Spinning my wheels

I think I shall invent a new device for parents. It will look a lot like the old twister spinner, but instead of just colors, it will have the following categories: Ear Infection – Nightmare – Afraid of the Dark – Not Ready for Bed (aka Wants to Play More) – Some Other Ailment Not Yet Apparent – and – Who the Heck Knows. Anytime your child who is unable to tell you what exactly the problem is and why in the world they are crying so hard their entire face is red, you could spin the spinner and instantly have your answer! Kind of like a magic 8 ball for the real world.

<sigh> The boy started acting like he had another (or continuation of the last) ear infection the other night. A call to the doctor's office and a refill was called in. I hate to give medications unnecessarily, but hey, if it's between a few doses of Amox. and spending 5 hours in urgent care just to have someone look in his ears, I'll take the grape bubblegum any day. Not sure how much the time change is affecting the small fry, but something is definitely going on with him. Last night (and yesterday for that matter) was lots of screaming, crying and whining punctuated with small spurts of laughter and silliness. A complete failure at going to bed the first time simply set us up for disaster thereafter. After about a 40 minute crying spurt, in which mama and dada were completely at a loss as to what to do, we flicked on the bedside lamp – TADA! Nearly instant calm. What? All of a sudden he's afraid of the dark? He already has a nightlight, but a lamp? Geez, it's bright! But he went right to sleep. A little while later, after a mini parenting pow-wow, we determined we could turn off the light. A while after that? Screaming fits again. Again with the light and right back to sleep he went. Who knows. Today we'll get some 25 watt bulbs, just in case he really just needs the light on. He woke up a couple times more and each time didn't really seem awake, but was certainly crying as if.

It's so frustrating when we don't know exactly what is wrong. I just want to FIX him and make him all better! It could be he's at the beginning of yet another cold, or even working on getting his 2 year molars. If I knew, I could help accordingly! It's just frustrating to try everything you can think of, and then suddenly, just turning on the light calms him right down. I'd like to blame Daylight Savings Time, but it could be a coincidence. Indeed, he has always reached milestones and made changes on holidays – could be he thought it was a holiday! LOL. And maybe, just maybe, he's ready for a later bedtime! UGH. I guess it's better that no one told me that it could be this frustrating and confusing as a parent to a toddler – I either would never have believed them or not become a parent. Either way, the good far outweighs the 'bad', but sometimes, when I'm exhausted, it's a little hard to remember that.

N…E…WAY…
The painters were in my office over the past 2 days and the difference is absolutely AMAZING!! I love what a simple coat of paint can do. The got all of the walls and trim done and even got the display cases primed so they can paint them next weekend. If I weren't pregnant, I may have asked for the paint so I could do it myself and get it done!! LOL.
So now I have more work to do – new shelves to buy and put up, a new mirror for the dispensing area, new pictures for the walls up front and in the back, and a new plant or two to liven the place up. Wonder if I can bribe the small fry with Timbits so he'll let me hit a couple of stores today? Hmmmm…. It's supposed to be a beautiful day, so we'll certainly spend a bunch of time outside…

This is a pretty crucial week for me – a lot to do to get ready for the changeover. It technically doesn't take affect until next Friday, but I need to have everything ready BY then, so this week is crunch week. Oy vey. My list contains about 25 things I have to get done, and I'm sure I've forgotten some things.

Well, it's Opening Day. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I won't be attending. Luckily, Nom's cuz is able to go with him, so my seat won't go… un-sat? LOL. I'm sad to miss opening day – there is just something about the packed ballpark, the energy, the excitement and the game. And of course, it's going to be perfect weather wise – I get all the years with sleet and snow and freezing temps, and he gets 58 and sunny! But, we'll catch it on the radio/tv and turn it up really loud so it'll sound like we're there. Maybe we'll even have hot dogs for lunch!

Well, that's it for me this morning. The boy is finished with ffoooooddd and it's time for clothes and playtime. Have a great one, everybody!