Taking a U-turn

Most school-aged kids in the United States took Monday off. And I'm sure there were a few parents who officially were able to stay home without having to use a vacation day. It worked out well, right?

Then there are the companies that didn't have Monday off and those with kids had to either take the day off (burn a vacation day) OR make arrangements for someone to babysit their kid(s) for the day. This is generally not too difficult but can be stressful for some families to arrange.

Here in Tucson? Monday was NOT a day off for the school kids. Yes. Some parents did have the day off because that's an official company holiday. But the kids didn't have Monday off. The school-aged kids in Tucson have today and tomorrow (Thursday and Friday ) off.....for RODEO DAYS. HUH? Instead of honoring the Presidents past, Tucsonans honor the rodeo that comes into town.

Today my daughter is officially off from school. And she'll be home tomorrow too. So for me? It's technically not a problem since I'm home with the Bear. I prepared to have a full four days with both kidlings.

Yesterday I dropped the Princess off at school like normal around 7:40am. The Bear and I then dropped by CostCo to get a tank of gas. I ended up getting a little over 12.5 gallons, which means I was almost on fumes! Then we drove up another block to Tar-jay to get a couple items -- swim trunks for the Bear and contact solution for me. We were going to meander for a bit when my phone rang. 8:15am and my phone is ringing? I figured it must have been the Hubs, but when I looked at the caller ID it had the Princess' school name. What?

Me: Hello?
Teacher: Hi Grace? This is Teacher. Princess is having a rough morning.
Me: A rough morning? Is something wrong?
Teacher: I think so. She was saying her left eye hurt. Then she mentioned that her stomach hurt. Now she's crying.
Me: Okay. We're just over at Tar-jay. I'll be over in about 10 to 15 minutes.
Teacher: Okay. Thanks.

The Bear and I headed to the check-out counter and rushed over to the school. The Princess was laying on the chairs beside the front desk. She looked sad and miserable. We got her into the car and started the drive home.

Me: What's wrong babe?
Princess: My eye hurts. My tummy hurts too! I feel like I have to VOMIT! [crying begins]

I grab a ziploc bag and hand it to her. I ALWAYS have ziplocs in my car just in case! Once I hear the strain in her voice, I know that she is in definite pain. And her pain causes major anxiety for me. I can handle my own pain. But when she's in pain? Talk about rip my heart out!

We take the 10 minute ride home and I leave a message for the pediatric triage nurse to give me a call. The Princess is bent over in pain with intermittent crying spells. Thankfully, the triage nurse calls me as soon as I step into the house. It turns out we've got a LOT of stomach bugs going around. Since the Princess didn't have a temperature, didn't have any diarrhea, and hadn't vomited, the nurse recommended that we just stay at home and wait it out. Just PUSH FLUIDS and a bland diet.

I then call the eye doctor. I actually had an eye exam scheduled for yesterday afternoon. Since I had BOTH kids there was no way I was going to be able to make it. Thankfully, they were able to schedule me for next week in the morning. I can then drop the Bear off at his old daycare for the morning and go to the eye exam all by myself.

Then I got the Princess settled in on the couch downstairs -- a big bowl (in case she did vomit), a Thermos filled cold water (to keep her hydrated), and tucked under her Hello Kitty blanket. She drank the Thermos bottle in no time flat. Then she fell asleep within 15 minutes. Thankfully, the Bear played upstairs so he didn't disturb her at all. But what's funny? Is that she was only asleep for less than 30 minutes. And when she woke up? She was happy as a clam. I guess she was dehydrated. That'll teach her not to drink water first thing each morning. She was fine the rest of the day...

So in the end I'm going to have both kids home for FIVE days. FIVE DAYS! How lucky am I? [cough-cough] I'm just hoping I survive without loosing my cool too many times. That U-Turn yesterday really threw a loop into my 4-day plan, but that's what happens when ya have kids, eh? Best laid plans....