Kids and Dogs

Tuesday night I took Ty to the dentist. He was not on board. He was moving out but every house he thought to run to contained a mom who takes kids to the dentist so he was hosed. He went against his will and made it clear he was not happy to be there. Erin's coworkers were given the head's up about our regular dentist's policy to not force kids to get their teeth cleaned so he'd negotiated his way out of three prior appointments. This mom was willing to sit on her son in the chair if that's what it took to clean his teeth but thank God it didn't come to that. His protests were loud and embarrassing. He was afraid and worried about germs "because putting your hands in people's mouths spreads germs" and was certain his x-ray was hurting his allergies.  He is proud of his x-ray though and has shown it to everyone who will check it out.

Taken prior to the onset of illness.

Makenna came home from school Tuesday complaining of dizzy spells and nausea. By the evening it was clear she was getting worse so I took her to the Little Clinic Wednesday morning rather than put her on the bus. She is pretty sick with an inner ear infection. She is on steroids, decongestants, nasal spray, anti-nausea medicine and ibuprofen for headaches. Today, Greg took her back as she has only had glimpses of improvement thus far. She had a few med swaps but is otherwise expected to recover in another few days.

Wednesday afternoon, an excited Layla jumped up and scratched Lauren's eye. We were able to reach our optometrist who wanted to see Lauren immediately. Fortunately there are no open wounds in her eye but she has several abrasions on the cornea and white of her eye as well as inside the eye lid. She was swollen, unable to open the eye and had blurred vision for a few days.  The doctor hooked her up with multiple eye drops to help minimize the pain and sent her home on antibiotic drops too. I was at the pharmacy four times Wednesday. I am not exaggerating.

Wednesday evening I took Kate and Ty with me to bible study because Lana offered play time in her pool while we met. Greg took Makenna to find some soup in hopes of settling her stomach and made the fifth and final pharmacy run for the day while we were at Lana's. Layla was left out of the crate because she would be alone for only thirty minutes. She ate a new movie we hadn't yet viewed, the last remaining two of six coasters and once again considered a few tasty books. Some unkind words were spoken in response.

I replaced the "not a plant" last week. Within days, I walked out and noted pieces of the replacement hanging from Layla's mouth. The new plant was pretty mutilated. I am leaning toward an entire landscape of "not a plant". Think of the time and money we could save each year if we don't weed, trim, replace and maintain the landscape.

These ears save her.