I almost never know.
DB is generally pretty healthy and when he does get sick, for one thing he hardly complains and for another thing, he's not usually so sick -- like, throwing up or high fever -- that he HAS to stay home.
Yesterday he had a cough, sneezing and a drippy, runny nose, so I decided for everyone's sake to keep him home.
Now, in the past -- meaning 2 years ago, when he was in preschool -- I leapt at the chance for him to stay home. Sniffles? Oh, stay home. He wasn't getting that much from preschool that he couldn't miss day or so here and there. I doubt it was even once a month, but maybe that, at most.
Today, he woke up and announced he was still sick and needed to stay home again, which he does simply because he'd rather be at home than at school. But he does have a raspy voice and then, a hard, sharp cough -- I'd say hacking but that implies productivity and this is pretty dry.
So I decided not to put him on the bus to give myself more time to decide.
Mind you, I put off a few things yesterday, because he was home, that I wanted to get to today. And I read a job listing that so intrigued me that I laid awake for a while last night thinking about what ideas I could bring to the position. I was psyched to work on my resume today so I could apply.
But after an hour or so, when that loud cough continued, and he'd pretty much stayed on the couch, I decided he could stay home for day 2.
He perked up quite a bit today, and whined a lot more for my attention than he did yesterday.
But just because he got bored, does that mean he shouldn't have stayed home? My husband certainly thinks I made the wrong call.
Is it my fault that sick days are harder when both the adults work from home?
*Sigh.*
Showing posts with label sick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sick. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Good Behavior Update
I don't think DB's good behavior is related to it's the head injury. I think he has a cold.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Pickles and Honey and Bumps on the Head
Db hit his head on a tow truck Friday afternoon.
How is THAT possible, you ask? OK, picture this:
It's raining hard. He's wearing his oversize Mets jacket with the hood up. He's still got his patch on. (That reminds me, I forgot his patch this morning. Don't care.) He's not really looking where he's going.
The tow truck was parked at the corner. The iron cross bar sticks out at a 45-degree angle at a height of, I now know, about 42 inches.
I had crossed the street ahead of him (it's a quiet street) and was encouraging him to come along and stop looking at whatever he was looking at. His body moved before his head turned and
The first thing he said after he stopped crying was, "Will it be better when I'm a grownup?" Later he said something about "the truck that broke my forehead."
Poor guy.
Needless to say, he wasn't too interested in doing gymnastics after that.
We went inside anyway, mainly because it was pouring rain, and he watched part of the class and played with his friend P (whose sisters take that class) for a bit, then we left.
He didn't black out, he never took that long-nap they warn you about following head injury, yet... I still worry.
I grew up with the mindset of, "If it's not life-threating, there's no reason to go to the doctor." So I'm not the type to drag him to the pediatrician when there's probably nothing they can do.
But I wonder -- because, oddly enough, he was Really Good all weekend. Doesn't that qualify as an uncharacteristic behavior change?
Now, he may have been really good due it it being Birthday Party day (Saturday) and Sunday he had lots of new stimulation from all his new presents. Very possible.
But we also took him to Pickle Day on the Lower East Side, and he tolerated being there and even tried some honey and wanted to buy some.
Last night he said, as he laid in bed, that he was dizzy. How can you be dizzy lying in bed? So I figured it was that dropping-off-to-sleep dizziness. Then he was hot. But fever doesn't show up as a symptom of head injury. (And my Google search about pediatric head injury symptoms didn't give me anything, really, to worry about.)
Then this morning, everything worked right. He woke up and I was right there but didn't startle him. He roused himself, told me he was waking up enough to get up, got his classes, and said "I'm ready," then sat up and headed to the playroom. His bus was late so we had time to do everything: Tell a story (the usual); eat his marshmallow bar; and have a race. We said after we did all that if the bus hadn't arrived, I'd drive him, but just as we finished, the bus pulled up ... and he was OK with it. Amazing.
How sad is it that my delight is tempered with, "Is he OK?"
How is THAT possible, you ask? OK, picture this:
It's raining hard. He's wearing his oversize Mets jacket with the hood up. He's still got his patch on. (That reminds me, I forgot his patch this morning. Don't care.) He's not really looking where he's going.
The tow truck was parked at the corner. The iron cross bar sticks out at a 45-degree angle at a height of, I now know, about 42 inches.
I had crossed the street ahead of him (it's a quiet street) and was encouraging him to come along and stop looking at whatever he was looking at. His body moved before his head turned and
****W-H-A-M!*****
The first thing he said after he stopped crying was, "Will it be better when I'm a grownup?" Later he said something about "the truck that broke my forehead."
Poor guy.
Needless to say, he wasn't too interested in doing gymnastics after that.
We went inside anyway, mainly because it was pouring rain, and he watched part of the class and played with his friend P (whose sisters take that class) for a bit, then we left.
He didn't black out, he never took that long-nap they warn you about following head injury, yet... I still worry.
I grew up with the mindset of, "If it's not life-threating, there's no reason to go to the doctor." So I'm not the type to drag him to the pediatrician when there's probably nothing they can do.
But I wonder -- because, oddly enough, he was Really Good all weekend. Doesn't that qualify as an uncharacteristic behavior change?
Now, he may have been really good due it it being Birthday Party day (Saturday) and Sunday he had lots of new stimulation from all his new presents. Very possible.
But we also took him to Pickle Day on the Lower East Side, and he tolerated being there and even tried some honey and wanted to buy some.
Last night he said, as he laid in bed, that he was dizzy. How can you be dizzy lying in bed? So I figured it was that dropping-off-to-sleep dizziness. Then he was hot. But fever doesn't show up as a symptom of head injury. (And my Google search about pediatric head injury symptoms didn't give me anything, really, to worry about.)
Then this morning, everything worked right. He woke up and I was right there but didn't startle him. He roused himself, told me he was waking up enough to get up, got his classes, and said "I'm ready," then sat up and headed to the playroom. His bus was late so we had time to do everything: Tell a story (the usual); eat his marshmallow bar; and have a race. We said after we did all that if the bus hadn't arrived, I'd drive him, but just as we finished, the bus pulled up ... and he was OK with it. Amazing.
How sad is it that my delight is tempered with, "Is he OK?"
Sunday, May 25, 2008
A Great Weekend So Far
DuckyBoy has been fantastic this weekend. Granted, there's a day left of the 3-day, but wow.
On Saturday he and I attended a planting day at the NY Congregational Home; there were lots of people helping this year (unlike years past when there's been a smattering of folks from our church and no one else), so I didn't feel badly when he skipped from project to project.
Most fun was simply watching a worm we dug up; for a short-attention span kid, it was awesome to sit with him, heads together, and watch the worm crawl around on my (gloved, thank you) hand for 5 minute? 10 minutes? And he was even willing to put it in his (gloved) hand.
He was delighted with worms, and the hard sap he found on a tree, and said something like, "It's like we're on a nature walk!"
Then we attended a party and on our way in I tried someting new: I took a moment to explain to him that I expected to spend most of the time at the party talking with the other adults, and I expected him to play with B. ( a boy about his age who he knows) or on his own (I didn't say, "alone" which is a trigger word for DB...).
And, by golly, he did it! I hardly heard a peep from him! For hours!
Today he wanted to sit in front in church. And I mean, IN FRONT. We could practically see up the minister's nostrils. But DB seemed to like being there, and even entertained himself during the hymn!
Afterwards we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge in honor of its being the bridge's 125th birthday, which is long for him and yes, he complained, but after his dad explained the options (do it without whining and thereby honor God; or do it and whine and make mom and dad mad), he did it.
On the way home, he fell asleep... for more than an hour!
Which makes us wonder ... Is he sick?
On Saturday he and I attended a planting day at the NY Congregational Home; there were lots of people helping this year (unlike years past when there's been a smattering of folks from our church and no one else), so I didn't feel badly when he skipped from project to project.
Most fun was simply watching a worm we dug up; for a short-attention span kid, it was awesome to sit with him, heads together, and watch the worm crawl around on my (gloved, thank you) hand for 5 minute? 10 minutes? And he was even willing to put it in his (gloved) hand.
He was delighted with worms, and the hard sap he found on a tree, and said something like, "It's like we're on a nature walk!"
Then we attended a party and on our way in I tried someting new: I took a moment to explain to him that I expected to spend most of the time at the party talking with the other adults, and I expected him to play with B. ( a boy about his age who he knows) or on his own (I didn't say, "alone" which is a trigger word for DB...).
And, by golly, he did it! I hardly heard a peep from him! For hours!
Today he wanted to sit in front in church. And I mean, IN FRONT. We could practically see up the minister's nostrils. But DB seemed to like being there, and even entertained himself during the hymn!
Afterwards we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge in honor of its being the bridge's 125th birthday, which is long for him and yes, he complained, but after his dad explained the options (do it without whining and thereby honor God; or do it and whine and make mom and dad mad), he did it.
On the way home, he fell asleep... for more than an hour!
Which makes us wonder ... Is he sick?
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Fevers and Easter Eggs
I miss my blog! Lots going on, and now DuckyBoy is sick. Not with scarlet fever I don't think, like finslippy's son, but sick enough that he could only take a few sips of water today, and that couldn't be too cold or it came right back up. His fever was over 103.5 this morning, but slowly came down all afternoon. I just hope it doesn't spike again in the middle of the night tonight!
This afternoon he finally was able to drink some rice milk and eat 6, yes, literally just 6, French fries. So much for the big family weekend! We were supposed to go to Grandma's today but no chance. They'll probably come in to see us tomorrow anyway.
DuckyBoy's not sure he wants to hunt for Easter eggs tomorrow, so I told him the EB would know he's sick and probably leave him just a few eggs, and come back next week. Poor guy.
On a related note, I'm less than impressed with 2 of the egg-coloring products out there and they're both the same company: Dudley's. We tried the "Speckled eggs" kit and while the gel pouches and little sponge brushes were OK, last year anyway (Note to self: Quit trying to save leftover egg-coloring products for the next year...), the little stickers were impossible to get off the backing. They were clear so we could hardly see them, tiny, and just plain not useable.
Also tried the stencil/stamp kit. Also leftover from last year, but since you have to activate the paint pads with water anyway I don't think that was the problem. Too wet or too dry, that was the problem. At least I now have cute bunny stamps to use with regular stamp pads, plus 2 tiny paintbrushes (since I had 2 kits), but it didn't do anything for our eggs.
Luckily I had the old standby, plain old food coloring, in the house. DB may not have been feeling so good yesterday, come to think of it, but at any rate he didn't seem to really mind. Handled the disappointment of the kits pretty well and happily chose the colors for the solid eggs.
Happy Easter!
This afternoon he finally was able to drink some rice milk and eat 6, yes, literally just 6, French fries. So much for the big family weekend! We were supposed to go to Grandma's today but no chance. They'll probably come in to see us tomorrow anyway.
DuckyBoy's not sure he wants to hunt for Easter eggs tomorrow, so I told him the EB would know he's sick and probably leave him just a few eggs, and come back next week. Poor guy.
On a related note, I'm less than impressed with 2 of the egg-coloring products out there and they're both the same company: Dudley's. We tried the "Speckled eggs" kit and while the gel pouches and little sponge brushes were OK, last year anyway (Note to self: Quit trying to save leftover egg-coloring products for the next year...), the little stickers were impossible to get off the backing. They were clear so we could hardly see them, tiny, and just plain not useable.
Also tried the stencil/stamp kit. Also leftover from last year, but since you have to activate the paint pads with water anyway I don't think that was the problem. Too wet or too dry, that was the problem. At least I now have cute bunny stamps to use with regular stamp pads, plus 2 tiny paintbrushes (since I had 2 kits), but it didn't do anything for our eggs.
Luckily I had the old standby, plain old food coloring, in the house. DB may not have been feeling so good yesterday, come to think of it, but at any rate he didn't seem to really mind. Handled the disappointment of the kits pretty well and happily chose the colors for the solid eggs.
Happy Easter!
Monday, March 10, 2008
"I Don't Like Angry Mommy!"
Well, I don't much like her either. Sometimes she gets a say, especially at bedtime when it's already late and you're already on borrowed time and I just want 30 seconds in the bathroom and now you're futzing with the sheet that's p.e.r.f.e.c.t.l.y f.i.n.e. and she can't Take It Any More!
But a comment like that sure brings a gal up short. After all, the guy was home sick today and now has the "I Didn't Do Anything All Day And Now I'm Grouchy and Tired But Not Tired" blues.
*Sigh.*
I will give myself credit from doing some more "thinking out loud" today when I did something DuckyBoy wanted me to, as in, "I'm doing this because ... [whatever my reason was]," so he didn't assume I did it just because he said so.
But a comment like that sure brings a gal up short. After all, the guy was home sick today and now has the "I Didn't Do Anything All Day And Now I'm Grouchy and Tired But Not Tired" blues.
*Sigh.*
I will give myself credit from doing some more "thinking out loud" today when I did something DuckyBoy wanted me to, as in, "I'm doing this because ... [whatever my reason was]," so he didn't assume I did it just because he said so.
