In Which She Picked Her Own Clothes Before a Well Visit and Mondays

Photo by Morgan. Used under Creative Commons license.

Last Monday was a rough sort of day. We were still dealing with the miscarriage news (well, let's just be honest, we still are), and I had to take G to the doctor for a scheduled well-child visit which was supposed to be in conjunction with a progesterone injection. M and I barely got up to get me ready in time and I left the kids to his care as I took a rare morning shower and drank my coffee. G even got a bath since she had spent the previous day playing outside on a farm. We had gotten home too late for baths the night before. At least we were clean before we went in.

I am always thrown off at well-child visits for G, since they have a new set of questions for each particular age. I suppose there is a list somewhere, but really, I am trying to avoid the "is my child on track with the standard expectations for her age" mentality. So, anyway, our doctor and I began by discussing if I had any concerns about G and we discussed her random food allergies (eggplant, banana, and watermelon) for awhile and decided to get an epi-pen for her in case we ever need it. Then Dr. went through her list; I was able to answer confidently on all the questions, until she asked if she could draw a triangle and a square. I fumbled for an answer. The last time I had tested her on that was last Spring when we finished her capital letter handwriting book. I said I was not sure, and Dr. suggested that it was just something we should check on. I did not even think to mention that G can write all of her lower case letters, capital letters, and numbers. Those are far more complex than shapes. I felt like our home schooling seemed like a failure. I hope to jokingly correct my mistake when we go in next. But then we got to the "safety" section. No, we have not sat down specifically to do safety things, but I remind her to look both ways at streets, stay away from strangers, and whenever I set off the fire alarm with my cooking G is very aware and ready to run to the back fence. So, maybe we have safety down after all. Except for the memorization of address thing, and phone numbers.

But then we got to the physical part, and when G removed her shoes, I saw that the socks she had picked for herself, were her sparest of spare socks. The ones I have not pitched, because on some cold winter night they might have been her last clean pair to keep her toes warm. They both had absolutely no heel. But they also were pink, and they were loved. Think the velveteen rabbit of socks. Of course she picked them for herself, but I could not help but be embarrassed that I brought my child to the doctor in holey socks when she has plenty of non-holey ones.

Then, as Dr. was listening to G's lungs, she informed me that G had pneumonia. Pneumonia from that little virus the children and I all had the week before. She had been fever-free for three days, but had an occasional phlegmy cough; I could not believe it. My poor under-dressed daughter, who can dress herself like a five year old should, had pneumonia. We had kept her out late two nights before and let her play in the windy farm air the day before. It was not that severe of pneumonia since she was happily playing most of the time, but still, there it was.

Also, G was crushed, because she has been talking about getting her five year old shots since she was three. And told the nurse and doctor about how she could not wait to get her shots. But now she does. No shots when you have pneumonia! She should get them in a few weeks with F. Anyway, that was last Monday.

Let's just say I was a bit flustered on last Monday, and understandably so, but the perfectionist in me could not handle it.

So, I brought her home, and M watched the kids and I did some clothes shopping, finally finding a few tops and skirts I liked. I have been perusing racks for months. I did not have the heart to go to Bread Co. alone, like we were planning so I grabbed some Jimmy John's on the way home.

This Monday is a gloomy one. It is raining non-stop. It is supposed to rain all week. Apparently, this nasty, chilly, rainy weather is making way for nice warm spring and summer weather, which we all could go for around here. At least it is not snowing. We had a snow storm last May, but hopefully no more this year.