Fever = Quiet

Poor Patrick has been sick all week. Now, aside from the nasty runny noses Sean & Charlotte had all winter, my kids are usually {knock on wood} extremely healthy.


It all started Sunday night when Patrick complained of feeling cold while he was wearing two sweaters under his covers. He had a fever of 103. It was that really fun kind of fever that starts creeping back up long before the ibuprofen is due for another dose. His whole demeanor changed. He was very quiet and lethargic all week. Tuesday night, I knew the fever had spiked again (103.4!) because Patrick was talking in his sleep about all kinds of nonsense. So Wednesday afternoon, we made a trip to the doctor and it appeared he had his first (ever!) ear infection. Obviously, after a consistent fever of 103 for three days, antibiotics were prescribed.


Last night, I thought he was completely on the mend because his fever was only going as high as 100.5 (it's all relative, I guess). Today, the whole gang played hooky because I felt badly waking him up in order to bring the girls to school. About an hour after that decision, I regretted it. They were all running around acting like crazy fools. I was silently cursing the "no fever for 24 hours" rule at the school because Patrick had bounced right back and was picking on his sisters. Based on his behavior, he must've had a whole week to make up for. Even through his persistent cough, he was able to chase the girls screaming through the house.


But, all of a sudden, the house got quiet. A sure sign of the return of the fever. As I suspected, Patrick was laying in his bed and back up to 102. So now we play the waiting game. The antibiotics haven't been in his system for 48 hours, yet. Hopefully, sometime tonight, he'll be back to teasing his sisters without needing a dose of medicine. I'll be glad when he's feeling well, again, but I'll miss the peace and quiet!

Digital oral thermometer. Photograph: Eric Van Den Brulle/Getty Images

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Transcendence

There was an evening last week, that prompted me to develop a new mantra. "Rise above." We had been eating dinner as a family, but the kids were very antsy. One by one, they finished their meal and asked to leave the table to go play. At that point, I didn't much care what they did as long as it didn't interfere with me finishing my dinner. (Please, if you know what is good for you, do not get between me and my food.) 

As PJ and I sat there enjoying the rest of dinner, chaos was unfolding around us. They were jumping, running, tagging, and wrestling. Which quickly led to yelling, fighting, crying, and screaming. The noise level was ridiculous even for a house with five children. It certainly wasn't the norm for dinner time. PJ and I just looked at each other and shrugged. We decided that they were going to have to work it out and we continued enjoying the meal. We came to the realization that, as long as there was no bloodshed, we were going to rise above the noise and pretend that we were eating in peace. 

I'm sure that most people would have been absolutely horrified by the scene, but we figured it was a battle that we would lose. We chose not to fight. The kids were tired and cranky. The only solution for that would be an early bedtime. So we ate our dinner and tuned out the nonsense. (Which, trust me, was a super-human feat.) As soon as we were done, we ushered them off to bed.

We'll just have to be sure to remember this night if we ever decide to throw a fancy dinner party. Which is, of course, super-likely. (Do they make a "sarcasm" font?) In lieu of hors d-oeuvres, we'll pass trays of ear plugs.

Watch me chant serenely while my kids scream like fools...

If you enjoy the blog, why not become a follower? Quickly... before I get a cramp from this lotus position. You can also stalk find me on Facebook and Twitter. Like the page and follow me!

P.S. Don't forget to vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs. Click that cute little brown button on my sidebar to vote for me...

And don't forget to visit my Zazzle store. You know you want some!