when you talk about uninterrupted time with Cooper. I’ve got three kids, and my youngest, almost 2, definitely gets less attention than my first two did. I would read bedtime stories to both my older children, but now with the hustle and bustle of getting 2 other kids ready for bed at the same time, I haven’t been able to manage it with my little one. When I do try to read him a book, he decides it’s more fun to take the book away and flip back and forth between different pages (not necessarily the ones that I’m reading) or shut the book on my fingers. All you can do is try the best you can to make time just for each one, even if it’s just for a few minutes.
By the way, I love your blog!
Gwen
http://www.mommymeltingpot.com
I can completely relate to what you say about getting uninterrupted time with Cooper. I have three kids, and my youngest, almost 2, definitely gets less individual time than my first two did at this age. I would always read bedtime stories to the kids, but now with 3 kids to get ready for bed at the same time, I just haven’t managed to make it a habit. Now, when I try to read a book to my youngest, he thinks it’s more fun to take the book out of my hands and flip back and forth between the pages (not necessarily the ones I am reading) or he likes to shut my fingers inside the book. It’s definitely a challenge to make sure each child gets their individual time, but all I can do is try my best, even if it’s only for a few minutes each day.
By the way, I love your blog!