A glimpse into my future...

So, this week has been hard. Really hard. Work has been stressful, because both kids are sick (plus my hubby), which means that I am sick. Plus I'm trying to get Kindermusik stuff all figured out, and it's coming along very slowly.

On Wednesday, for the first time in the year and a half that I've been a nanny I felt like a mom. I had to take A to the doctor because she had an ear infection. No big deal, I thought when her mom asked me the evening before if I could take her. I've taken her lots of places. How is the doctor any different?

Wow. Was I in for a shock. She was fine until we got back in the room and the nurse took her temperature. I have never been clung to more tightly. Then the doctor came in and tried to listen to her heart. The poor woman got smacked in the face, and I got little nails dug into me. And then the ears. Oh, the ears. It took me basically laying on top of her legs and holding her arms while the doctor held her head and cleaned out her ears so she could examine them. A was screaming and sobbing the whole time and all I wanted to do was push the doctor out of the way and hold this poor little girl.

A few minutes later, we were done, and I realized I had made my fatal error: I FORGOT TO BRING A PACIFIER. WTF. She cried the entire way out to the car, the entire way to CVS to get her antibiotics, and while we were in CVS until I did something that I hate -- I helped her turn to food for comfort. That's right, I opened up a bag of mini Chips Ahoy and let her (and M) eat them for the twenty minutes we were in line to drop off the prescription. (I should mention that M was a perfect angel the entire time. He tried to distract A during her appointment, he tried to cheer her up with her sticker from the doctor. Basically, he was an amazing big brother.) When we finally got up to the register we found out it was an hour wait to pick up her medicine, so we went home (after paying for a half-eaten bag of cookies) and got the "pacie" and snuggled for awhile. Then she got to take a nap. Me? Nope...I got to play with a 3-year-old and try to hide my exhaustion. He had been such a good boy all day that I wanted to make sure we got lots of quality time while A was sleeping.

His turn was coming, though. I went to pick him up from school on Thursday, and his teacher said she didn't think he was feeling well. He didn't eat his lunch or a birthday cupcake that a little girl brought, which is a big deal for him. This kid loves his food. He came running out to hug me and he was pale and his eyes were so sick-looking. We got out to my truck and he burst into tears..."I want to be at home!" he wailed in the middle of the parking lot. We got home, I put A in bed for her nap, and I took his temperature. 102.8 degrees. Fabulous. Meanwhile, I'm starting to feel like crap. I can't breathe through my nose, my head is aching, and I'm soooo tired. I gave M some children's Tylenol and laid him down on the couch watching The Backyardigans while I went to the kitchen to call Scott to bring me some medicine. Apparently my conversation was disturbing him:

"Who are you talking to out there, Stefanie?" M asked me.
"Mister Scott. He's going to bring me some medicine because I don't feel very good, either."
"Me too."
"I know, buddy. But your medicine is going to make you feel better soon."
"Maybe Scott could bring two medicines to my house."

The kid can even make me smile while he's laying half-conscious on the couch watching cartoons. :)

The rest of my nine-hour day (ugh) involved finding cartoons for M, trying to get him to drink water, checking and re-checking his temp, and dealing with a cranky A when she woke up (part of the reason she was cranky was because she had poked M in the face after he finally fell asleep, and I scolded her...she was not happy).

And I worked today (normally my day off). And I'm working tomorrow for a few hours (Saturday). I love my job, and I love those kids. I would do anything in the whole world for them. But I'm still not feeling well, so I'm just praying that God reaches down and miraculously makes me feel better. Like in the next five minutes would be nice.