TROPICAL TUESDAY

[Harriet]

Lilac and Ken in Canada need to get well - hope that happens and the lingering respiratory ickies are finished soon.

Elizabeth, I couldn't be more certain that your dmother is mistaken about the makeup at 12 years. Other girls will not expect it. They will also be quite critical if it's not applied just right. It's expensive and, once started, continues in expense and time. Just my two cents. It adds another layer (pun not intended, but correct) of responsibility to a young girl's days.

Good idea abut the contact lens case, BookSaver.

Hope LO continues feeling better, LadyM. I know you will be glad to get back to normal.

Dee, that is an amazing trip they are taking. Good job making a chance for them to see others in the family.

This has been a long day of work. Dstepson helped us move furniture, rearrange, etc., etc. It seems we are always calling on him to help with something or another. HRH and he mowed quickly before the big storm front moving in for the next few days.

A county policeman friend tried to stop by on their rounds, as dd and I were headed home from her meeting at school. But in front of us a car went off the road, through a ditch, breaking the windshield, sending smoke up through the car and starting the horn on continuous beep. Wow. So before we could get home, we saw them flying toward that problem. We just texted later to say we were sorry to have missed them.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Home again. And I've cuop.

Harmony At one point we could see ds's legs shaking from the strain of being up on the tower. I wanted him down immediately but he had to secure the loose piece first. As a mom, that was hard to watch.

I second Bookie's suggestion, LM.

Dh saw the doctor. His sinus are so swollen the doctor can't see into his nose. That's what is causing the lingering phlegm production. No infection (at least he doesn't think so, he can't see in) but the sinuses have to be un-swollen so he'll be doing rinsing and there's a med involved too. This is to be done for a month.

I noted ds is having troubles again too but he said he was fine in Calgary and figures it might be the bedroom in the basement. Good point. Now that it is cooler, he can move upstairs.

Found out why he's delaying about applying for the apartment. He's still sort-of committed to renting with TA so he's waiting for TA to figure out what he's doing. I'd rather they not rent together, this is getting complicated and it is a basement apartment. If he's not doing well at the house, he might be even worse in a regular basement (the house is high-ranch style.)

Rehearsal went great. I visited with the minister while dh was at the doctor. We had a good time. I really like him but am chaffing to find a closer church. My classes last night are actually in our closest United Church but it doesn't feel like 'home' so I need to keep looking. Not sure why it didn't feel like home but it didn't.

Dh has started dinner and I'm starving so hope it will be ready soon. We are overwhelmed with things to do and I'm finding myself shutting down as a result. Not sure how to get moving and making progress.

[Elizabeth]

Hi again. Just a quick check in before picking up DD12 for Girls' Night Out. Two jobs applied for, 5 other companies looked at which did not have local jobs available. One of them allowed you to set up a profile with a resume and will email if jobs come available, so I signed on for that.

Some things that must be done:
DPC
trash out (it is completely full due to my yardwork)

[Ramblinrose]

Just a quick post to LM..
Another thought... I would contact the school nurse and tell her about LO's surgery. She can help him out as well, plus she is someone LO can go to if there is a problem. Also what about PE or recess?? Will LO need to sit out for a few days???

[Ramblinrose]

LM .... Something else I just thought of... Though Bookie has a terrific idea, many schools have very struck policies about kids bring meds into school for whatever the reason. Here no student is allowed to carry any type of pill with them... Not even Tylenol for cramps. It is considered a drug offense and a student can be suspended for doing so.

Therefore I would strongly suggest you inform LO's school about the ointment. I know it seems silly but this is where things are in schools these days and I wouldn't want to see LO get in trouble for something so innocent.

[BookSaver]

Good points, RamblinRose. I was trying to think of something that an independent boy could cope with discreetly, but wasn't even thinking about school policies for bringing meds into the building.

[Harriet]

My first thought had been to go have lunch with him the first day and handle the ointment yourself with him, even if you have to take him from school for lunch elsewhere. But then I thought, doesn't LO have to go to a rather distant school?

Here when you tell them there is a prescription, they have to give you a form, you have to sign, then it goes to dr where dr fills out a lot, then back to school. SOME of this can be handled by fax but obviously you have to have it in hand personally sometime, since you must sign as well. Then and only then can nurse allow prescription. Dd missed a dose because nurse hadn't received from dr's office yet, yada, yada, yada. Then nurse just called us at home and said for dd to continue taking them on her own, because the form was filed if there was a problem.

[lucylee]

Oh, ditto all that about school having to be aware of meds. That was our policy also. And teachers could not administer anything. As mentioned, I could not give a Tylenol to a 17 year old girl whose parents and grandparents I had known my entire life, nor was she supposed to have any in her purse. But of course, the school nurse could keep rx meds in her office and kids would go to her to get them at the correct times. With younger children it may be harder for them to remember, but surely your school administrators/teachers/nurse will be able to work with you to make this as simple as possible for LO, LadyM. BookSaver's idea was pretty neat, though, as far as carrying small amounts of the ointment each day! But I imagine the school personnel will need to see the actual rx package.
* so many regulations these days *

We walked 2 miles, and then went to the nursing home for singing. (S2S and supper in between, LOL! Definitely in no shape to go ANYWHERE after walking, except the shower.)

Tomorrow, I will have dgs most of the day -- probably all day -- while ds & dh go to Atlanta to watch the Braves fall further behind in the standings...

Elizabeth... boy... your dmom's take on make-up. (((HUGS))) Most of the girls at my high school didn't wear a LOT of make-up, and lots of girls appeared to wear no make-up. In fact, I remember they were making fun of girls at a neighboring, rival school one day. Looking at pictures on FB during newspaper class, and saying, "Yeah, she goes to _____ -- you can always tell." Since I had cousins at that school, I said, "How can you tell?" They said, "Because of their make-up. They all wear their make-up like this -- look:" And sure enough, heavy make-up, especially the bright eyeshadow, and yes... my dcousin had the same look. LOL. If I had a daughter, I don't believe I would encourage make-up at all until she was REALLY throwing a fit to wear it!

(((Ken))) Sounds like he must feel miserable. (((Lilac))) -- and your (((dgd)))!

Wonder what the ENT told dmom today...

Continuing to keep MT in my thoughts, too! Hope you're feeling better and better every day!

[Lady Maverick]

THANK YOU for the wonderful ideas for LO!! What a warm, caring, creative and wise group this is. I am always impressed with the ideas that this group comes up with.

LO school is small so they don't have a nurse. The school secretary covers all the bases including being the "owie fixer". LO is getting better all the time, but it is a slow process (or at least it seems while we are living through it). Tonight was the first time he was able to P without pain. Once that happened I took him off the massive pain meds and put him on Tylenol every 4 hours. He still has bandage on for another 24 hours so he will stay home from school at least another day. Once the bandage comes off then we (he) can decide how soon he will be able to move without discomfort and get used to putting ointment on everything. Once he can move around okay then we will tackle the ointment at school issue. I'm going to talk with his teacher (female) and maybe the principal (male) about the little kids boy bathrooms. LO said the doors won't lock so he can't go to the bathroom without the other boys opening the door. I'm sure the principal can come up with a solution so LO can have a private place to apply the ointment. Doc didn't put any restriction on LO. He just said to wear loose clothing for a week or two. LO can do PE/recess or whatever activity he wants as soon as he feels like it.

LO anxiety has sky rocketed and he is so clingy with me that I'm having to constantly remind myself to not get frustrated. He wants to be right next to me at all times. If I'm in a different room (bathroom) he is constantly checking every couple minutes to make sure I am still there. I have never left him so it isn't something that is realistic. Hopefully he will relax and return to normal soon.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm sure LO will settle down LM. Anesthetic makes one feel funny so I'm sure that is magnifying any other feelings he had. I know he was feeling rejected by your dd before this all happened and probably that's part of it. If he's feeling imperfect (after all, he had to have something 'fixed' then he might be thinking you won't want him any more. One never can figure out what kids are thinking. I had a 6 year old inform me that she was a carnivore at Sunday School last week! (We were talking about the creation story.)

I'm ready for bed. If I hurry, I might beat dh.