Conflict averted

I-M still had a low-grade fever last night, so he's having another home day. A-man only complained once about his ear yesterday, and he tried to stay home again today, but I gave him ibuprofen and dropped him off with no qualms. He was sad to go to school without his beloved brother. I was glad that I took the time to listen to him in the middle of the morning chaos instead of yelling at him to quit whining and get in the car. He and I have gone many rounds in the past, and it makes all the difference if we calm down and hear each other out. I firmly believe that this prevents many of our battles and diminishes the intensity of the ones that do erupt. I'm so thankful to have communication with my little brown-eyed love!

Dearest little Jedis...

You are fever-free and energetic thanks to Tamiflu and some snuggling, so I think you should return to school tomorrow. If you have energy to fight with each other, you can certainly make it through a school day. Also, kindly eat the delicious minestrone I am preparing without complaint, for I am tired, and you protest this meal every time, only to eat it with gusto when you decide to stop being a stick in the mud.

Sincerely, Mommma

PS, you have also kind of cluttered up the house, so no more Wii until we get the mess squared away, all right?

Another humbling moment in parenting

The Jedis ask each other "is Dad home?" when they get stuck on their wii Star Wars game. "We can't ask Momma because she stinks at Wii games". Granted, I told them this myself so that I wouldn't have to try to get them through every level whenever they got stuck. Watching my 5yo play this game so expertly has convinced me that I did the right thing letting them figure the game out and letting Dr. O' be the trouble-shooter. A-man could now hand me an ignominious defeat without breaking a sweat!

Home Day

I gave A-man a home day today just in case he comes down with something. All 3 are fever-free this morning, but all 3 have cruddy coughs. The last thing I wanted was to have to pick him up I'll at school, particularly if M is napping. He says his ear hurts, so I figure they would've called me anyway.

Beware the Ides of March, everybody! ;).

Tamiflu! My kingdom for some Tamiflu! (and maybe a beer?)

So we have been slammed with the flu. The kids were all a little snot-nosed and tired yesterday, but that's not unusual, especially since we had just traveled the previous 2 days and hadn't gotten enough sleep.

Despite my gargantuan efforts in November to get 3 kids to the pediatrician's for flu shots with 2nd degree burns on my leg while Dr. O' was in Atlanta, I-M has the flu. My apologies to anyone who has seen my kids this week. Really sincere and heartfelt I'M SO SORRY. A-man and M-girl have been prescribed preventive doses of Tamiflu, and I-M is on it to shorten the course of the illness. I-M is getting 90-95% of the oxygen that he should, so he's also on neb. albuterol and orapred susp. Oh, and LOTS of ibuprofen! No hospitalization is good, so all we can do is try to prevent that again. Poor guy is close to his deductible, but I don't want to meet it that way. He's been sitting and/or sleeping in the same position all day, and his fever has been 103. He's had one can of ginger ale and 1/2 piece of toast. His entire body hurts to the touch.

Unfortunately, flu season is supposed to be mostly over, so most of the pharmacies don't have Tamiflu, either because they ran out or they sent it back to the manufacturer because it was near expiration. Four pharmacies that I went to or that Dr.O' called did not have oral Tamiflu suspension for kids. Thankfully, CVS can compound the suspension from the pills, and they are my new heroes. They also have good deals on Yuengling according to their sign, but we're actually well stocked ;). I'll stick with my ginger ale, anyway.

We need some prayers! We had a trip planned to Indiana that is now at least partially postponed so that we don't bring a round of plague-ishness to the Village. We should be well enough to see B-grands this weekend as long as the Tamiflu kicks in and I-M is fever-free long enough.

Thank you

Thank you, sick child, for peeing on the futon. I now have the best reason in the world to finally buy that new couch!

Creativity in the Kitchen

Dr.O' gave up meat for Lent again this year, which makes our meal planning interesting. I am continuing to eat lean poultry, and so are the kids. Dr. O' has agreed to do the special shopping and much of the prep for his dietary committment, which may again become a long-term thing. We made a menu yesterday for the next two weeks, and I'm pretty excited about it!

Black Bean Burgers
Baked Ziti with Ricotta
Portabello Mushroom Sandwich
Minestrone
Cilantro and Hummus Sandwich (much like the Mediterranean Sandwich from Panera)
Lentil Soup
Mdardara
Spanakopita
Pizza
Vegetable Barley Soup
Curry simmer sauce over basmati rice with chickpeas
Falaffel and cucumber sauce