Cold Spaghetti

Will and a female friend, at school, speaking in their classroom:

FF: “Will, I need to change my clothes. I need some privacy.”
Will: “That’s okay. I like to look at bodies.”
FF: “Well I don’t! Would you like it if you were changing and everyone came in and looked at your penis?”
Will: “Yeah, I would!”

“Mommy, why did Dinosaurs use volcanoes to hold their bones after they got extinct?”

Kate is into her aforementioned script a few days. Don’t ask me how many; I’ve already lost count.

We’ve forgotten a few doses. All but the first have required two people: one holding her down and the other forcing medicine down her throat. This method has a roughly 50% success rate at getting more than 75% of the dose down. Never is the dose complete. She always manages to spit, push, or drool some of it out. I have become expert at removing pink stains.

This is exactly why I swore off antibiotics when Will was her age. I can’t imagine that my experience is a-typical. I’m a good parent. I’m pretty on-top of things. And I’m savvy enough to try lots of angles at medicine-giving. Maybe the ability to give a child resisting medicine is a skill… but WHERE would any parent learn it, except with their child?

I know so many parents whose kids don’t even take Amoxicillin anymore because it does nothing for the child. Is this because all of these kids have been given it like Kate… in partial doses with occasional misses? Giving the drug the perfect opportunity to be rendered useless and creating a stronger, more efficient and persistent bacteria in the process?? Even if a parent can give a med now… could they during the first couple of times the antibiotic was prescribed? Bacteria doesn’t even cause ear infection pain… so why be in such a hurry to use a drug to get rid of something that is going to go away on it’s own in less than a day later?? I need to understand these details. I really, really, really need to get a better picture of this, because I grow more frustrated at myself everytime I have to hold my screaming child down and hold her nose to force her to swallow something I not only doubt she needs, but strongly feel will threaten her health later. (Not to mention undermine the health of world, but that’s another issue… it’s not like I’m not trying to be dramatic or anything.)

I can remember working with physicians in a nutritional outreach program in India, trying to figure out why they were reporting no success. It took about 4 seconds to figure it out. I asked folks (the actual people in the community, not the physicians) how they used their vitamins. They don’t. They throw them out. Tonics were the name of the game there… everyone wants a tonic. It’s the vogue treatment of choice, not unlike the power of pills here. Give out whatever you want, but if it’s not fully understood and appreciated… no one is going to follow the plan. One physician got it and changed the way he approached the use of the pills, explaining in more detail what they were and how they worked — and offering suggestions for ways to crush up and create tonics with the medicine. I think that the experience highlights how people tend to seek something specific from physicians, the same way we might “shop” for a particular item, and throw out whatever is not part of our expectations. So, maybe if we go to a physician seeking a prescription and don’t get one, that we feel it’s not worth the cost of admission. Perhaps telling the parent of a child with an ear infection to just treat with Tylenol and hot compresses would seem like a step back in medicine after so many years of antibiotic treatment. Even though the previous practice was inappropriate and we know that now, providing LESS medicine at an appointment strikes the patient as poor medicine, so physicians comply with what patients want simply to keep them coming in. It is a business, after all.

I question the efficacy of this drug and its current use on my child and I’m ticked off that I didn’t pursue the issue further. I’m not trying to challenge the doctor — I am not a physician and respect that specialized knowledge — but I have the capacity to understand the rationale for the treatment choice. And ultimately, that’s all I want to know. What is the rationale and does it make sense? Is it based on evidence-based care, or a social expectation? If I can’t make this kind of a stand, then how can good medicine ever be fully evaluated by patients?

Meanwhile, would it be better off to just stop the drug completely? Is it worse to stop midway through a poorly administered dosing schedule, or continue on with missed and partial doses until the 10 days are up? Either way, it’s not good… but which is more harmful?

Just a quick update for those who are bugging Paul for weekend pictures. These are from early on in the weekend. He accomplished a Herculean amount of work because I took the kids to another city. I offered to continue with that help by coming back this afternoon… puts a crunch on my workweek, but I am *desperate* for having a washer and dryer again.

See the laundry hook-ups? I love that Paul took the extra time and attention to put a protective box (meant for water, as on the left) for the gas line. I knew we were meant for each other when I found he was even more detail oriented that I am…

Sideways… sorry. This is the vent stack shared by the toliet, washer, and dryer.

Something has got to be screwed up when Al Gore can get a Nobel Peace Prize and this phenomenal guy holds a job with sucky benefits probably making less in a year than Gore gets from one speaking engagement. Yet, who is the one doing the work of making the world a more peaceful place?

Here is the commercial airing on Channel 26 with the photography I did for our friends at La Divina… complete with pictures of the kids enjoying seriously delicious panini and gelato!

10 days ago, I took Kate to the doctor to get her 22-month wellness and weight check (23.2 pounds). She had fluid in her ear. Doc asked her to come back in 10 days.

Result: original ear cleared up fine. OTHER ear is infected. Doctor suggests antibiotic, strongly suggests it, since I am a let-it-go-on-it’s-own type of parent when it comes to ear infections. I relent, she is certain it’s AOM, and she makes me feel that it may be involved in such a way that clearing up the infection a bit faster may be important. I like the thoroughness of this doctor and she’s been very okay with my (clinically founded and AAP/AAFP recommended) desire to use caution with the use (or, in this case, overuse) of antibiotic for ear infection treatment. So we filled the script.

Thankfully, Kate was happy to take the medicine. It just took her awhile, because she preferred to sip from the syringe between: 1. twirling in circles until she fell over; 2. bending over to walk on all-fours; 3. squealing and shaking her head maniacally; and 4: running the length of the kitchen shouting “MYBABY MYBABY MYBABY” between giggles.

Maybe my experience of seeing really sick people desperate for any medicine and dying for want of an antibiotic has jaded me. Maybe now I am a poor judge of wellness. But seriously, is this a child who currently needs medicine because of illness?

Before work on the siding commenced Sunday morning, we actually DID do a bit of Easter Stuff. I dug myself in a big, deep hole by trying to explain Easter to Will. Luckily, Granna bought a cake so it was easy to distract him. (Note to self: before next year, work out how you are going to explain all religiously-oriented holidays in a neutral manner. Also, determine how, exactly, you will explain why we celebrate Christian holidays, but are not practicing Christians.)
My parents came… and brought back the singing Easter Bunny. We heard the Hallmark version of “Easter Goodies” (think Rockin’ Robin — with the tweeting chick who pops out of the egg) ALL DAY LONG, thanks to Kate’s obsession with it.
The egg-hunt commenced quickly after the kids woke up (so, around 6am). We kept the hunt to the inside, unlike years past, when we could hide eggs outside in the front yard in the middle of the afternoon and announce that we JUST NOTICED that there were EGGS outside!! This is because Will now understands that when someone bringing gifts comes at night, the bounty is to be found at First Light. Which means that parents have no time to get dressed, because OH MY GOODNESS, DID THE EASTER BUNNY COME?! So, we kept the eggs inside to prevent us from having to jump around the yard at 6am in our skivvies. We restrict that behavior to Friday nights, only.Kate loved pulling apart eggs. Finger puppets, Sesame Street figures, stickers, and tattoos were in most. There were some eggs with candy. Kate wanted to try EVERYTHING… and then would spit it out. I cannot understand how I gave birth to a child that does not like chocolate.
What she DOES love, however, ARE SHOES. Especially boots. Here she is, modeling the pair Nana sent. This is before she ripped the liners out and hid them in our tupperware drawer.
Notice all that bounty on the floor? Thanks, Easter Bunny!

Among the questions Will asked me tonight, which included:

“Why do people have different types of blood?” and
“Why do some people eat other people?” and
“Why do people get gas in their belly?”

was,

“Do cats swim?”

Of all of them, that last one was the one that stumped me the most; I really wasn’t sure. Thank goodness for YouTube!

We didn’t participate in any of the many, many, many Easter events all over the city this past weekend. (The kids had their Rainbow Chicken Egg Hunt on the levee on Thursday and saw the Easter Bunny at two grocery stores during the weekend, I figure that counts?) Mostly, because I didn’t want to shlep the kids (a technical term) by myself and felt worn out by the week. Despite a minor set-back in the form of a foot-infection on Paul’s big toe (treated by an on-the-spot-foot-soaking, pedicure, and triple antibiotic cream — future note: Paul is getting regular pedicures from this point on, especially during renovation projects) Paul and my Dad worked on siding the house with Hardieplank. It looks really good:
We haven’t finalized any house color yet. The boards don’t need to be painted for about a year, so we have some time to figure it out. The trim is painted (Paul did that Friday and Saturday before my Dad arrived) — it’s Benjamin Moore Bright White Exterior paint. It’d be nice to keep the trim that color. We’re currently thinking light blue gray exterior with dark dark dark blue shutters and white trim. But the options are endless!
On the back wall, all but the very top board was finished as of yesterday evening. They started the first runs along the sides to make it easier for when Paul is working solo. For solo work, Paul sung the praises of those little leveling meters. He sounds just like an infomercial!