Ying and Yang

I have no idea the full story about what Ying does or what Yang does but I know if I Google it then I'd get an answer. But for now, I'll go with the belief that one completes the other because of their differences. Good with that?

Good. Because that describes my children to a tee.

My daughter stayed home with a "really, really bad stomach ache" on Friday. I thought for sure she was coming down with my stomach flu so I let her stay home.

By 10:00 she was completely enthralled in some Saddle Club DVDs. She watched all of them, maybe twice, while I got some work done in my office. Then it was lunch time and there was no sign of a stomach ache, or a flu of any kind. So I asked what she wanted to do for lunch.

"Go out."

She's going to make some man poor with all the dinners, lunches and breakfasts out on the town. She would rather eat out than sit in and relax. In fact, if she had 105 fever she'd still want to go out to eat.

Flash forward to today. My son came down with a "really, really sore throat" late Saturday, only his came with a fever. And he spent most of Sunday sleeping, eating Jell-o and just hanging around the couch. He was happy as could be.

So as luck would have it, today was his sick day home with me, and a Dr. visit. (We're assuming strep even though the initial culture came back negative. The Dr. didn't fall for it and neither did I - it had to be strep or H1N1 and I'd take the strep since it comes with antibiotics.)

By 10:00 this morning he was completely NOT enthralled with DVDs. In fact, he felt the need to give me a status update on the movie every 15 mins. Up, down, up, down, up, down for 101 minutes (side note: if you don't want your 5 year old exposed to words like "shit" and "crap", don't let him watch The SandLot.)

Nothing really held his attention, so I ended up plugging in my laptop in the living room to work so at least we were in the same room. Plus, I could distract him with a variety of TV shows, games and "Uh Huh" over 100 times so he believed I was always listening. And his fever had broke and he was ready to play hockey in the house so I had to figure out how to divert that idea. Fabulous.

Then, it was lunch time. I envisioned a touching mother and son lunch at his favorite spot with some funny moments over french fries and grilled cheese. Nope, he wanted to stay home. He'd stay put on the same couch, in the same house, in the same pajamas for days if you let him. As long as someone is in the same house as him, he'd never leave.

So my little Ying and Yang keep me busy, and offer a great balance no matter whose sick day it is! And while one would sit mesmerized by horse DVDs and the other needs constant snuggling and attention, it's nice to have a little one-on-one time with each of them. Those days are really few and far between.

Hold the drugs, please

We were doing incredibly well this winter and then at some point I must have opened my mouth and said that out loud, because now we are listening to "Sschhllerp" every 5 seconds from my children who refuse to blow their stuffy noses! Exhale into a tissue, kiddies, and you'll be able to breathe again.

Approximately 10 days ago I shuffled my youngest to the doctor's office because his cough was keeping me him awake all night long. Having been scarred by trips to Children's Hospital when he was younger because of frequent pneumonia and mysterious white lines on the CT scan for his lungs, any time he starts to clear his throat I rush to the pediatrician. And, like clockwork, they tell me his lungs sound clear but order antibiotics for the sinus infection, or large tonsils or some other non-chest related issue. Maybe by the time he's 25 I'll stop panicking when he coughs.

His sister, however, has become my motherly experiment. How long can a child go without a trip to the doctor if the only symptoms are stuffy nose, honking cough, and bad attitude? No fever. No strep. No earaches. No coughing at night - just random during the day.

Several times since Saturday I've contemplated a trip to the Pediatrician but then I decide she's just not that sick and I'd rather use the fifteen dollar co-pay towards this week's bottle of wine groceries.

But seriously, I have started to really struggle with dosing the kids up with Arithromycin or Amoxocillin at the first sign of trouble. I'll admit, I love and need my sleep, and a good dose of drugs will return all of us to our resting slumber. But for now, I think a few doses of nasal decongestant and a little "I know you have a cold but you better watch your attitude" might be all the Doctor orders.