The weather in Chicago has finally started to get a little nicer. Just a little. It's sunny. And almost to our regular highs instead of 10-20 degrees below them.
This weekend, Little Miss popped into the kitchen where I was working on lunch. Ok, Mommy. I'm ready to go bike riding outside. Are you?
There are some things that will ensure I wake up on the wrong side of the bed, the day off to a bad start before it's even begun.
Stepping into a pile of cold cat vomit
A child running into my room to announce an illness
My husband's alarm clock that he snoozed now going off loudly and repeatedly since he's gotten up and left the house
Realizing that it's a cleaning lady day and I haven't done a thing about it
You get the point. Then there's today. April 18. April, people!
It's spring. I know it is. The calendar says so, and I got the email from a friend of mine announcing that we're ready to start booking our spring girls night out. It has to be spring, right? Forget the 19 degrees when I woke up this morning. I'm simply pretending that doesn't exist.
Because you know what? I'm done with winter. I'm done with being stuck inside. I'm done with no sun. I'm done with snowpants and hats and scarves and winter jackets. And most of all, I'm done with sicknesses.
We got through the majority of the winter relatively unscathed. Sure my husband (an almost two decade teacher, mind you) got illness after illness early this fall, but that was an aberration; he never gets sick anymore (we'll ignore the nasty cold he has right now, too). We'll ignore all Little Miss's issues, as those were caused by an ill-fated attempt at reintroducing dairy this fall.
Mister Man and I? We sailed right on through the winter, laughing at the germs that tried to catch us and failed. We didn't have so much as a sniffle. Then March hit. Mister Man came home on a Monday, telling me he had strep. Since he's successfully diagnosed himself twice before - the only other two times he's had strep, mind you - I took him straight to the doctor, and lo and behold, he had strep. No worries, that's what antibiotics are for. I expected him to be home with me on Tuesday but fine the next day.
Ehhhh, not so much. He got a fever Tuesday night that didn't really leave until Saturday afternoon. Even after three days on antibiotics, he still had a 103.5 degree fever. That said, I was extremely grateful that his strep didn't come the next week (two weeks ago, in real time) when we were headed for Florida for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration and then a week of spring break. Everyone was healthy for that. It was awesome - sun, warmth, and no germs.
This week hasn't been so ... lucky. One of the girls in our carpool stayed home Monday - the first day back from spring break - because she had a sore throat and swollen lymph nodes and just generally felt icky. (Thank you to her mom for keeping her home even though there was no fever!) Spring break is when all the germs are supposed to go away. Everyone is out of school and away from people who are passing things around all day in the close quarters of the classroom. When we come back, the strep being passed from child to child is magically gone.
Or so the theory goes.
I got a call from the school nurse yesterday around 2pm. It didn't start with the usual, "Hi, Mister Man is fine!" greeting that I get when the school calls. My stomach sank immediately. He had complained of chills, and when the nurse took his temperature, it was 101.5 (he was fine that morning, promise!).
I quickly learned that he was the last child standing in his row in first grade. All the other students in his row had already come down with the fever virus. It was Tuesday mid-day after spring break, and already five other children were home sick. Yikes!
I headed down to pick him up, and he was sound asleep in the nurse's office by the time I arrived to pick him up. I carried him out to the car. (Oh, what a cute picture that would make, said one passing teacher to another as I passed them in the hallway - especially with Little Miss carrying his coat and backpack for me - while internally I groaned that this was most assuredly not the kind of cute picture I wanted memorialized.)
He went straight up to bed when I got him home, eschewing dinner. When I checked on him twenty minutes later - before I went upstairs to go to bed because I had a splitting headache and could feel a fever coming on - he was sound asleep.
Welcome to FeverPukefest 2011 in our household.
My plans last night were summarily canceled, and I still feel like a truck ran over me. Fortunately, my headache is now gone, my fever is mostly gone, and the puking has ceased. (Thank the skies, as I don't ever throw up and hate hate hate it!) Mister Man woke up at midnight to have a few Cheerios, but went back to bed immediately.
This morning, he slept until 10am. His fever was up to 103 again. He is showing no interest in food or drink, although I've been able to feed him a little applesauce and oyster crackers and rice cereal - and water, of course. He's not going to school again tomorrow, as he's now spend the last twenty-four hours in bed, showing no desire to leave it.
Dear Spring,
I'm writing you in the hopes that you can rectify an error. It snowed here last yesterday and this morning. And I don't mean just cute little snow, I mean heart attack causing, massive, heavy snow that had trees bowed over and touching the roads kind of snow.
I know we have a little time warp around my house, but I think this is a little excessive in your lateness. While I will admit to having been late once or twice in my lifetime, I've never been this late. Ok, don't count the time I was three weeks late for my own birth. I didn't know any better then.
It's March 29, and it is cold and wet and icky. People are getting sick because you've missed the boat, and I'm hoping that it was just a slight oversight on your part. Did you know that Spring Break is over? That it's been spring for nine days so far?
In fact, my husband is supposed to play baseball outside next Sunday, but I don't see that happening at this rate. We won't talk about the t-ball practice that Mister Man is supposed to have because I forgot he had a broken arm and signed him up for t-ball anyway.
I'd really appreciate it if you could find a way to make it here. I thought you were coming, and so did my crocuses. In fact, I almost tilled my garden last week until it rained too much and made it too muddy. Maybe it would help if I provided some photographic evidence of how very wrong this most recent snowfall was?
As you can see, this wasn't just a "sprinkle" of snow. This is a good December of January snow. Trees were on the ground here. And branches are down everywhere -- especially where the incredibly dumb people drove through the trees that were bowed over and knocked off all their branches.
Do it for the trees then? Neither of us wants to see any more trees harmed. Regardless of your motivation, if you could work on making it here, my sanity thank you.
Sincerely,
PS Last year, I tried going to a higher power in May. I'd really appreciate it if I didn't have to go over your head this year. I don't want to get you in trouble again.
Living in Chicago, Spring is a tricky season. Actually, any season but winter is a bit tricky. If you blink, you could miss it. I will admit to having seen a few signs of Spring, but not nearly enough for my tastes. This week is Spring break, and so far, I'd like a refund on my money.
When winter ends, germs are supposed to go into hiding. We can finally spend time with other people and not run the risk of snotty noses and scratchy throats. The lack of sicness and the sight of healthy children alone make spring the best season.
On Saturday, Little Miss came down with ... something. She got a fever just before her swimming lesson that spiked in the middle of it. She had to get out of the pool and come home because she was shivering so badly. It was 104.4 later that afternoon. Yesterday we hit 105.1 (a new high for us!), and today she's still miserable. She's gone to the doctor, and the diagnosis is the dreaded "virus" without further definition.
Between her inability to sleep for longer than an hour at a time and Mister Man's prediliction for coming into my bedroom to talk to me about his dreams multiple times a night, there isn't much sleep happening in our house right now. And everyone's mood is reflecting it.
Sadly, she also had to miss her very first tea party Saturday afternoon -- and yes, we had the cute little white straw hat for her, too -- for which I'm sure my friends are grateful. However, she doesn't seem to realize that the tea party is past, and Little Miss keeps asking when she gets to go to the tea party. Each time we tell her that she was sick and missed it, it breaks her heart anew.
My next favorite sign of spring is the weather changing. You know -- the birds singing, sun shining, shouts of joy from the children playing outside. While we had a lovely sunny day on Sunday with some highs of 61, the weather has gone downhill. It's supposed to be flooding rain for the rest of the week. I suppose rain is a harbinger of spring -- that whole April showers brings May flowers thing -- but can we take a break during our one week off school?
Along those same lines, Mister Man isn't riding his bike sans training wheels. Although my mom did suggest yesterday that Mister Man go for a bike ride yesterday, it will be awhile before anyone heads out on a bike around here. I have this thing about children with broken arms riding bikes. Call me overprotective.
On the other hand, spring must have arrived. Yesterday, I went online to our local baseball organization to start to look into t-ball for Mister Man this summer. Experienced parents, stop laughing at me. Not only did I miss the early registration date, but rosters are up, and it looks like most of the teams are full. I always thought that baseball was a summer sport, but it ends in early June. Seriously, quit laughing! Anyone for soccer?
Summer school information is also available now. Fortunately, I haven't missed the deadline for this one. The trick now is trying to figure out what to sign up for. They have programs on getting ready for kindergarten, but my concern is that they focus on the academic piece that we don't need and less on the social aspect that we want. I have been given the heads up that I need to register on the date registration opens... which is also our first day back from spring break and the first chance I will have to talk to anyone in the district about the classes.
We haven't quite broken out the sandbox yet -- that's always a true sign that the weather is changing -- but I did see this in the garden this morning.
I think I'm going to focus on the positive. Happy Spring!
Dear Sir,
I know You’re very busy, what with all the wars and sicknesses and everything else that You have dominion over. You have the most stressful job in the world, without a doubt. And I have no right to ask You for anything, as You’ve already done so much for me.
However, I think it’s possible that You may have forgotten something this year, as hectic as it's been with the cries from people hurting from rising gas prices and conflicts with Iran and people being diagnosed with terrible illnesses and all. Today is May 11, and I’m wearing a wool sweater. It’s pretty cold and yucky outside. I think that maybe You forgot to let spring progress here.
I’m all for winter being over, and thanks for that. But my furnace keeps kicking on because there isn’t enough sun and warmth that I can trap in my house to keep it warm enough. It’s even kicking on during the day.
And at night, my husband has started turning the bed warmer back on (best present anyone who lives in a state not named Arizona btw), which I had thought I was done with a month ago. Plus, with all the warm then cold and wet and rainy, people are getting really sick a lot, and they tend to be quite crabby, too.
I’m still hoping to plant a garden this year, but the weather keeps me worried about frost still coming. I will say that it’s beautiful that the tulips haven’t been killed (or at least those belonging to the neighbors where the deer have yet to eat them; as you know, mine never bloomed), but I’m waiting for them to turn so that I can dig up the bulbs so I can replace all my landscaping.
The whole April showers bring May flowers thing just isn’t happening really. Unfortunately, we’re stuck with the late winter flowers of tulips, daffodils and crocuses. The deer have eaten all mine (except the daffodils, which apparently are beneath them), and it’s looking really barren.
Besides, Little Miss and Mister Man are really outgrowing all their winter clothes, and it’s starting to look a little silly with their ankles and wrists poking out of the ends, but I can’t quite justify buying a whole new winter wardrobe right now.
I know, I know, I’m starting to sound really selfish about this, and that’s the last thing You need. But please, I promise it isn’t just me. If You wouldn’t mind, can You please take a few moments to switch spring onto full strength?
Thank you for your attention,
Michelle
PS Thank You for the rain today. I’m grateful that my husband’s baseball became a non-issue. (Of course, if You could get it through to the league commissioner’s head that playing on Mother’s Day, in particular, and somewhat on Father’s Day just isn’t cool, I’d really appreciate it.)
Oh yeah – and a Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers reading! Here’s hoping your days turned out as you’d hoped. I will say that I slept in until 8:05 this morning AND had my sushi field trip (including fancy Japanese desserts) to prepare for dinner tonight plus gift certificates to a local sushi restaurant!
Really, I only mean sometimes. And mostly just specific instances. I never thought I’d say that I didn’t like spring, but children and spring aren’t the greatest mix, for anyone who doesn’t know. The mud, rain, cabin fever, and so forth just don’t mix well.
My biggest issue is that I live in Chicago where we get hourly updates on the daily forecast. This morning, I was listening to the radio as I was taking my shower. Admittedly, I may have had soap in my ears, but I swear the radio weather person said “And this just in, we have an updated forecast today. Our new high will be 63 degrees.” That’s one of those times I really wish I had Tivo for my radio. I believe the previous high forecast had been either 61 or 62.
This morning, it was 32 degrees when my children left the house. I’ve tried sending them in their winter coats then placing more windbreaker type coats in their backpacks for when (ok, if) it warms up. Inevitably, there is no changeover of the coats. And periodically, I then have to go to the school in search of the missing coat. Considering how well I’m doing with my keys, I decided this wasn’t worth the risk.
By the time I went running after dropping off Little Miss at preschool, it was 45 and I ran without a jacket. By the time I ran a few errands and picked up Little Miss at 11:30, I couldn’t justify her wearing a coat at all.
At that point, I decided a picnic was in order. As a family, we loooooove picnics. Actually, spending time outside in general is pretty much a favorite pastime. (I’ll admit, Little Miss wouldn’t come inside after we got home from Language Stars this afternoon until I closed the garage door and went looking for her out the front door.)
When we got home, I brought out our Little Tykes picnic table that spends the winter as a craft table. Since we usually have a laid back lunch where they can choose (within reason) what they want to eat for lunch, I asked Little Miss for her selection and what she thought Mister Man would want. I was expecting Tacquito’s (her personal favorite), but she surprised me today. She went for cheese. Really, that means crackers made into a cheese sandwich. And for Timothy, no surprise, she chose Chicken Dinosaurs.
She was in charge of watching for the bus while I started “making” lunch. As I sliced the first piece of cheese, I asked Little Miss if she saw Miss Nancy yet. “Nope. I just see the picnic table.” Had I been thinking, I would have realized that meant she was fixated on the picnic table and looking at nothing beyond it. About 5 seconds later, I heard the beep that meant the bus was sitting in my driveway waiting for me. She’ll never make a good watchdog.
Herding the cats inside to wait for me to finish making lunch was a chore. Mister Man interpreted it as he had to come inside to take off his coat and put his backpack away but was then free to go back out to play. Not surprisingly, that infuriated Little Miss, so she tried to go outside but can’t quite manage to pull the lever and push the door at the same time – yet. Fortunately, Mister Man noticed her plight and helped her outside.
It was about that point that I realized someone (meaning not me) had used up the last of the Saltines. Fortunately, the oyster crackers were still there. I hadn’t tried that combo on her before, but usually if I don’t make a big deal out of making a substitution, she manages. Yep, it was a hit.
In fact, Mister Man wanted some for himself. As he asked – oh so politely – if she would share some crackers, his hands closed around several. She magnanimously agreed and put one cracker on his plate. He then let go of the crackers in his fist, and she shared more with him. Then he shared a chicken dinosaur with her. Then she tried to share cheese with him. You’d think she’d know by now that he won’t let cheese pass his lips unless it’s melted in a sandwich or on pizza. That started off a lovely exchange.
(Nope, we don't sit still for photos in this family, and we tend to not have normal facial expressions either. And you wonder why Little Miss was 2 1/2 before I had her 2 year photos taken.)
As happens in about three-quarters of the meals we eat, drinks were spilled. In fact, Mister Man spilled his cup first. It landed on his pants, too. For anyone who’s ever seen this child, he hates being wet, although I’ve gotten better at convincing him that things like water will dry. This was a particularly large spill, so you’ll notice that the pants change as time goes on in our picnic.
Since I was making watermelon granita for dessert for dinner tonight, I had cut up some extra watermelon for them to eat, as well. By the time we got to the point of eating the watermelon, the wind had picked up, and I was starting to get a little chilly.
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