I'm Really NOT a Bad Mom, But . . .

So much to write, only so much time to write it....

B is sick.

No, maybe you don't understand: B IS SICK.

I love all my children, and when they're not feeling well, I want to take all their pain away. And the same holds true for B. But when B is sick, I also want to find some kind of sedative to allow him to sleep it off and wake up when he finally feels better. Does that make me a bad mom?

B's speech is somewhat garbled at times, especially when he is excited about something. When he is sick he becomes almost uninteligible. I truly cannot understand 80% of what he is saying. It's as if when he's sick he decides that moving his lips or tongue is just too much effort. I cannot even count how many times I've asked him to repeat himself.

And then there's the whining. Nonstop. Everything he says is a whine. And when he's not trying to say something, he is just lying there, moaning. Whining. Without end.

He's had a cold for the last two weeks or so, made worse by the fact that he has decided not to use a tissue anymore. His cheeks, nose, chin, even both his wrists, are covered with a bright red rash brought on by wiping his nose without the use of a tissue. I know, gross. Every night we smear his face and wrist with Neosporin and he wakes up looking a lot better, but by the end of the day they're all red again. Sunday night he looked pretty good, probably from DH and I being on him all weekend to use a tissue. Unfortunately by the time he was brought to my classroom Monday, even though his face looked better, he had started whining, his signal of incoming illness.

By bedtime he had a slight fever. I was going back and forth with finding someone to just watch him during the day so I could still go to school (it was my turn to stay home with a sick kid but it IS my last week of school) and just get him checked out in the afternoon, but by 10PM he had already woken screaming from throat pain a few times, so I knew I needed to bring him to the doctor in the morning first thing.

We were up with him just about every half hour. Even though DH and I take turns with getting up in the middle of the night (a great system that works really well, even if I do have to wake DH for his turn each time), we both still ended up awake for most of the night. I had to talk DH down from wanting to drive him immediately to the ER so they could do something to put B out of his misery. I knew it was strep (which the dr. confirmed this morning, go Dr. Mom!), and while the ER could have confirmed that, it would have cost us $50, we would have been up all night, probably not getting home until about 3 AM (based on past experiences), and would have only started him on antibiotics about six hours earlier then normal. Glad he didn't push the issue!

Anyway, the non-stop whining is KILLING me. I have hidden myself downstairs, having set J and B upstairs with a DVD and a tray of chicken soup and juice boxes, A downstairs with another DVD (yeah, if one of them is sick and needs to rest on the couch, they ALL end up with extra tv time - that's just the way it is) eating his sandwich. If I play my cards right, I might be able to hide out for another five minutes. Just don't tell them where I am. Please. I'm begging you!