Awesome parenting

BeYoYo was sick for a month. A month. We first went to the doctor on February 2, with a virus and pink eye, and a cough that was so strong it would make him throw up. She gave us some pink eye meds but said the virus would need to run its course. We love and trust our pediatrician, so we went on with life. We went back on February 9th for a 6 month well-check, and she said to give the virus a few more days.

I guess she meant 2 or 3 days. We gave it 2 or 3 weeks. Awesome parenting. I am not overly anxious about my kids' health, and The Boy brings preschool germs home, so they are bound to get sick, right? Every day I thought this will be the day! But his cough continued. March 1 I ended up taking him to urgent care because he hadn't improved. They said it had developed into an earache in addition to the coughy virus. Oops. I felt bad that he'd gotten worse. Maybe we should've gone back in sooner.  Awesome parenting. So we started on antibiotics and a steroid and more eye drops.

Here we are waiting for urgent care to open

Then on March 3, I took him back in to the pediatrician because he wasn't improving and he was coughing so much he wasn't keeping his meds down. I asked if we could get a steroid shot instead. She checked his oxygen, gave him a breathing treatment, checked his oxygen again, and sent us to be admitted to the hospital. She said his oxygen was low and he was having trouble breathing. I had no idea. I just thought it was a preschool-germ-causing-coughy-virus and poor guy couldn't even breathe. Awesome parenting.

We registered at the hospital, and even though our ped had called ahead and had everything prepared for us in advance, it was not a short process. We were finally ushered into one of those cubicles with a receptionist and a glass window and door behind us where all the world can see you. The receptionist needed a lot of information, and The Boy was getting antsy. He was even getting tired of the two toy dinosaurs that we'd stolen (okay, we told them we were taking them) from the pediatrician's waiting room. Awesome parenting. I had only planned on going straight to the ped's office and back home. Both boys had on their pajamas, and we didn't pack a bag for being gone any longer. As I was talking with the receptionist The Boy casually pulled his pajamas bottoms down, and looked at me in confusion with his pants around his knees before he said "Hey Mommy! I'm not wearing any underwear?" AWESOME PARENTING. I encouraged him to pull his pants up, and the receptionist laughed so hard The Boy got embarrassed and hid under the chair.

We finally got to a room and got both boys settled. My mom came to get The Boy and save the day in the casual way that she always does when I need her. Did I mention The Husband was out of town? I stayed with BeYoYo who got a chest x-ray and IV fluids and more antibiotics and steroids and breathing treatments. And oxygen. My poor baby needed oxygen and I hadn't even known how sick he was.

I stayed with him overnight and he was pitiful. He didn't smile or laugh or play, just slept and cried and laid against me. I felt so bad for him. Fifteen years ago that very day The Husband asked me to be his girlfriend. I'd not imagined when I said yes that 15 years into the future I would lie in a hospital bed with one of our two children while he was lying in a hotel bed in another town. I was so overwhelmed with gratitude that this was not our everyday existence. He would leave early the next morning to make it back to us.

The next morning BeYoYo was feeling a little better, and improved significantly when he got to see his daddy.

These might be some of my favorite pictures ever

The Husband relieved me at the hospital, where the poor sick kid who we didn't think was that sick would spend another night. I went home to be with The Boy, who was missing his mommy and brother very much, "but mostly BeYoYo" he told my mom.  As I walked out of the hospital, I felt like the main character at the end of an action movie as they walk into the future hopefully but you can see explosions in the background. It was going to be okay, but it had been a helluva 24 hours.

The next morning I got The Boy ready for school. When I dropped him off and walked him in to his class there was snow falling down. And he had on no coat. Awesome parenting.

PS- I'm happy to report BeYoYo is back to his old self. I think he has largely forgiven us.

Islands in the Stream

The Husband loves to turn on some loud music on his laptop and jam out while he does things around the house. He really gets in a zone with his rock music whether he's working on projects with power tools or mopping the floor. So for years I've crept in when he wasn't looking and changed it to Islands in the Stream. Always Islands in the Stream. As you can imagine I find this hilarious and he does not. You have to have some things to keep your marriage fresh and interesting, after all.

Fast forward to present day. We have been exposing The Boy to a variety of music, and he's really soaking it up. He told me one day that his favorite song is Flight of the Bumblebees, which explains a lot. He'll choose a song and ask for it over and over, then perform various remixes for us. The Husband taught him about Two Kinds of Love from Rocky II and Queen's Flash, which he even sings the guitar intro to. I introduced him to Simon and Garfunkle and Johnny Cash, and maybe a little Taylor Swift. Imagine my delight when I got the idea to teach him Islands in the Stream! My hope was that he'd sing it all the time and drive The Husband crazy. It's like the prank that keeps on giving. So we practiced. And we watched YouTube clips. And we had kitchen dance parties. "And we wrely on each other. Uh huh. From one lover to another. Uh huh." Now that I'm typing it, I do note the inappropriateness of these lyrics, but stay with me.


Meanwhile, my six year old nephew sang "We will rock you" one time and the boy was hooked. Hooked. It was his instant fave, trumping anything we'd introduced. He sings it All. The. Time. He wants to hear it all the time. He experiments with voices and pitch and tempo and motions. Our house is like a full time Jock Jam CD that skips.


I get it. You don't have to like what I like. You're a free thinker, and I love that about you. You don't want to be a pawn in an elaborate scheme to prank your father, that's fine. But the other night at dinner....


Husband: ready to say the blessing?

Boy (solemnly bows head): God our father, God our father, we will, we will wrock you. We will, we will, wrock you. Amen.


He was serious. The Husband and I couldn't keep a straight face. Dear God, we will rock you. Amen. It was hilarious. It was inappropriate and irreverent. We laughed and laughed and nearly cried. The Boy looked at us, an expression of perplexity and curiosity and pride. We told him it was a great blessing, and it was. There's nothing like bringing your genuine self to God, complete with your naivety and your passions and your pride. And in that moment, without knowing it, and without meaning to, he won. Right in the middle of my planning and my pranking, I'd been Island in the Streamed. By a three year old and a six year old. The irony of these lyrics is not lost on me.


"Somebody better put you back into your place."


Here, for your listening pleasure, is one of the many We Will Rock You renditions. He's available for parties and mar mitzvahs. And blessings.