So it has been awhile since I've posted anything. My daughter has been pretty sick. We took her to the ER Tuesday night due to a fever. After three hours of working to get it down, and a negative RSV/flu test it was finally discovered she had bronchitis. Now when I found this out I was a bit pissed. Not because my child was sick it was because of what happened that afternoon and previous Saturday. Saturday we had gone to a Sgt's house to drop off unwanted baby items for his pregnant wife. When we got there I noticed her four year old and two year old hacking all over my daughter. She did not inform me that her children where sick when I sent her a text earlier in the day. Now back to Tuesday. My darling husband comes home and I tell him it feels like Monkey has a fever. He laughs his "that's just f-ing great laugh" and says his Sgt's kids have upper respiratory infections. The same Sgt we saw on Saturday. Now for those who may not know this bronchitis is an upper respiratory infection. So instead of informing me that her children were coming down with something she decides to ignore it. Back to my now poor sick Monkey. We get home from the ER around 1:50. Get Monkey to bed, get ourselves to bed and everything is going good. Husband goes in to work at 6 they send him home and we're thinking awesome. Two of us can totally handle this sick kid. Well the moment he walks into the room the phone rings. He has to come back to work and go out into the field with his company because they need him. So I'm left to deal with a sick baby. Not too worried other then having to haul her out into the rain and cold to get her meds. Around 10 she wakes up. I take her temp (and let me just tell you this now, this kid is on strong trooper because I take her temp the old fashioned way if you get my drift) and its 101 already. I gave her some tylenol and then attempted to get her to eat. After about an hour I check it again and its now 102. I gave her some ibuprofen (you may not know this but you can give both at the same time), a quick call to my mom, then head to the Clinic to get her meds filled. We left at around 11:30 and did not return until almost 1. Yea, I know, it was a long wait.
By the time we get home her temp has dropped to 101 and decides to stay there for the rest of the day and into the night. At some point and time during that day I get a phone call from Sgt's wife bitching about how she and her kids are sick and that she needs her husband home when she wants him home. She tells me that she is going to start calling higher ups and bitching because he should be home with her and the kids. I inform her that my daughter is sick with bronchitis. Her exact words to me are "Wow you have it worse then me." Ya think? Wednesday comes to an end with no sign of the rain stopping.
Thursday, still one sick Monkey. Her fever is nice to her today though. It stays down at about 100 all day meaning no need for a fever reducer. We were both pleased. I didn't have to fight her and she didn't have to have some strange plastic thing squirt liquid in her mouth (other then the three times a day meds). She played for a about an hour then pleasantly fell asleep on my chest on the couch while watching Jungle Junction. Not gonna lie after she fell asleep I kept watching it :). She slept for a good few hours, forcing my bladder, as well as the dogs, to be put to the test. Thankfully the remote was within reach so I could channel surf, and both of the girls where snoozing on the couch with us. After she wakes up I realize my phone was beeping. Turns out Sgt's wife sent me a text hours ago. I didn't reply simply because I was lazy, though I did have the answer to her question.
Now obviously my kid is sick. And when she gets sick she turns into the most whinny baby alive. Every time she falls she looks at me like its my fault and begins to cry. Her feelings are easily hurt and she is just all around in a bad mood. I understand this. I've been sick before. I have no problem with her blaming me for a fall I was no where around to have caused. I like it when she comes whining over to me saying momma and dragging a stuffed dog three times her size. I like to pick her up and cuddle her. Even when she hits me in the face and throws a fit I still love it. She's my kid. (OK I don't love being hit in the face by my child and even if she is sick I still tell her no, my point was I still love her and want to cuddle the sickness away). I even love (not kidding here) her following me around the house, paci in one hand and a blanket in the other whimpering momma over and over again. She can only say a few words, non of which get her point across of why she is so upset. I however know and understand that she is sick. So its not big deal to me if she follows me around screaming my name or simply whimpering.
Now after dealing with a kid who has done nothing but whine and say my name over and over again (even while playing with her toys) for about an hour to two hours, my phone beeps. It's Sgt's wife telling me that she hates the name mom and wants to change it to something long and hard to say simply so her children wont call her name. I said good luck with that. I personally love being called momma no matter what the reason. And her next reply I didn't even respond to. Yes being a mother is hard especially when you have a sick child or two in her case. But her four year old is old enough to help mommy around the house. She can clean up after herself and get herself something to drink and snack on. She is able to put in a movie on her own and entertain herself IF her mother would let her. But of course her mother has raised both her and her brother to be fully reliant on momma which means when momma is sick and needs rest or has to take care of another sick child the house falls apart. It is not my fault you raised your children that way and now hate being called mom because your son is screaming that name in your face simply because he is two and cant explain to you or understand why he feels so horrible.
Being a mother is difficult. There are choices we have to make such as using the Ferber method vs the cry it out method, co sleeping vs crib, cloth diapers vs disposable, formula vs breast milk and eventually, time outs vs spanking, home schooling vs private vs public. Its a ton of responsibility that is suddenly thrashed upon us. A good number of us, if not all of us, have this perfect little picture painted in our heads. We have the perfect baby who never cries, never gets sick, and has diapers that smell spring fresh when its time to change them. We have a husband who is always in a wonderful mood, who brings home the bacon and showers us with something new and unexpected every day. We have the perfect body, know every recipe ever written, and can multitask like no other. The house is spotless and its always Sunny. Sadly though this is only a dream that most days won't be come true. As a mother and a human being I can accept this. My child is very much the perfectly painted picture (aside from the monster she turns into while sick, but again I can handle that), my husband, while flawed is still perfect to me. As for myself I am who I am and that wont ever change. I am the best mother I can be and the best wife that I can be. I married a man who chose a hard job which means I understand and can handle the fact that he cant always be there. So what do I have to say to a woman who whines and complains that her husband can't be home on a whim and that her children aren't perfect? Get the hell over it.
It rained Wednesday-today. My child has had a fever from Tuesday afternoon-today, though thankfully it has not been higher then 101 since Wednesday. My poor kid is still very sick with a cough that concerns me everything time she does it. She also has a tooth on the right side that picked now of all times to try and break through. She cries a lot these days. I have even considered pulling out my hair when I look over while holding a screaming baby and see my husband on the computer. BUT I love my child and I take the good as well as the bad with a smile in my eyes and a kiss on my lips. They may not be able to cure illnesses, but they sure can cure a sad baby.
Well said Beth, well said.
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