A record?

Well, 11 days into school and we have our first casualty. Hannah was sent home sick today. Now, "sick" is a relative term, and she just has a cold, but apparently she felt miserable enough to go to the nurse, who of course sent her home - who wants a germy, possibly swine-flu infected, jr. high school student around? But really? She doesn't have a fever, just some cold symptoms and is really tired.

So, Jeff asked me, what is it about jr. high and high school that seems to make kids sicker? Well, duh! They are going through hormone changes, they get up earlier and get less sleep, they eat junk from the vending machines and cafeteria, they share drinks and food with friends, they are crammed together at lunch, in assemblies and in classes. No wonder they pick up whatever comes along.

When my kids were smaller they never got sick. Hardly an ear infection among them as babies, rarely picked up the cold of the week as preschoolers, and spent most of elementary school well and in attendance (few exceptions, Hannah's appendix for example, were flukes). But now it seems that Hayley and Hannah "don't feel good" more than they do. And there's nothing worse than not feeling good when you are sleep-deprived.

I really wish school didn't start so early for the older kids. They need their sleep and little kids get up earlier naturally. We've even started a 9 p.m. bedtime (as opposed to 10 for the older kids last year). My thinking is that they need to be IN bed earlier so they fall asleep earlier. Even if they lay in bed reading or listening to music, at least their bodies are resting.

So, tonight I made homemade chicken noodle soup with all its healing properties to hopefully ward off any more cold symptoms in the rest of the family. It seems like last year at least once a week, SOMEONE was sick and staying home. And even one missed day in jr. high and high school is a biggie. It's so hard to catch up.

As of this writing, Hayley has been away from home for 12 hours. Leaving at 6:30 p.m., school for six hours, drama rehearsal for two hours after school and now she's into the second hour of an ASB meeting, and STILL hasn't been home to do homework or eat dinner. By the time she gets home, she will just have enough time to complete any homework she has, eat something and be off to bed, only to start it all over tomorrow.

I miss summer!

Emergency!

Last night, after a lovely dinner out with Jeff, Doug called me to say Hayley was really sick. She had started to feel bad Thursday night (and we know it must have been BAD because she chose to stay home instead of see the premiere showing of "Twilight" which we had tickets to for weeks!). Friday she stayed home and slept all day. And Saturday she just got worse instead of better. Jeff and I stopped over at Doug's on our way home from dinner and decided she needed to go to the ER. So we all headed off (Hannah, Harrison and Arlie were, conveniently, at other places during this time!), and got to the ER around 9. She was taken in to a room within minutes and subjected to a strep test, flu test, chest x-ray, blood draw, and eventually, IV antibiotics. Turns out she has pneumonia AND the flu! The flu tests came back negative but we couldn't get a good sample, and both the doctor and nurse felt she had classic flu symptoms. Of course, the pneumonia showed up on the x-ray. After midnight, Jeff and I finally took her back to Doug's (he had to leave earlier to be home for the other kids), and put her to bed. Today, I have to fill her two antibiotic prescriptions and she's definitely not going to be doing much for the next few days. When we were leaving the hospital room, she suddenly got dizzy and nauseated and rested her head on a counter. Her legs suddenly buckled and we got her in a wheelchair, only to see her face as white as I've ever seen anyone's face! She was sweating, unresponsive, and then irritable. Totally different than she had been just minutes before. It scared me so bad! They said she had a "vagal" response to standing up and having her blood pressure be so low (85/43!) and she passed out for a minute. I decided to wait a little longer and have her blood pressure and pulse checked again before we headed home. The color finally returned to her face and she said she wanted to go home. They gave her an antinausea drug and sent her on her way. Needless to say, I've had an anxious night waiting to see how she's doing this morning because she's still at her dad's. I've never seen her so sick before, it was definitely pretty scary. I took some photos (much to her chagrin!) and will post them here for sympathy! :) My poor baby!

Back to School!

Another school year is upon us. Ah, the promise of fall and the first day of school. Remember the waxy smell of new Crayola crayons? Those bright pointed tips just waiting in anticipation for a blank slate of white paper on which to spread their color? Remember the new pink pearl eraser? So unblemished and angled just perfectly? The bright yellow pencils, smelling of graphite and wood, with perfect erasers? And the paste? Remember paste? All that white, creamy goodness that smelled of peppermint? You just had to taste it. And it tasted good! Alas, we've moved on to mechanical pencils and glue sticks, but the lure of new school supplies is the same. I kind of wish I got new supplies every year. I'm tempted to go out and buy myself a crisp notebook and some newly sharpened pencils (they actually come pre-sharpened now!) "just because".

So, the kids set off on Tuesday, Sept. 2. Hayley to the high school, in 10th grade this year, Hannah back to the jr. high in 8th grade, Arlie and Harrison to the elementary in 5th and 4th grades respectively. (I will attempt to attach a photo of each of them - I've never done four photos before, so we'll see!). Everyone agreed they had good teachers and the year was filled with promise.

Cut to day two. Arlie stayed home sick with a fever, stomachache, headache, sore throat - the whole package. Turns out she has an ear infection and left the dr. office with antibiotics and an inhaler for her asthma symptoms. Me? I called in "sick" to my sub job and stayed home. Day three - all four kids are home with various ailments. Luckily I didn't have to work today, but I am missing yoga, coffee and lunch with friends (can I get some sympathy?). No soccer practice this afternoon and no opening day football this evening, either. Oh well, some days are like that.