Have I told you all about last year's New Years Eve celebration? I didn't think so. I can't imagine why I haven't because, I swear, this one is priceless!
Every year we walk downtown and watch the New Years Eve parade with the boys. It's a short parade with lots of noise and lots of fun. As the parade passes you join in and walk down to the town docks to watch the fireworks. It is always cold and busy and CRAZY down there but we love it.
Last year we were standing in about 5 feet of snow (now, now, I am not know for my exaggerations)...it was especially crowded and it was dark (or course). At the time, A had a bit of an obsession with Barack Obama (nothing like his mother). He also has a bit of a hard time keeping his attention on any one thing...
He turns to talk to the people behind us (we do NOT know these people). It's dark...there is a Hispanic man standing behind us...A screams:
"OH MY GOD.....MOMMY, IT'S BARACK OBAMA!!"
I want to melt. I want to fall to the ground and die. Right there. Of course, I don't because those times that you really wish death on yourself due to humiliation it never comes.
I turn and apologize to the man who is laughing hysterically behind us.
HU-MILL-EEE-ATION! Seriously.
So, we are hoping for a repeat this year :)
Happy New Year to you all! I am sorry I have been a bit MIA but I promise I will be back as soon as I have my house back (the boys and Kirby are all enjoying an extended Christmas break and won't go back until Monday - have I ever told you how much I LOVE Mondays).
12/30/08
12/19/08
Superficial much?
In these "tough economic times" I am doing everything I can to get more bang for my buck. We have always set a budget for Christmas; this year I have just worked a little harder to be sure that the money we spend gets stretched a little further.
Every day I pick the boys up from school. Every day I sit at the same table I have sat at for the past 4 years (god forbid I change the routine). Every day I sit with the same women (the majority of which I like). A couple of weeks ago, however, a comment was made that irritated me...
A woman was talking about having already finished up her daughter's Christmas shopping, how she was so proud that the list was so short and the items on it were so inexpensive. I'm not sure how she got on the subject of her mother-in-law (MIL) but she started talking about how her MIL buys her daughter things from the thrift store for Christmas. I commented on how I thought that was great, that my father's wife does the same thing. She said that it was fine to give her things from the thrift store but "to wrap them up for Christmas, ugh" - like she wanted her to just give her gifts randomly throughout the year.
The next day I walked my butt down to our local consignment shop and looked for some good deals. I walked out of there with a pair of pajama bottoms and 4 shirts for Kirby and a shirt for Z. All for $24. They were in perfect condition. They barely look worn. I was psyched!
I called Kirby to rave about my finds. I tell him I am going to wrap them up and put them under the tree. He says "yeah, that's fine, it's not like they would even know". I promptly informed him that "I don't give a rat's ass if they know, oh and BTW (yeah, that's what I said), the things I got for you are getting wrapped up too". Of course, he changed his tune, "I didn't mean anything, I mean, yeah, that's okay".
So I wonder, what IS wrong with this? I am not giving my kids things that are ripped or torn or even look worn. These are NAME BRAND clothes that MAY have been worn a few times but LOOK brand new. Even if they DID notice, my kids are not going to care (in fact, one of Z's favorite things to do is to go through the tables upon tables of clothes at our local "street fair" on the last night when everything goes for free - he also loves to get bags of "hand-me-downs" from my cousin's son). So why do people make such a big deal about it?
I truly don't understand...
Every day I pick the boys up from school. Every day I sit at the same table I have sat at for the past 4 years (god forbid I change the routine). Every day I sit with the same women (the majority of which I like). A couple of weeks ago, however, a comment was made that irritated me...
A woman was talking about having already finished up her daughter's Christmas shopping, how she was so proud that the list was so short and the items on it were so inexpensive. I'm not sure how she got on the subject of her mother-in-law (MIL) but she started talking about how her MIL buys her daughter things from the thrift store for Christmas. I commented on how I thought that was great, that my father's wife does the same thing. She said that it was fine to give her things from the thrift store but "to wrap them up for Christmas, ugh" - like she wanted her to just give her gifts randomly throughout the year.
The next day I walked my butt down to our local consignment shop and looked for some good deals. I walked out of there with a pair of pajama bottoms and 4 shirts for Kirby and a shirt for Z. All for $24. They were in perfect condition. They barely look worn. I was psyched!
I called Kirby to rave about my finds. I tell him I am going to wrap them up and put them under the tree. He says "yeah, that's fine, it's not like they would even know". I promptly informed him that "I don't give a rat's ass if they know, oh and BTW (yeah, that's what I said), the things I got for you are getting wrapped up too". Of course, he changed his tune, "I didn't mean anything, I mean, yeah, that's okay".
So I wonder, what IS wrong with this? I am not giving my kids things that are ripped or torn or even look worn. These are NAME BRAND clothes that MAY have been worn a few times but LOOK brand new. Even if they DID notice, my kids are not going to care (in fact, one of Z's favorite things to do is to go through the tables upon tables of clothes at our local "street fair" on the last night when everything goes for free - he also loves to get bags of "hand-me-downs" from my cousin's son). So why do people make such a big deal about it?
I truly don't understand...
12/18/08
Blogger stinks tonight
My blog roll isn't working. That really grinds my nerves.
So if I have missed any of your wonderful posts I will be by tomorrow to check them out.
I think I depend too much on the blog roll...maybe I am just lazy...
So if I have missed any of your wonderful posts I will be by tomorrow to check them out.
I think I depend too much on the blog roll...maybe I am just lazy...
Thursday's Thankful Thirteen
Here we go again, another Thursday, another Thankful Thirteen. If you want to play, leave a comment here and link your blog back here.
1. I am thankful for our MIRACLE of numbing ear drops.
2. I am thankful that the boys' holiday play was such a success and that Z was able to have a speaking roll in his last year.
3. I am thankful that my mother, sister and father's wife were able to make it up for the show.
4. I am thankful that A has so many wonderful friends in our town and that his Dunkin Donuts friend (Mrs. Roberts) was able to come to the show. Also thankful that she is beyond wonderful to him - he loves his yearly Hess truck Christmas present.
5. I am grateful to all the power crews that took care of our state during the recent ice storms. My mother was without power for 5 days and she is one of the luckier ones - many are still without.
6. I am thankful that our town has their OWN power crew and we do not need to depend on PSNH (the crew that most of NH does depend on). We only lost power for a few hours in the middle of the night and our crew got right on it!
7. I am thankful that my neighbor has friends that check in on him and were able to get him the help he needed before his mental health became a more immediate/serious problem.
8. I am thankful that we have friends and family we can depend on, people that I know will always be there and people that my children can turn to.
9. I am thankful to have a job. During these "tough economic times" I am blessed.
10. I am grateful that my children do not expect a lot of us this time of year. Of course, on each of their lists there is something extravagant, but they do not go overboard. I guess, honestly, I am thankful that they are so easy to please :)
11. I am thankful that even though my father is a complete mental case, who drove to camp the day after the ice storm came through, he and his wife made it to and from safely, bringing back two Christmas trees and the old refrigerator (that they replaced with one that actually makes ice cubes).
12. I am thankful that A is feeling better and that, aside from the nose running, he seems all but over his cold.
13. I am thankful that a week from today will be Christmas. That all the shopping will be done. And that my kids will be sitting in the living room watching their new movies, playing with their new toys and enjoying our family.
1. I am thankful for our MIRACLE of numbing ear drops.
2. I am thankful that the boys' holiday play was such a success and that Z was able to have a speaking roll in his last year.
3. I am thankful that my mother, sister and father's wife were able to make it up for the show.
4. I am thankful that A has so many wonderful friends in our town and that his Dunkin Donuts friend (Mrs. Roberts) was able to come to the show. Also thankful that she is beyond wonderful to him - he loves his yearly Hess truck Christmas present.
5. I am grateful to all the power crews that took care of our state during the recent ice storms. My mother was without power for 5 days and she is one of the luckier ones - many are still without.
6. I am thankful that our town has their OWN power crew and we do not need to depend on PSNH (the crew that most of NH does depend on). We only lost power for a few hours in the middle of the night and our crew got right on it!
7. I am thankful that my neighbor has friends that check in on him and were able to get him the help he needed before his mental health became a more immediate/serious problem.
8. I am thankful that we have friends and family we can depend on, people that I know will always be there and people that my children can turn to.
9. I am thankful to have a job. During these "tough economic times" I am blessed.
10. I am grateful that my children do not expect a lot of us this time of year. Of course, on each of their lists there is something extravagant, but they do not go overboard. I guess, honestly, I am thankful that they are so easy to please :)
11. I am thankful that even though my father is a complete mental case, who drove to camp the day after the ice storm came through, he and his wife made it to and from safely, bringing back two Christmas trees and the old refrigerator (that they replaced with one that actually makes ice cubes).
12. I am thankful that A is feeling better and that, aside from the nose running, he seems all but over his cold.
13. I am thankful that a week from today will be Christmas. That all the shopping will be done. And that my kids will be sitting in the living room watching their new movies, playing with their new toys and enjoying our family.
12/17/08
IT'S A MIRACLE
Yes, I made it through the majority of my to do list yesterday. I did not get to the playroom, however, and that comes today...god help me. I do not exaggerate when I tell you it looks like a bomb exploded in there. No matter how many times I try to organize that room it is to no avail. A is not a organized kid. He likes his toys all around him in a heap. He throws them from the toy box, the drawers and the boxes that I use to keep it organized. I promise he will do that before the end of the day today, but only AFTER I have worked my butt off to clean it up.
Last night was the boys' holiday show. And I will blog more about that later. It is my favorite time of the year. And, honestly, just sitting here thinking about it, I am getting teary again...
But right now I want to talk about the miracle that we found yesterday. Something that took 10 LONG years to find me:
NUMBING EAR DROPS
Why has it taken 10 years to find these? Why has no doctor informed me of this miracle before now?
All 3 of the boys (including my stepson) have had tubes. A is on his third set and, without a doubt in my mind, will need a fourth.
This poor kid has been sick since the day he was born. Both my kids have immune systems that seem to grab hold of anything within a few feet from them and it doesn't let go until it has been sure to wreak havoc through their entire bodies and pass it along to anyone unfortunate enough to come in contact with them (my poor sister can probably blame her children's last 10 sicknesses on my kids). But, poor A has a constant runny nose, a cough that starts in October and ends in June and ear infections upon ear infections upon ear infections (unless his tubes are working properly and then they just drain this stinky, sticky fluid - gross, believe you me).
I am not big on antibiotics (and I think I have shared this in the past). Antibiotics are used for BACTERIA and most ear infections are caused by VIRUSES (like the common cold). Therefore, giving a kid (or anyone) an antibiotic to "cure" a virus is not only ineffective but almost as havoc wreaking as the virus itself. Antibiotics kill most all bacteria in its path (including the good stuff that lives in your small intestine - which is what leads to "the runs" when you take antibiotics). The bacteria that it DOESN'T kill then starts to become resistant to antibiotics (this also happens if you don't take the antibiotics correctly) and we end up with the super bacterias like MRSA. Having said all that, when kids get ear infections if they do not clear up quickly enough it is possible that the fluid sitting in the Eustachian tubes will grow bacteria and they DO need antibiotics - but there is no way for a doctor to know by looking at it. Of course, antibiotics are AMAZING as well, just way over prescribed and thought of as a necessity by too many people (including doctors).*
Okay, off my soapbox and back to my story...
I don't often bring him to the doctor if he has an ear infection because I know that, most of the time, they clear up on their own. His pediatrician has been great about working with me on this and agrees that, more often than not, antibiotics are unnecessary when treating ear infections.
This one was bad, however. A had been sick for over a week, had a strange rash all over his body (that the medical assistant tried to tell me was a heat rash - I asked her to step outside to remind herself of the temperatures) and, most importantly, he had his holiday show that night and he NEEDED to get to it. No way was I going to keep him from it. But he was MISERABLE and I knew we needed to take action.
So off to the doctor we went. Well, actually, off to the nurse practitioner since all the doctors were booked. We spent about 5 minutes in the office (she informed me that the "rash" was just his eczema acting up and it appeared to be inflamed because of his virus) and left with two prescriptions, an antibiotic and THE MIRACLE: numbing ear drops. I am okay with the antibiotics this time since the stuff coming out of him is colors that only show up in nightclubs lit with black lights. In other words, it was neon green. But the miracle, oh the miracle of all miracles (makes me think of Fiddler on the Roof* - I told you I was a geek) were the numbing ear drops.
It makes me wonder why I was never given these before. I do not joke when I say that my kids have had more ear infections than I can count on both my fingers and toes. And everyone that I have spoken with about them since says, "oh, I have about 3 of those bottles in my medicine cabinet, I would have given you one" or "you've never heard of those".
After bombarding the nurse practitioner about the safety of them I have decided (with her help) that from now on, we will be using those ear drops at the slightest sign of an ear infection. Since they also loosen wax (which tends to build up around A's tube) it will help keep his ear clear so they can drain on their own.
And, I fully intend on bombarding his regular pediatrician with questions next time I see him (which will, more than likely be sooner rather than later) as to WHY he has never prescribed these before - because, as you parents know, ear infections only seem to bother them in the middle of the night when nothing in the world you do can console them!
And, most importantly, A made it to his show last night and performed perfectly! More to come on that in a later post...
*I am not a doctor, I do not play one on TV and I do not pretend to be one. If you have concerns about antibiotics speak with your doctor. Google it, do some of your own research and don't diagnose your kids yourself (like I tend to do).
*
Last night was the boys' holiday show. And I will blog more about that later. It is my favorite time of the year. And, honestly, just sitting here thinking about it, I am getting teary again...
But right now I want to talk about the miracle that we found yesterday. Something that took 10 LONG years to find me:
NUMBING EAR DROPS
Why has it taken 10 years to find these? Why has no doctor informed me of this miracle before now?
All 3 of the boys (including my stepson) have had tubes. A is on his third set and, without a doubt in my mind, will need a fourth.
This poor kid has been sick since the day he was born. Both my kids have immune systems that seem to grab hold of anything within a few feet from them and it doesn't let go until it has been sure to wreak havoc through their entire bodies and pass it along to anyone unfortunate enough to come in contact with them (my poor sister can probably blame her children's last 10 sicknesses on my kids). But, poor A has a constant runny nose, a cough that starts in October and ends in June and ear infections upon ear infections upon ear infections (unless his tubes are working properly and then they just drain this stinky, sticky fluid - gross, believe you me).
I am not big on antibiotics (and I think I have shared this in the past). Antibiotics are used for BACTERIA and most ear infections are caused by VIRUSES (like the common cold). Therefore, giving a kid (or anyone) an antibiotic to "cure" a virus is not only ineffective but almost as havoc wreaking as the virus itself. Antibiotics kill most all bacteria in its path (including the good stuff that lives in your small intestine - which is what leads to "the runs" when you take antibiotics). The bacteria that it DOESN'T kill then starts to become resistant to antibiotics (this also happens if you don't take the antibiotics correctly) and we end up with the super bacterias like MRSA. Having said all that, when kids get ear infections if they do not clear up quickly enough it is possible that the fluid sitting in the Eustachian tubes will grow bacteria and they DO need antibiotics - but there is no way for a doctor to know by looking at it. Of course, antibiotics are AMAZING as well, just way over prescribed and thought of as a necessity by too many people (including doctors).*
Okay, off my soapbox and back to my story...
I don't often bring him to the doctor if he has an ear infection because I know that, most of the time, they clear up on their own. His pediatrician has been great about working with me on this and agrees that, more often than not, antibiotics are unnecessary when treating ear infections.
This one was bad, however. A had been sick for over a week, had a strange rash all over his body (that the medical assistant tried to tell me was a heat rash - I asked her to step outside to remind herself of the temperatures) and, most importantly, he had his holiday show that night and he NEEDED to get to it. No way was I going to keep him from it. But he was MISERABLE and I knew we needed to take action.
So off to the doctor we went. Well, actually, off to the nurse practitioner since all the doctors were booked. We spent about 5 minutes in the office (she informed me that the "rash" was just his eczema acting up and it appeared to be inflamed because of his virus) and left with two prescriptions, an antibiotic and THE MIRACLE: numbing ear drops. I am okay with the antibiotics this time since the stuff coming out of him is colors that only show up in nightclubs lit with black lights. In other words, it was neon green. But the miracle, oh the miracle of all miracles (makes me think of Fiddler on the Roof* - I told you I was a geek) were the numbing ear drops.
It makes me wonder why I was never given these before. I do not joke when I say that my kids have had more ear infections than I can count on both my fingers and toes. And everyone that I have spoken with about them since says, "oh, I have about 3 of those bottles in my medicine cabinet, I would have given you one" or "you've never heard of those".
After bombarding the nurse practitioner about the safety of them I have decided (with her help) that from now on, we will be using those ear drops at the slightest sign of an ear infection. Since they also loosen wax (which tends to build up around A's tube) it will help keep his ear clear so they can drain on their own.
And, I fully intend on bombarding his regular pediatrician with questions next time I see him (which will, more than likely be sooner rather than later) as to WHY he has never prescribed these before - because, as you parents know, ear infections only seem to bother them in the middle of the night when nothing in the world you do can console them!
And, most importantly, A made it to his show last night and performed perfectly! More to come on that in a later post...
*I am not a doctor, I do not play one on TV and I do not pretend to be one. If you have concerns about antibiotics speak with your doctor. Google it, do some of your own research and don't diagnose your kids yourself (like I tend to do).
*
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)