Team Lua: Finding the Silver Lining

This week has turned out to be one of craptastic proportions. But I'm trying to change "my glass half empty" approach to things, which admittedly took a lot of work this week, and find the silver lining.

Sunday, Valentine's Day, started off pretty good. We went over to my mom's where Nacho made brunch for all of us. It was great. Until Samantha started complaining that her ear hurt. I knew immidiately it was an ear infection, even though she's only had two before this. I have also learned from those two prior ones and subsequent doctors trips, that she doesn't start complaining until her ear drum is bright red and the verge of bursting. This should be no big deal - we take her home, give her some Motrin and let her rest or take her to the doctor - except we have plans later in the day with other people, with (not so cheap) tickets already bought. Before you get all judgy-mcjudugerson on me, I would have no hesitation in canceling any plans if my children were sick. She however burst into tears at the idea of missing any of this. So we dosed her up with Motrin and off we went.

But you know what? We had a blast. We spent the afternoon at Safari West, which is simply amazing. We had the best tour guide ever and got closer to animals than I thought we ever could. There were laughs and giggles and squeals and lots of hugs & thank you's. And my little sickie.....well, she overcame one of her fears and rode on top of the jeep.

(Samantha riding on the top of the Jeep)

(Jack with our awesome tour guide Leslie)

But now it was Monday, and my sickie was still sick. So I made her a doctors appointment, on a 70 degree day, that she had off. I paid a ridiculous copay to see a doctor who confirmed that yes, she did have an ear infection and no, they weren't giving us anything for it, to just keep treating it the way we were. So basically I paid to have somebody tell me something I already knew.

But you know what....we're lucky we even have insurance. And she was able to check her lungs, throat, etc to make sure it was anything more, which was a relief because with everything going around, I was worried. And although it's not how I would have chosen to spend it, I will take one on one time with my oldest any day.

By Tuesday, Samantha was feeling better and off to school. Lexi had ballet, so off the rest of us went. With about 10 minutes left in her class, Jack trips and hits his head on the metal arm of a chair. He cries for a second, I pick him and he seems fine. Until he looks up and I see the huge gash above his eye that is dripping blood. Great. Get him cleaned up, get Lexi and we are on our way back to the doctors again. After waiting forever (which I actually expected since we didn't have an appointment), they tell me that yes, he is going to need some type of closure for it, but they don't do them there and I will have to take to him to ER, a half hour away. So now, I've got a semi-bleeding toddler & a preschooler with me and a Kindergartner who is an hour away from getting out of school. Called Nacho and told him he had to pick Samantha up while I took the other two. Luckily, they were able to see him fairly quickly in the ER, but that was another outrageous copay. They glued (Dermabond) him back up, gave him some stickers and we were finally on our way home.

But you know what? He is fine! He is as happy as he always is. He's leaving it alone and he didn't need stitches! And I didn't panic in the midst of this mini-crisis. Except for needing help with the logistics of picking up one of our children, I did it! I also learned that the group of girls Lexi dances with have amazing mothers. The minute they saw he was bleeding one handed me wipe to clean him up, one ran upstairs to get Lexi out of class for me, one got her shoes on and our bags packed and helped me get everything to the car. In a situation where I may be felt slightly overwhelmed, they stepped up and gave me focus. And if there is a scar.....it adds character!

(He doesn't look to worse for wear)

So yesterday, Wednesday, I was really hoping for a calm day. And it started that way. The girls both had school and Jack napped most of the morning (probably from missing his naps the day before), so I was able to get a few things done. After we got home from getting Lexi, I walked over to this desk thing we have to get a pencil. And my foot got caught in the cord of our netbook and pulled it crashing to the floor. When I finally got it turned back on, the screen was cracked. Not in literal pieces, but the LCD or whatever it looks like a window that what hit by a rock. Besides the cost to buy a new screen (which Nacho believes we can do) in an already expensive week, I'm angry at myself for being so careless. And I'm admittely lost without my ability to sit downstairs on the couch and surf the web.

But you know what? Last night I was fully engaged in my family and it was a refreshing feeling. Instead of reading blogs and playing endless games of Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook, I did this: