Tuesday 15 February 2011

When Does it Stop?



This post is a bit ranty, but not in the humorous or the pissed off way. See that li'l squiggle above? Well, the last three weeks have been horrible stress-wise, and that squiggle up there represents how I feel.

I'm not whining, but I am going to ask an honest question--when does it all stop? And part of this post is probably due to yet another night of interrupted sleep.

Granted it will be mostly moms who can relate to this (although there are stay-at-home dads), but again, when does the constant aggravation and stress stop? Does it every stop? If it doesn't, then just lie to me, K?

Every school year, it's one illness after another. My son has always been healthy as a horse--until he started kindergarten. Since early September, I am running him to the doctor about twice a month. Although I'm a firm believer in letting a body fight off an illness, I do exercise common sense and watch for strange fevers, odd things a body fighting a virus doesn't normally do (like excessive vomiting or bizarre rashes), and the reason I believe in letting the body fight invisible invaders is because too much medication, too many antibiotics, causes the immune system to become weak.

The problem is that these conditions my son has had are things like ear infections (and he was breastfed for a year, so statistics show that breast-fed children for a year or more seldom have ear infections), the onset of pneumonia, upper respiratory infections, etc . The odd thing is that I'm hearing other parents say the same things about their young children too. When normally healthy kids are suddenly sick all the time, it really makes me uneasy.

But all that aside, it seems like when I get one matter addressed and resolved, I sit back a day or two, and WHAM! I got another kid sick, or another issue crops up.

Last night, the boy woke me and said, "Mommy, I'm sick. I just threw up all over my bed."

Oy.

He was and still is running a fever, and the dr. office can't get him in until 6 PM tonight. I'm certain he has the flu (the Ohio Valley has had a terrible stomach flu that has been ravaging the schools, apt complexes, etc the past month or so), so there's nothing to really be done but make him comfortable and let it run its course. The problem is that if I don't get him in to see his doctor, the school will mark the absences as unexcused and then force us to go to court. Yeah, isn't government grand? I love how it runs our lives...NOT!

And what's worse, since I'm his caregiver, I'll be the one with the flu next. Lovely.

Does it ever stop? Is it possible to go more than a week with quiet and absolutely no upset?

I'm seriously beginning to wonder.

Now that I've vented a bit, I'm going to do a little shameless plugging for one of my titles that came out in print a coupla weeks ago. This book in print is stunning, really. And as I always do, I challenge potential readers to see if they can solve the mystery that runs throughout this romance.

Elizabeth "Lizzy" Shaw has had a rough life. Chased out of town years ago by one of the community's leaders, Lizzy has finally returned. However, living with her virtuous grandmother exercises Lizzy's patience, especially when Lizzy's mother, who was an aspiring actress, tarnished her reputation by changing boyfriends as frequently as her nail polish.

Regardless, Daniel Rivers, the love she left behind, wants Lizzy back. He demands to know why she left town and why she never replied to any of his letters. Lizzy can't let Daniel know her secret, but she can't resist his crooked smile and warm, brown eyes either. Sparks fly between the couple, but Lizzy is determined not to make the same mistake with Daniel. However, when Lizzy is kidnapped by one of her mother's old boyfriends, it puts life in a different perspective for Lizzy and she realizes she must tell Daniel about his son. Can Lizzy resist the lure of Daniel's touch, the way her body responds to him every time he glances her way? Or will the truth about Daniel's son tear them apart a second time?

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20 comments:

Pat Brown said...

That's crazy. Are you saying any time one of your kids misses a day of school you have to pay a doctor to tell you he's too sick to go, even though the doctor can't do diddly for him since it's a virus? Since when did parents lose the right to decide when their kids stay home or not? That's Big Brother to the extreme. I'm surprised some parents aren't challenging it.

Faith Bicknell said...

Yes, Pat, that's exactly what I'm saying. It the school's way of keeping absences down. They say too many kids are skipping school. It's a state-run program, and if a school joins it, they get extra money in their coffers. Nice, eh?

Natalie Dae said...

Bloody hell. I know exactly what you mean. I usually have a few days of blessed peace from everything under the sun and then it all returns, triple-fold, to hit me harder than it had before. It's like the fates are saying, "Okay, she's had a break for a few days. Let's toss some more shit at her."

After 38 years I'm now used to it. I've given up fighting it.

:o)

Faith Bicknell said...

LMAO! Same here, my friend, same here! I'm telling you we live in parallel worlds!

Cassie Exline said...

That's one strict school system. Ours isn't like that, thank God. You're right about the breast feeding, that doesn't stop ear infections. Living proof right here, but I grew out of the ear infections and have great hearing. My kids never had ear infections and they weren't breast fed. Go figure. It'll get better, Faith, it will.

Faith Bicknell said...

LOL, if I had a dime for every time someone told me it would get better... Seriously, it just seems like that's what is destined for me and my family. As Natalie was saying, her family life is the same.

I wonder...are some people what I call cosmic shit magnets where they just seem to attract all sorts of chaos, or is it that a higher force is building our characters?

LOL!

Nicki (D.N.) said...

If there are cosmic shit magnets, Faith, I seem to be one.

But on a good note, I subbed the first book of the Neptune series to Wild Child. Here's hoping it looks good. :D

- Nicki

Faith Bicknell said...

LOL, maybe a bunch of us should form a group called The Society of Cosmic Shit Magnets! HAHAHA!!! We gotta laugh or we'd all lose our minds, yanno?

And good luck on the submission.

Tess MacKall said...

In our school system you are allowed only so many absences or you will supposedly be retained. Not true. That end of grade testing determines whether you are held back and most often times you have to make really low on those tests to be kept back.

Once you get within four or five absences of reaching the limit of your absences, then you must start bringing in doctor notes or they basically accuse you of being too lazy to get your kid out of bed in the mornings. Uh huh...

Had that happen in primary school with my little boy. I get up at five a.m. most mornings. Have been doing that forever it seems. I always dropped my girls off at school first then backtracked with the little boy and walked him in because he was in first grade. Well, that one morning was very very cold. Like twenty degrees. So we walked from the car to the gate where we usually go in and it was locked. I checked my watch and I was five minutes early. So we had to walk all the way up to the front of the school to get in.

So I walked in, asked the receptionist if we were late---all the while looking at her clock. she said No. So I said, well, the gate was locked and we had to walk all the way around in this cold. She said, it shouldn't have been. Out pops the school counselor and the janitor who had locked the gate and she said "If you get up earlier you can have your kid in school on time." ANd the janitor next to her just nodding her head.

Oooookay........this whole thing may take me two comment posts to get in so bear with me people. lol

Anyway, can you say RUMBLE! OMG...they could hear me down the hall. The principal came running. And I just kept right on going off too. My kids are rarely late to school. At that point I don't think the little one had ever been late. And he wasn't late that day. I demanded an apology. Didn't get it. But every time I walked down that hall from then on, that counselor AND the janitor ducked inside a doorway out of my path. Oh I gave those asswipes some of the dirtiest looks you've ever seen.

And last year, that same kid had H1N1 (Swine flu) three times. The first two cases were back to back and he was out of school for three weeks. The third case was two weeks after he went back to school and ended up in the hospital. Missed ten days that time. So he missed a total of 25 days with flu and they only allow 20. So they demanded Dr. notes. And his doc was so mad. He and several other doctors had actually sat down with school officials and told them to expect more absences and longer ones.

But yeah, my youngest has had right many health issues. Ear infections, tonsils and adenoids removed, H1N1, and now he has a cyst in his jaw that cost him five days out of school. But they look at you like you're laying up in your damn bed eating bon bons and simply not sending them cause you're too damn lazy. I HATE the school system.

Faith Bicknell said...

Amen to all of that, Tess. You and I would be a formidable force if we got together to fight the U.S. school system. I've done the same thing as you, only it was the principal. That man would nearly kill himself to get away and vanish whenever he saw me coming, lmao. I enjoyed it every time too!

Tess MacKall said...

The principal at the elementary school is the one who had to hide from me. He was the one that I did all the research on bullies and how it was illegal and what he was NOT doing to stay within the law. So he hated me. I went to the Board of Education on him and they turned his world UPSIDE DOWN. I had my shit together. Straight from the Department of Education. I told them that I'd take the entire system to court if they didn't start abiding by the law. It wasn't a week before letters went into every parent's mailbox, district wide, about their rights where bullies are concerned and the penalties that could and would be imposed. Even taking mean little bully snots to court and the parents who won't make them behave.

Laura G. said...

Oh, Faith! I can so relate!! And I asked my mom that same question to which she replied, "Doesn't matter when your kids grow up and move out, you never stop worrying over them. It never ends." I just put my hands over my ears and yell, "La-la-la-la-la!!!" Like you, I want to believe.... :)

Love the cover of Feathers of Silver! Beautiful!!

Hugs!

Faith Bicknell said...

Woot! You go, Tess!

Hi Laura! Have missed you, lady. Nice to see you here.

Fiona McGier said...

I hate to tell you nice ladies what my late Mom used to say, "Little kids, little problems. Big kids, big problems." I had dinner 2 weeks in a row with friends I've known since our kids were toddlers together. One has 3 and her 2nd just got arrested for underage drinking, and the Mom is a lawyer for the States' Attorneys office. The other has 7 kids and her 3rd one got arrested for breaking into the house of a woman she babysat for, to drink their alcohol while they were on vacation. Kind of makes them long for the days of puking in the bed! (Ducks for cover while you all throw projectiles at me...)

Lisa Alexander Griffin said...

First: I love Feather's of Silver, Faith. It's a wonderful read!

Second: The school system in Alabama sucks too. We get ten sick days per year without a doctors excuse. After that, they are required. But, kids can be sick enough not to go to school and still not sick enough to go to the doctor. Plus, who has the money,even with insurance to run them to the doc for the sniffles or a stomach virus?

Does the school system want them to come back spreading all those germs to make even more kids sick, and the system losing even more money because of it? Here, that's all it boils down to...if a kid is absent, they lose funds. They don't like to lose FUNDS!

Once a child starts school, the parent has no rights. I'll never understand that. And, I think parents should ban together all over the country and put their foot down. I can understand why lots of folks choose to home school nowadays.

Morgan was constantly sick her kindergarten and first grade year. Shannon's kids have been sick all year long with one thing or the other. She's about to go crazy! Is the school understanding? NO!

Marci Baun said...

Well, Faith, mine has been ill since Wednesday night. Her fever has run it's course. Now, she's just coughing and eating very little. If I could get her to eat more, I know she'd feel better. (When I mean more, even half of an English muffin instead of 1/4 of one would be nice. We'll be working on one chicken nugget and part of a carrot tonight.

There are so many kids out of our schools right now some classes have only 6-8 kids in them. The schools know when a parent calls, especially when my kid is never out, she's ill. If she can't go to school tomorrow, I'll be getting her homework. If they give me shit, you know what I can be like. (grin)

Sounds like the doctors and the state are in each other's pockets. It almost makes you want to pull him out of school, doesn't it. Yeah, I know. I know. There are times I'm tempted with mine, too.

Faith Bicknell said...

Fiona, I know those problems too. My oldest son went through such a phase. He got in trouble for driving without a license and being in a horrible accident for starters. In a way, I think it was a blessing in disguise, because that was the last stupid stunt he pulled. It was then that he started to wake up.

Now I'm going through it with my oldest dau. She's not in trouble with the law, but she's doing stupid stunts in a different fashion.

Faith Bicknell said...

Morning, Lisa! Thank you for your lovely compliment re my book!

I agree with you on all notes too. The trouble with parents doing such a thing is that fighting a school system or the state gove is a PITA, so they pull their kids out and home school them, or, if they can afford it, put them in private school.

Had the li'l guy to the dr. last night. Got the excuse for yesterday an done today. I'm hoping he can go back to school tomorrow.

Marci, it sounds like A has exactly what L has. From what I understand, there is a new strain of virus that is nationwide. One of the men the hubby works with is his friend too, so they talk about kids, etc. Anyway, the guy said his boy, who's the same age as our son, woke up in the middle of the night too doing the same thing: fever and vomiting. The school told me there were other kids in L's class suffering the same. Whatever this stuff is can render the person immobile and weal. It's nasty!

Marci Baun said...

Well, she's almost over it. She was coughing very little last night. So I think this will be the last day. Hallelujah!

Janice Seagraves said...

Does it stop? Hell, can't tell by me.

My daughter is nineteen and just had walking pneumonia and double ear infections. And she was a breast fed baby too.

The only thing that's give a breast fed child an ear infection is being around a smoker or stress.

My daughter wasn't able to register for college this semester or find a job, so that's her stress.

I hope your son is over the flu soon.

Janice~