All Systems Malfunction...

It's 8am and 65 degrees already - FINALLY warm weather!!!

We've had a lot of meltdowns lately...everything from baby gear to cars to my brain...read on!

I don't know what's wrong with me lately but I've been a little slow in the thinking department and it's led to some minor and some LARGE mistakes. I think secretly my husband is loving this since my record is usually "spotless". Let's see...I can't even remember what happened in what order but we can start with the most embarrassing. I forgot I had a dental appt last Friday and missed it. I'm sure you're thinking, no biggie...well...actually it IS. I get my cleanings for FREE by a dentist who is just doing Eric a favor. So basically I made us both look like total jerks but tried to make up for it by dropping off a gift certificate to the 99. Worst part is, I've never missed an appt in my life. Figures it had to be this one.

Next, and here's the big one...I made a rather large accounting error which led to a check being bounced. Here's the kicker...the check was to the IRS of all friggin' people and it was for Eric's quarterly business taxes. Oops! Again, never in my life have I done this...sure a small amount here or there off on the checkbook but this was significant. My husband informs me that it's a felony to bounce a check over $500, which this was, so I am now "a felon". My next phone call might be from jail...If I call you, don't let the machine pick up!

I also ended up having to go to the doctor on two consecutive days because I was SO distracted that I forgot to ask the most important question I had! We went on Monday to get Seth checked for his conjunctivitis. I was slightly annoyed that I had to wait until 11:15am to be seen since I'd called the on-call doc on Sunday and was told I could wait and be seen "first thing" on Monday morning. Eleven fifteen means I have to get Cal at preschool and bring all three children to the appt. So I do and it's fine except that Cal suddenly has the urgent need to tell me something right as the doctor comes in to examine Seth. She checks to make sure he doesn't have any other infection but I'm pretty sure doesn't actually look at his eyes carefully since it's obvious he has conjunctivitis. Cal is at my side insessantly hitting my leg, "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy". I want to scream at the top of my lungs but I ask him to HOLD ON! and sit down for a second, which he doesn't. Meanwhile, Ben has decided to become a monkey and climb up the doctor's legs. I'm half-heartedly trying to stop him as I try to pay attention to the doc's response to my first (and ONLY question) I got to ask which was "Why the hell do we keep getting pink eye!".

My looming question that I didn't even realize I hadn't asked until I was on my way to Rite Aid to pick up the Rx for eye drops was..."What about those weird sores in the corners of his eyes". Not something I'd seen with our other bouts of the illness. I feel dread as it crosses my mind but think, well, I have the Rx and I'm sure they'll go away after starting it. Seth seemed to have a particularly bad case...because by the next afternoon he was no better and now I'm starting to feel frantic about the sore - HE COULD GO BLIND - I think?!?! I time my neurosis perfectly since it's now 2:30pm and Cal has a swim lesson at 3:30. I'm supposed to watch the neighbor's kid while she takes the older ones to the class. I call the doc. Get a call back at 3pm, go over my concerns, and when the nurse eventually realizes that I mean he has a sore ON his eyeball she urges me to come back in. Ugh! I call my neighbor and she understands which is awesome but I'm sure she was still cursing me under her breath since now she has to struggle with her 2 1/2 year old for a half hour swim lesson while he dashes for the pool every chance he gets and is screaming, "I WANT TO GO SWIMMING TOO!". Sorry about that. I learned later that both older kids had to poop before the class that day too...haha...too funny.

Anyway, the long and short of it is, I had to go back and pay for another doc visit and then another Rx for stronger, more expensivo drops. Plus I loathe getting prescriptions at Rite Aid. My children always pick this store to be complete lunatics in and the damn pharmacy is right at the "vitamin aisle". So they run up and down it picking up 100 bottles which all look the same, shake the hell out of them, and then put them back in the wrong place. Much to the amusement of other waiting customers, I pull out a dirty kleenex, ball it up, and play "guess which hand it's in" to distract them. This works for Cal and Ben is mildly placated for 30 seconds until he decides it would be more fun to become a human mop. He pushes himself backwards on his belly the length of the aisle. And we wonder why this child is constantly sick?! Maybe this all could have been avoided if I had more presence of mind during the first doc visit?!

My next encounter was with the baby monitor. Seth sleeps in the playroom at night so as not to wake the others and so I can sleep more soundly not worrying about him waking up Cal and Ben. I NEED a monitor because it's on the other side of the house - no way to hear him without it. So the monitor had been working fine all day. I bring it upstairs with me and leave it on while I watch TV, read, etc. It's making this loud humming noise but I just ignore it. Around 10:30pm when Eric comes up to bed I suddenly feel the urge to "investigate" and see if the monitor is actually even working. After making several trips up and down the stairs, whispering in the room to see if Eric can hear me on the other end, etc, we determine it isn't working. I morph into stealth-mode, superhero mommy and contort myself over a gate into Ben's room where I quietly pitter patter to steal his monitor not currently in use and place it up where Seth is. Mission accomplished without waking anyone. I go to sleep. I awaken suddenly at 1am and realize I haven't heard a peep out of the baby. Is this because he hasn't woken up or is THIS monitor not working? Do I have turned up loud enough? Ugh! I decide now I can't sleep since I'm not sure and the only thing to do is to sleep downstairs. By sleep downstairs I mean I had to fold up a comforter on the floor and sleep on it so I'd be able to hear Seth when he woke up. Lots of fun.

The last story involves Eric's car which he innocently took in for an oil change yesterday. He calls me to tell me "it's going to be awhile". Why? Well, apparently some mice got up into the engine or something like that and made a nest. At first they thought it was chipmunks - we DO have a chipmunk problem - and they thought there were dead ones with babies in it. But later the car people said it was just the nest and it looked like mice. Gross. The whole thing had to be cleaned out and the air vents with new filters since it can make you sick. Just what we need.

Gotta go....I think I hear the IRS knocking at the door...take me away - PLEASE?!?!!

Conjunctivitis - Round 3

My little sickie-baby...you can't tell too much from the pic but he's got these really red blotches in his eyes too that look like sores. They kind of make me squeamish because they look like they really hurt. That's coming from a girl who doesn't really get grossed out - afterall I have stood by and watched all my boys be circumcised! So he LOOKS awful but he doesn't seem to feel awful. He's been his happy little self through the thick film of green goo.

We've been battling pink eye since the last week in March....anyone else want it now?

Back to handwashing and washing machine overdrive - yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Miss MIA

The blog thing hasn't really been happening for me lately. I think of things I could post and then don't. I'll admit that my obsession for the Twilight series has taken most of my free time for the last month or so, but we've also had quite the social calendar lately - guests, visits, holidays, business dinners, charity events, coffee with the preschool moms, new neighbors, and outings with friends. It's been fun but tiring too! We've hosted a lot but have had our share of going out as well. I think we've managed to fund Chelsea's (our babysitter) first semester of college by now. We'll miss her when she's gone. She's the first to take charge of all 3 of the monstrosities aside from family. But we still have all summer so need to get weepy yet.

All the fabulous food we've had over the last month - some of which I made! (modest, aren't I?) - has been taking it's toll. Not to mention the Easter candy...because REALLY there's no candy like Easter candy. I'm sorry but there's just no comparison. I allow myself this indulgence and think "just at this time of year" but of course, I say this at Halloween, Valentine's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, any time there's an excuse for "extra". Luckily, I seem to have a big break coming to me if I seize the opportunity!! Eric has acquired an elliptical machine at his office and can now go and work out right after dropping Cal off from preschool. This frees up nights for me to go to the gym if I so desire....and I do....and I don't. I'll be psyched to have a better bod, feel more energized, and start eating well again. But like anything, it just adds to the daily grind and I hate the obsession of sticking to a schedule, especially when it becomes jam-packed. I don't like to feel like I HAVE to do anything.

6 to 9: Aaahhh...I've gotten a lot of comments about how 6 to 9 months is the BEST age. Really? Maybe when you have ONE child...Not so much when you 2 or 3. It's inevitable to feel like a failure as a mother when you hit this crucial age when your child is supposed to learn to do freaking EVERYTHING. Solids? Check. Pincer grasp? Check. Self-feed? We're working on it. Sitting up? A little!?! Crawling? Close. Sippy cup? Dropped the ball on that one. I'm convinced that if you start at 6 months with a cup that it's an auto reflex to suck but if you don't keep it up then they "forget" and don't know what to do with it. Damn! I did offer the sippy cup a couple times at the 6 month mark and as suspected he drank from it easily...naturally. Missed a week or two and the next time I gave Seth the cup he treated it like a foreign object...like it was the enemy. You don't CHEW on the thing, Seth!! Just drink! Anyway, back to the check list: Babbling? No. Not even consonants...maybe Denise the speech therapist will be able to return!

With all this stuff that supposed to be being learned plus nursing, sleeping, other children to throw a glance at once in awhile, it's a little hectic around here. I often think about what I should be teaching Ben right now as well and then realize I don't even know what he actually KNOWS so I wouldn't even know where to start. For example, I suspect he can count to 20 because Cal does this with him often, but I don't know if he could recognize any numbers written down. Shoot, maybe he could recognize them all or some or none - beats me!

Hooray for Eric - my hero!

Letters to the Editor

Dentist heroic for injured local 11-year-old boy

March 30 — To the Editor:

Several weeks ago, our son of 11 years found himself in an awkward and painful situation, the kind of scenario only young persons could find themselves in. At least we hope this is the case.
Athletic and strong for his age, he was outdoors one cool winter day dunking his basketball into our neighbor's hoop from a 3-foot-high snow bank all while envisioning KG or Paul Pierce, streaming Jordan-like through the air. A vision every young basketball fan experiences.
What could possibly happen, you ask? The unthinkable! Just like the scene from "The Christmas Story," when the little boy got his tongue stuck on the frozen flag pole. Only this episode didn't include a flagpole and that little boy wasn't related.

Our son had managed to get one of his front teeth (central incisors) caught on the net of this basketball hoop and suffered what we labeled significant trauma to his mouth. Bleeding and bruised, the tooth had all but fallen out. Our family was horrified when he came running into the house screaming and crying with a tear-filled face. Initially we thought for sure he would need a prosthetic.

Why am I sharing this story with the public? Because there is a nice ending thanks to the contributions of two local medical practitioners. Very soon after the incident occurred, PCD Janis Krauss Krieger, DMD, and staff recommended we drive our son to Exeter orthodontist (he's an endodontist, but hey they spelled his name right!) Eric Gotlieb, DDS, to help thoroughly diagnose and treat his injury.

Knowing our dental insurance didn't cover the type of treatment (root canal) our son required, we were expecting to pay "out of pocket" for this service. It just so happened that the next day, when we brought our son to Dr. Gotlieb, he was conducting his annual "Giving Back" community program by offering free dental coverage for all treatments. Soon upon converting my disbelief, Dr. Gotlieb was busy at work walking us through his procedures that would later facilitate a quick and nearly pain-free recovery for our son.

We would like to express our fondest gratitude and thanks to Dr. Krauss Krieger for making the initial visit readily available and Dr. Gotlieb and his staff for treating our son's injury with such care and expertise. We are also grateful that we were one of the recipients to receive the benefit of Dr. Gotlieb's community service program. Dr. Gotlieb was professional, comforting, informative and very knowledgeable in his field of practice, and it sure helped having a flat-screen TV arm's length from our son so he could watch the highlights of his beloved Boston Celtics while receiving his medical treatment.

Sincere thanks.
Ed and Marylee Nasser