unschooling at the ER
Mary
I guess you can already tell how our night went last night!
Tara had gotten us a certificate to have dinner at our favorite steak place. Joe and I decided to use it last night. .
Before we left, the kids had all been fed and were happily playing.
We left around 6:30. Came home about 9-9:30 and although everyone was fine, Alyssa was covered in powder. My mom started telling me how she got all bit up by skeeters when she played outside earlier. Well these giant red welts on her torso only were not skeeter bites. Nothing on her arms, legs or face. She only had some on her stomach and chest. When we left she had nothing. Well within the next couple hours, it started to spread. She would only use the medicated powder for the itch and finally at bed, let Joe put some Caladryl on her. Everyone went to bed and Joe and I settled into some quiet at home time.
Around 12:45 a.m. Joe came walking into the living room with Alyssa. She couldn't sleep at all and the hives were so much worse. Earlier Sierra was talking about how she had that once. It ended up that she had hives from the virus she caught. Well Alyssa was sick before Christmas so I didn't think it was the same thing. By 1:00 a.m. we are sitting in the ER with Alyssa so itchy and uncomfortable that she can't sit still at all. She cries from time to time about them hurting and she's also scared to be where we are. Without thinking I said hospital instead of Dr. and she didn't know what to expect.
There were no emergencies and just a bunch of weary parents with children waiting. A couple kids were totally comatose I'm assuming because of the hour. Some kids were bouncing off the walls, again assuming the hours. They seemed more excited about being up late than anything else. Alyssa quietly played with the toys they had there, happy in our little corner. We also read every book in there that wasn't a comic book. Most were ones we didn't have or at least different versions. We read some more than once. She seemed perfectly happy, aside from the ants in her pants to be where we were then. We talked and laughed and rather enjoyed our time together. When we were called over by the nurse, Alyssa was very agreeable and even took the Tylenol they gave her with no problem.
2 and some hours later we are called to the back. We are in room 5 which means there are still 4 more ahead of us. By 4:00 a.m. Alyssa is getting a bit punchy as Joe and I are too! She's singing, talking, making faces and just being silly and wonderfully entertaining. Her and Joe are having some fun with the rubber gloves and her hives have now joined each other and completely covered her torso. She looks like she has a bad sunburn. You can still tell they are hives on her legs and arms. It's fairly quiet in there so when Alyssa's conversaton somehow turns to talking about a penis, you know everyone is hearing her. She's asking if Daddy has one and can she see it??? Well Joe and I are so tired and goofy all we can do is laugh. Luckily the Dr. found it all as entertaining as we did.
Tunrs out the hives are from the virus she had before the holidays. It just stayed in her system longer. She needs Benadryl and the Dr. wants to know if we want to do liquid or a shot? So naturally I ask Alyssa and explain both. She chooses the liquid. The Dr. comments how wonderful of a mom I am to give my child the choice and keep her happy in making the decision. At first it seems wierd as to why I would do anything else. Then I realize the Dr. is sincere in saying what a wonderful thing the choice is to the child and I figure her working in a pediatric ER, she must see way too many parents every day so far removed from that consideration.
So Alyssa takes her meds and gets a popsicle to go with it. Joe commented that it seemed fitting that when she started out the day having a chocolate ice cream cone for breakfast, she should end the day with a popsickle!! We set off for home. Joe is dropping us off and then going for some Benadryl and popsickles. Alyssa runs into the house all excited to tell grandma about her night. Tara is home and up wondering how things went too. So Alyssa has an audience which is delightful for her. I slip her out of her nightie and powder her all up and put her to bed.
Joe and I crawled into bed at 5:35. And to think it all started off with a nice dinner!!! Today Alyssa is so much better although still spotty and itchy. She took the Benadryl with some resistence but is doing well. She also had new people to tell her stories to this morning with Joseph and Sierra. For her, and I guess us too, it was certainly an adventure.
Mary B.
http://www.homeschoolingtshirts.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Tara had gotten us a certificate to have dinner at our favorite steak place. Joe and I decided to use it last night. .
Before we left, the kids had all been fed and were happily playing.
We left around 6:30. Came home about 9-9:30 and although everyone was fine, Alyssa was covered in powder. My mom started telling me how she got all bit up by skeeters when she played outside earlier. Well these giant red welts on her torso only were not skeeter bites. Nothing on her arms, legs or face. She only had some on her stomach and chest. When we left she had nothing. Well within the next couple hours, it started to spread. She would only use the medicated powder for the itch and finally at bed, let Joe put some Caladryl on her. Everyone went to bed and Joe and I settled into some quiet at home time.
Around 12:45 a.m. Joe came walking into the living room with Alyssa. She couldn't sleep at all and the hives were so much worse. Earlier Sierra was talking about how she had that once. It ended up that she had hives from the virus she caught. Well Alyssa was sick before Christmas so I didn't think it was the same thing. By 1:00 a.m. we are sitting in the ER with Alyssa so itchy and uncomfortable that she can't sit still at all. She cries from time to time about them hurting and she's also scared to be where we are. Without thinking I said hospital instead of Dr. and she didn't know what to expect.
There were no emergencies and just a bunch of weary parents with children waiting. A couple kids were totally comatose I'm assuming because of the hour. Some kids were bouncing off the walls, again assuming the hours. They seemed more excited about being up late than anything else. Alyssa quietly played with the toys they had there, happy in our little corner. We also read every book in there that wasn't a comic book. Most were ones we didn't have or at least different versions. We read some more than once. She seemed perfectly happy, aside from the ants in her pants to be where we were then. We talked and laughed and rather enjoyed our time together. When we were called over by the nurse, Alyssa was very agreeable and even took the Tylenol they gave her with no problem.
2 and some hours later we are called to the back. We are in room 5 which means there are still 4 more ahead of us. By 4:00 a.m. Alyssa is getting a bit punchy as Joe and I are too! She's singing, talking, making faces and just being silly and wonderfully entertaining. Her and Joe are having some fun with the rubber gloves and her hives have now joined each other and completely covered her torso. She looks like she has a bad sunburn. You can still tell they are hives on her legs and arms. It's fairly quiet in there so when Alyssa's conversaton somehow turns to talking about a penis, you know everyone is hearing her. She's asking if Daddy has one and can she see it??? Well Joe and I are so tired and goofy all we can do is laugh. Luckily the Dr. found it all as entertaining as we did.
Tunrs out the hives are from the virus she had before the holidays. It just stayed in her system longer. She needs Benadryl and the Dr. wants to know if we want to do liquid or a shot? So naturally I ask Alyssa and explain both. She chooses the liquid. The Dr. comments how wonderful of a mom I am to give my child the choice and keep her happy in making the decision. At first it seems wierd as to why I would do anything else. Then I realize the Dr. is sincere in saying what a wonderful thing the choice is to the child and I figure her working in a pediatric ER, she must see way too many parents every day so far removed from that consideration.
So Alyssa takes her meds and gets a popsicle to go with it. Joe commented that it seemed fitting that when she started out the day having a chocolate ice cream cone for breakfast, she should end the day with a popsickle!! We set off for home. Joe is dropping us off and then going for some Benadryl and popsickles. Alyssa runs into the house all excited to tell grandma about her night. Tara is home and up wondering how things went too. So Alyssa has an audience which is delightful for her. I slip her out of her nightie and powder her all up and put her to bed.
Joe and I crawled into bed at 5:35. And to think it all started off with a nice dinner!!! Today Alyssa is so much better although still spotty and itchy. She took the Benadryl with some resistence but is doing well. She also had new people to tell her stories to this morning with Joseph and Sierra. For her, and I guess us too, it was certainly an adventure.
Mary B.
http://www.homeschoolingtshirts.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]