January 14, 2011

The One Where The Boy is Coughing and The Girl Turns on the Charm

Moe has a cold again. It’s a nasty one, with an ugly cough. He hasn’t wanted to eat more than crackers and the occasional cup of juice. I kept him home Tuesday and Wednesday, and when I called to tell his teacher he would be out, she said 3 other kids have been out too. Clearly, it’s going around.

Yesterday, Moe woke up and seemed a little better so I sent him to school. He seemed so excited to go, not wanting to spend another day at home any more than I wanted him here all day. He goes a little stir-crazy when we can’t leave the house. When the phone rang at noon, I knew it would be his teacher. He had been coughing a lot and wasn’t eating. I picked him up, feeling awful for sending him.

While Moe was at school for the morning, I took Jelly to the park. I’ve started hanging out with Moe’s old playgroup again. Many of the moms have kids Jelly’s age now too. We dropped out of the weekly playdate a long time ago, and it is strange to be back with the group again, especially without Moe there. But it’s good for Jelly to be with other kids, and she especially loved watching the big girls play. She learned to climb to the top of the play structure where she found the big sunflower at the top. “Flower!” is one of her favorite words and she was so excited to find it there.

Jelly is starting to lose some of her shyness, which is fantastic. But at one point, she noticed an older man, who was sitting on the benches nearby. She walked right up to him, touching his cane and saying “hello!” The man was happy to see her, and I had my first taste of striking that balance between protecting my little girl, wanting her to feel safe and believe in the goodness of people, and planting the seeds of distrust in strangers. We said good bye to the man, as Jelly signed "friend."

The rest of the afternoon wasn’t fun. I canceled the babysitter and music therapy. Jelly missed her nap, and around 4:00 Moe suddenly ran out of the living room and into his bedroom. This isn’t unusual, but when I went to check on him, he was in his bed, fast asleep. He has napped maybe once since his second birthday, so I knew he wasn’t feeling well. By the time my parents, who are visiting this weekend, arrived at the house, Moe had woken up but was lying on the couch, looking utterly pathetic.

Although a little Motrin seemed to help him feel better, the nap threw off his sleep enough that, even with his regular melatonin pill, he didn’t fall asleep until after 9pm. Then, like salt in the wound, Jelly was up at 3:00 in the morning. Why is it that on the days Moe actually sleeps through the night, Jelly is awake? I think she’s teething, but it would be so much better if she could do it on the days Moe is us up anyway.

She was up for a while, only wanting mommy. But the girl knows how to turn on the charm. Long after my patience for letting her cry has evaporated, and I’ve given in to just sitting with her for a while in the rocking chair, she placed her head on my chest, gripping my arm with one tiny hand and her teddy bear in the other. Gets me every time.

Today’s post was written as part of the Red Dress Club. This week’s challenge had us choose an item in our pantry, and include every word in the ingredients in our post. I chose a jar of sunflower seed butter. Ingredients: Sunflower seeds, evaporated cane juice, salt.

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12 comments:

  1. Brilliant prompt, and once again I would never have spotted it, you are GREAT at this! Hope Moe feels better soon, Jelly too :) Jen

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  2. The bird is home again today, too. Ugh!

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  3. Way to work the prompt into the piece! I forgot what I was "supposed" to be reading.

    Though I'm awfully sorry your munchkins weren't feeling well.

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  4. You wove the words into this piece so well! Aww that is one tired looking child. Hope he feels better soon.

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  5. Great job weaving the words in, I had to go back and look for them. Sorry your little one isn't feeling well.

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  6. WOW!! so good!! I had to go back and read it again! Hope the kiddies feel better!

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  7. I didn't even notice the ingredients, though I thought maybe jelly was part of it!

    Hope everyone is on the mend soon!

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  8. I know my daughter is truly sick when she sneaks into her room, and I catch her asleep. Like Moe, she gave up her nap at 2!

    I hope everyone feel better soon!

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  9. These prompts are so cool and you are so good at them. I like the use of "cane" the best!

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  10. Wow I had no idea you even stuck with the prompt until I got to the end! So sorry to hear your little one was sick. Boo. :( I have the same issue with sleep as you, it sound like! Hoping in another year, I'll be getting more on a regular basis. Fantastic job!

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  11. Oh, poor little kiddos. And momma, too. I hope everybody is on the mend.

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  12. We've had it, too. I added up the other day and realized that I had been out of the house for a total of 5 hours in 8 days. CABIN FEVER!! Cannot wait for school to start tomorrow. Caleb's the same way about napping. And we have the same pillow pet. Do your kids just love those things? =)

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