I am blessed in so many ways.
But when it comes to my child's constant sickness, I have to wonder, "Is my baby more sick than other babies?"
Because I swear I never hear of so much sickness as I see when I am with my little guy. I've even noticed one pattern- EVERY single month, around the 8th (which was when he was born) he gets sick! There's always something, whether it be a small thing like the cold, or a big thing like pneumonia, my baby boy never misses his birthday! It makes it very hard for a mom to be excited for her child's monthly birthdays when he is always going to be sick!
This month, his ninth month, he is sick with his first ear infection and a horrible case of the stomach flu. It started on Friday, the day before his monthly birthday, and it is still here today- almost a week later! Friday, Saturday and Sunday he wasn't eating, and he had diarrhea. We took him in on Sunday and found out he had the flu and an ear infection. Started giving him antibiotics (amoxicillin) and I feel like I am on to something- I wonder if he might get sicker from the amoxicillin. When we try to give him ammoxicillin and tylenol at the same time he vomits every single time- and this happened the last time we had to give him amoxicillin (for pneumonia that time).
So after having been vomited on three times in half an hour (and changing as many times), my morning has already started off at a bad start. I am a working mom, so every time I am late, I worry it will go against me. Every day I have to ask off, I worry it will get me closer to the door (and not in a good way). It is hard to be a stay at home mom because of the lack of contact with people, but I sincerely believe that it is harder to be a working mom. Before 7:30 I have to be completely ready (pump, shower, makeup, breakfast, dress, and get my lunch ready) and have my little guy all ready for the day (fed, change diaper and clothes, bring whatever supplies he may need for the day) and out the door already on my way to daycare. It takes half an hour to get to work when it would take half that time if I didn't have daycare to go to (and a cute little guy to get in and out of the car and such).
So of course I had to call my boss today and tell her that for the second time this week I will be late, because my husband has to come home from work to take care of our sick munchkin. All week we have stayed home with him, with the majority of the days being Daddy staying home, because I have the full time job. It is days like these that make me go "Why? Why does it have to be this way? Why can't everything be perfect and daycare take care of my little guy no matter what? Why do I have to work full time- why can't I stay home with him?" But there is always an answer- because there is always a good and a bad side to each of those ideas. If daycare took care of him while he was sick, they would have to do the same for all the other sick kids. And where would that get us? Sicker, that's where. And if I stayed at home in our current financial position, you would be seeing us on the streets eventually (only half kidding).
Ahh... the things we do to stay afloat.
Life is never easy as a mom, and I am most reminded this when Karson is sick. There are always parts of me that wish I could stay at home and take care of him to the Nth degree and be there for every cough and every sneeze. Other times I think it is nice to get out of the house and have some adult conversation. There will always be grass that looks greener on the other side, until you are ON the other side. I was reminded of that as I watched my son play with toys today. Since he is so sick, he wants us to be close to him always, even if he doesn't even look at me for ten minutes, as long as I am there beside him he is happy as a clam, but if I walk away for a second, he notices and cries bloody murder. So as we sat on the floor playing, I started drumming on one of our cups and he looked at me and the cup and set aside what he was playing with and started playing with the cup I was playing with. Then when I took up drumming on something else, he again did the same thing, because obviously Mommy was having so much fun- so he will probably have more fun with that toy.
This reminds me that that is how our lives are. While our friends are staying at home and we are working, we think, "Man, it would be awesome if I could just stay at home every day with my little guy and be there for every new thing he does, and wear pajamas all day if I want, and go out to the mall or shop or do whatever." But at the same time, I am realizing that the stay at home moms look at us working moms and say, "Although I love being with my little guy, sometimes I just need to get out of the house, or have some alone time, or even some adult conversation that isn't my husband!"
I guess we all have to just be happy with what we have. There's always the silver lining, and I try to remind myself of that daily. I'm happy to have the job I have- I'm very blessed because I have hours that work with my daycare, and eleven holidays that are paid time off, a great work environment with lots of people that I can get great interaction with, and a good daycare that I can trust. I'm thankful that God has given me all of these blessings.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Mommyhood - Every Day is a Reward
Today I was boasting about my child's newest achievements and remarked, "Being a mom is the best reward ever! I don't know why everyone isn't a mom!" And that stopped me to think- why doesn't everyone want to be a parent? Well, I don't know why, but that isn't the reason I am writing today. I'm writing today to write about all the wonderful things that parenthood brings.
I fall in love with my little guy daily. Daily. And I can't imagine that there is one mother that doesn't unless she seriously does not take 5 minutes out of her day to just watch her child and stare at him. How can you not be in love with someone who is so excited about every new thing that he is introduced to?
For example, my little guy has just learned how to scoot (almost 9 months old) and it is the cutest thing you could ever see! He pushes with his toes and pulls with his hands, and gets where he wants to! Probably not as easy as crawling but he refuses to stay on his hands and knees for more than a minute. He may never crawl, we will see, but for now, the scooting is adorable. He sees something he wants (which is half the time off limits) and scoots toward it. I can't help but smile and get tears in my eyes, because I remember the day when he figured out how to use his arms and legs. I remember when he started to get curious about his surroundings. I remember when he rolled over and when he sat up by himself. Each time he did something new like that I was overcome with joy and pride. My child achieves his goals!
Karson also is a socialite. Absolute charmer, really. When he was just starting to take notice of people, we were at one of his doctor appointments, and his doctor remarked, "There is nothing wrong with his social skills! He is flirting with me right now!" And there he was, smirking with his big blue eyes twinkling. If he looks at someone, they are obligated by the 'cute kid law' to smile and try to make him laugh. It's just impossible not to love on this kid- even for the people who know nothing about him. I've gotten to know more people because they can't help but come up and get to know him. :-)
I'm even proud of the things I know will drive me crazy someday. Such as the fact that I know he is a mischievous little stinker- I can see him try to figure out what will get my attention (which is normally something he isn't allowed to do). And the way I got him to scoot for the first few times was by putting something he REALLY wanted that he couldn't have just out of reach. Watch that kid scoot the marathon if there is a cell phone, cords, or plastic anywhere near him!
So, every day is a challenge with a child, because we all have to face the fact that we can't be as selfish anymore- can't just run out and get groceries or go shopping, can't blow all our money on things that we don't need - but every day a parent should be able to find at least one reason they are happy to have their child in their life. The extra colors that now decorate your family room because of the activity mat and exersaucer. The people you have met or gotten close to because you both had children around the same age. The art that decorates all your rooms because your child loves you and shows you by his artsy talents. The music of your child's laughter. The smile that only YOU can get out of your child.
There's always something. And today I was reminded that every day is a day to celebrate being a mom.
I fall in love with my little guy daily. Daily. And I can't imagine that there is one mother that doesn't unless she seriously does not take 5 minutes out of her day to just watch her child and stare at him. How can you not be in love with someone who is so excited about every new thing that he is introduced to?
For example, my little guy has just learned how to scoot (almost 9 months old) and it is the cutest thing you could ever see! He pushes with his toes and pulls with his hands, and gets where he wants to! Probably not as easy as crawling but he refuses to stay on his hands and knees for more than a minute. He may never crawl, we will see, but for now, the scooting is adorable. He sees something he wants (which is half the time off limits) and scoots toward it. I can't help but smile and get tears in my eyes, because I remember the day when he figured out how to use his arms and legs. I remember when he started to get curious about his surroundings. I remember when he rolled over and when he sat up by himself. Each time he did something new like that I was overcome with joy and pride. My child achieves his goals!
Karson also is a socialite. Absolute charmer, really. When he was just starting to take notice of people, we were at one of his doctor appointments, and his doctor remarked, "There is nothing wrong with his social skills! He is flirting with me right now!" And there he was, smirking with his big blue eyes twinkling. If he looks at someone, they are obligated by the 'cute kid law' to smile and try to make him laugh. It's just impossible not to love on this kid- even for the people who know nothing about him. I've gotten to know more people because they can't help but come up and get to know him. :-)
I'm even proud of the things I know will drive me crazy someday. Such as the fact that I know he is a mischievous little stinker- I can see him try to figure out what will get my attention (which is normally something he isn't allowed to do). And the way I got him to scoot for the first few times was by putting something he REALLY wanted that he couldn't have just out of reach. Watch that kid scoot the marathon if there is a cell phone, cords, or plastic anywhere near him!
So, every day is a challenge with a child, because we all have to face the fact that we can't be as selfish anymore- can't just run out and get groceries or go shopping, can't blow all our money on things that we don't need - but every day a parent should be able to find at least one reason they are happy to have their child in their life. The extra colors that now decorate your family room because of the activity mat and exersaucer. The people you have met or gotten close to because you both had children around the same age. The art that decorates all your rooms because your child loves you and shows you by his artsy talents. The music of your child's laughter. The smile that only YOU can get out of your child.
There's always something. And today I was reminded that every day is a day to celebrate being a mom.
The Aha! Moment about sleep
AHA!
There's always a moment in everyone's life (hopefully more than one... ;-/) that you go- OH MY WORD THAT IS A GREAT THOUGHT!
And let me tell you- I normally forget those thoughts.
So before I forget- here is my thought.
Just a few minutes ago I was putting my son, Karson, to bed, and he just didn't want to go to bed. He recently figured out how to scoot, which has, of course, opened up a whole new world to him. I can just see it in his eyes as I watch him- he scoots into this corner, and looks around, and I can just tell he is thinking "Wow, it looks so different over here! Why did I wait so long to scoot?"
It's kind of like if you were to sit on a couch backward - that is, to have your head hanging off the couch and your feet in the air - and you look up at the ceiling and look around at how the doors don't go all the way to the ceiling (or the floor in this case) which means that if you were able to walk on the ceiling, then you would have to step up to get into the next room. If you followed that, or if you remember doing that as a child, you are probably thinking, "Yeah, that was totally weird! Kind of cool to think of life walking on the ceiling!"
Or ... maybe it's just one of my quirks. But I always thought it would have been pretty awesome to have an upside down day, just for kicks. Hopefully I'm not alone....
Anywho! That was not my thought. So, Karson is being totally hard to put down, and I'm kinda feeling generous, so I am holding him and trying different positions to make him sleepier so it isn't so hard to put him down. I bounce him (which worked when he was younger, but now only makes him go "aaAAaaaaAAaaa" so that when he bounces he sounds funny :-) ), and I try to give him a bottle, I hold him in the burp position, in the rocking position, and then I start swaying side to side with him in the rocking position (head on top of one arm, feet hanging off the other arm, at least in older kids' case).
AHA! This makes me think of one night when I was getting tired while I was laying in bed and suddenly my mind had me swaying so that I was rocking back and forth like a swing. It was marvelous and one of the best feelings I've ever imagined, and of course I fell asleep like a rock, probably purring.
So I watched as my son starts to do the same thing- he makes this sound that kinda sounds like the groan you have when you are really loving the massage you are receiving, and then his eyes start drifting shut. Every once in awhile that little stinker tries to open his eyes, but that swaying just kept him going back down into slumberland. Soon, I had him down in the crib with nary a sound.
So there- my AHA! moment is- if you need help getting your child to sleep- try swaying him back and forth from foot to head, and if your child is anything like me and my child, you will have a sleeping child within no time.
There's always a moment in everyone's life (hopefully more than one... ;-/) that you go- OH MY WORD THAT IS A GREAT THOUGHT!
And let me tell you- I normally forget those thoughts.
So before I forget- here is my thought.
Just a few minutes ago I was putting my son, Karson, to bed, and he just didn't want to go to bed. He recently figured out how to scoot, which has, of course, opened up a whole new world to him. I can just see it in his eyes as I watch him- he scoots into this corner, and looks around, and I can just tell he is thinking "Wow, it looks so different over here! Why did I wait so long to scoot?"
It's kind of like if you were to sit on a couch backward - that is, to have your head hanging off the couch and your feet in the air - and you look up at the ceiling and look around at how the doors don't go all the way to the ceiling (or the floor in this case) which means that if you were able to walk on the ceiling, then you would have to step up to get into the next room. If you followed that, or if you remember doing that as a child, you are probably thinking, "Yeah, that was totally weird! Kind of cool to think of life walking on the ceiling!"
Or ... maybe it's just one of my quirks. But I always thought it would have been pretty awesome to have an upside down day, just for kicks. Hopefully I'm not alone....
Anywho! That was not my thought. So, Karson is being totally hard to put down, and I'm kinda feeling generous, so I am holding him and trying different positions to make him sleepier so it isn't so hard to put him down. I bounce him (which worked when he was younger, but now only makes him go "aaAAaaaaAAaaa" so that when he bounces he sounds funny :-) ), and I try to give him a bottle, I hold him in the burp position, in the rocking position, and then I start swaying side to side with him in the rocking position (head on top of one arm, feet hanging off the other arm, at least in older kids' case).
AHA! This makes me think of one night when I was getting tired while I was laying in bed and suddenly my mind had me swaying so that I was rocking back and forth like a swing. It was marvelous and one of the best feelings I've ever imagined, and of course I fell asleep like a rock, probably purring.
So I watched as my son starts to do the same thing- he makes this sound that kinda sounds like the groan you have when you are really loving the massage you are receiving, and then his eyes start drifting shut. Every once in awhile that little stinker tries to open his eyes, but that swaying just kept him going back down into slumberland. Soon, I had him down in the crib with nary a sound.
So there- my AHA! moment is- if you need help getting your child to sleep- try swaying him back and forth from foot to head, and if your child is anything like me and my child, you will have a sleeping child within no time.
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