Some Mondays Are Better Than Others...

This is going to take you awhile to read, so if you want to wait for a better time, or grab your cup of coffee -- you've been warned... :)

This all started about a week ago when Grant chomped down on the handle of a grocery cart. I've spent all winter being annoyingly careful about taking the kids out in public and exposing them to germs. When it happened, Reagan was nearly as horrified as I was. Everyone within earshot stared at us as Reagan shouted "Mommy! Gwant is chewing on the cart!"

A couple of days later, Grant developed a cough and a runny nose. I didn't think he was all that sick this weekend but maybe he was either as distracted as I was by all the chaos, or maybe I couldn't hear his whining over all the noise? Either way, he was fussy, coughing, and slightly feverish today so Sadie and I decided he should go to the clinic. Always a good time.

From Sadie's house to the clinic Reagan told me how badly she needed to go potty. I was slightly panicked, so I asked her if I needed to pull over so she could go potty in the grass. She gave me the strangest look and then laughed when she thought she understood my joke. "Silly Mommy! We don't go potty in the grass! That's what dogs do!" I laughed and drove a little faster.

By the time we checked in and then took our potty break, Reagan had forgotten all about the urgency. She has a phobia of loud noises which include fire trucks, car horns, marching bands, and automatic flush toilets. Now here's the part where you have to use your imagination: The kids and I are all wearing winter coats and carrying stuff into a tiny 2' (seriously) wide bathroom stall with -- uh, oh.... an automatic flush toilet.

Reagan asked me to hold her on the toilet while she plugged her ears. I tried explaining to her that I had to hold Grant and I couldn't hold her also, but I was starting to sweat, and I was losing the arguement. I tried to hold on to her, but Grant was succeeding in squirming out of my one-armed grip and Reagan was not convinced I could save her with only one free hand. I was starting to laugh to myself as I thought of what we must sound like to the lady next to us. My rear end was sticking out of the stall door and Reagan was getting more and more terrified as the toilet kept flushing itself. I was trying to convince her to sit still so the toilet could "see her and it would stop flushing" but every time I would start a sentence I would have to stop because the toilet would flush again and she couldn't hear me over the noise. Reagan was sitting precariously on the edge of the toilet and nearing hysteria (with her hands still on her ears) saying, "I don't have to go anymore, Mommy! I'm all done!" but by then I was laughing so much - Reagan thought I had gone crazy.

I helped her down, and in her haste to get away from the flushing, she walked out with her pants at her ankles. As if on cue, two ladies came in with an older, expressionless, handicapped, gentleman. They were trying to quickly usher him into the handicapped stall, but he was having a hard time walking. Reagan, with her pants at her ankles, stepped out of their way, pointed and said, "Wook at that silly guy, Mommy!"
"I see Reagan. Please pull up your pants - let's go. Now."
"No, Wook, Mommy! A really silly is guy over there!"
"Now, Reagan. Pull up your pants. Now. Let's go."

That was the first time we've left a public bathroom and I didn't make her wash her hands.

By the time we were ushered back to the exam room, I already had enough material for my blog post. I'll give you the short version of all the rest.

Grant weighed in at almost 23lbs. He has a virus and the croup. Reagan talked the whole time we were in there. "Wanna see my new trick, Mommy?" "I have a bad cough too, Mommy." "Can I help, Mommy?" "Where's Dr. Halbur, Mommy?" The difference between Reagan's talking now and her talking 9 months ago is her insistence -- She says "Mommy, Mommy! Mommy!! MOMMY! MOM! MOMMY!!" "What Reagan?" Then quietly and sweetly she'll say, "Um... Wanna see my new trick?" "Sure Reagan" Then she spins around or stands on one foot or something. Wow. Fantastic... We're working on manners and interrupting politely, but it seems like a long ways away to me right now.

The doctor prescribed a nebulizer and an oral steroid for Grant and said the nurse would be in shortly to help him do the first treatment before we left. When she told me I would have to hold the mask on him for 10 minutes, I laughed. My arms were already too sore from our trip to the restroom.

Grant got his breathing treatment and we went to HyVee to fill our prescriptions. The pharmisist explained the dosage and the side effects of the steroid to me. "He should take 4ml twice a day with food. It can cause upset stomach, sleeplessness, and agression, so just be sure you watch for that."

I smiled to myself as I pictured this: my blonde-haired, blue-eyed, normally happy 9 month old, busting out of his monkey-footie-jammies in a fit of rage... But what I said was, "Yeah -- I'll keep an eye on him."
As we left the pharmacy, I stopped in the soda aisle to buy a reward for myself and as I looked down, I saw Grant firmly chomped down on the handle of the cart. Oh, brother.