My week has been hectic so far! Not bad, mostly, but we've been on the go quite a lot more than usual. I had to go pick up my girl on Tuesday. Instead of going all the way to my mom's house to get her, we met halfway. Well, if halfway is what you would call one hour for me, half an hour for her. ;) We had lunch and talked and then did a tiny bit of shopping before Evie and I headed home. We were only here an hour before we had to leave for ballet, though. As we were driving there, my car started making strange scraping noises upon application of the brakes, which struck me as a problem. Brake pads, I was informed when I got home.
Normally if a car breaks down, we take it to the shop after M gets home from work and then pick it up after work the next day (or when it's ready, anyway.) For a number of logistical reasons, that wasn't the optimal solution this time--I wanted to take Evelyn to the doctor, for one thing, and then gymnastics this morning. So... I got to take it to a different shop by myself and wait for it to be done. With a four-year-old. FUN! But actually, that wasn't too bad in the end. I called one of my friends from my old job, and she spread the word a bit, and a group of girls met me for lunch at a Mexican restaurant (almost) next door. The fly in the ointment was the severe thunderstorm and tornado watch going on at the time, but I actually managed to time it really well, and it wasn't raining while we were talking over there or back. Plus, by the time I got back from having a fun lunch, the car was just about done. I had just enough time to call the pediatrician and make an appointment for later in the afternoon and then they came back with my keys. It really couldn't have worked out much better, except that when I got home, I had a text message from M telling me that I should only let them do half of what they were doing--I hadn't had a chance to see it before it was all done with. Oops. Apparently the back brakes did not need replacement as urgently as they said. How was I supposed to know? He sent me to get them fixed and I did. I mean, ya gotta have brakes, right? ;) Oh, well.
Evie is not exactly sick right now, but she's not really NOT sick, either. Back in January, she started acting all weird and then she got sick and then she got better and then she got sick and then she got better and then she got sick and.. etc. Through it all, she's kept a runny nose and a really nasty cough and a fussy attitude and she's tired all the time. Finally, I decided that I had had enough when it occurred to me that another symptom was probably related--she can't HEAR stuff anymore. I will be talking to her and she will keep asking me, "What did you say?" or just not responding. My mom was really concerned about her hearing and I started noticing it more. So, I made the appointment yesterday, which was a total waste of time and effort and money. I am really, really not one of those people who require antibiotics for things they won't help, but the child has been sick for six weeks. She has something that is not going away on its own. However, I think the woman saw a mostly healthy child (after waiting 45 minutes, E's patience was wearing thin so I had her standing on one foot, etc, when the doctor walked in.) Her opinion is that Evie has allergies. My opinion is that we won't be seeing this doctor (think she's not an actual doctor, actually) again if I can help it. Her hearing test was fine, when they inserted the thingie in her ear and played beeps at her, so she completely dismissed the hearing thing. She does have fluid in one ear, though, and that can cause temporary hearing loss--not that SHE said that, but Google did. I don't know. I really could have been okay with a "this is not an antibiotic issue" if presented in the right way, but the kiddo really doesn't seem like she has allergies. She seems like she's been sick since January. She seems, in fact, like she's had a raging sinus infection since January, based on my extensive experience with raging sinus infections. But..whatever. Bring on the Zyrtec, I suppose, once we actually make it to the store to acquire said Zyrtec (her official recommendation.) I had asked M to buy some last week, but he couldn't find the kids versions. I've had some success with keeping sinus infections at bay with allergy meds in the past so I had been planning on trying it already.
Have I mentioned that I am very disenchanted with ballet by now? It's not exactly that the child for whom I am dragging myself out into the cold for every week doesn't even enjoy it, but it's... sort of like the child for whom I am dragging myself out into the cold for every week doesn't even enjoy it. She doesn't particularly want to leave the house. Ever. Even when it's one of her fun activity things. She drags her feet and there's a fight to get her ready to leave. (Yeah. Kindergarten. I KNOW.) She seems to have fun after she's there. After we're in the CAR she seems to be cool. But, she's very meh about it mostly. It's not fun and exciting and the culmination of her life's dream anymore. It's more like "oh. Ballet again. Whatevs." This is not worth sixty bucks a month to me. I'm glad she got to do it, but I will be so relieved when it's over, and I think she will too. I think it's occurred to her that it's WORK, and they want her to dance the way THEY say, not the way she wants. She actually has a pretty good sense of rhythm for a little kid, when it comes to dancing. She dances better than I do (although, this is not saying much.) They do ballet in sort of a school-year arrangement, September through May, with a recital at the beginning of June. We are going to make her see the year through in a honoring-your-commitments sort of way, but she won't be doing dance again in the fall unless something major happens to change my mind, and I really can't imagine what that would be at this point. Gymnastics, however, is still something she enjoys. She told me recently that she wants to be a gymnastics teacher when she grows up. Unlikely to be what she settles on, but cute nonetheless. :) I can sort of see her being a teacher, actually. She's bossy enough for it, certainly. Of course, she kind of doesn't like other kids but maybe they'll grow on her.
Normally if a car breaks down, we take it to the shop after M gets home from work and then pick it up after work the next day (or when it's ready, anyway.) For a number of logistical reasons, that wasn't the optimal solution this time--I wanted to take Evelyn to the doctor, for one thing, and then gymnastics this morning. So... I got to take it to a different shop by myself and wait for it to be done. With a four-year-old. FUN! But actually, that wasn't too bad in the end. I called one of my friends from my old job, and she spread the word a bit, and a group of girls met me for lunch at a Mexican restaurant (almost) next door. The fly in the ointment was the severe thunderstorm and tornado watch going on at the time, but I actually managed to time it really well, and it wasn't raining while we were talking over there or back. Plus, by the time I got back from having a fun lunch, the car was just about done. I had just enough time to call the pediatrician and make an appointment for later in the afternoon and then they came back with my keys. It really couldn't have worked out much better, except that when I got home, I had a text message from M telling me that I should only let them do half of what they were doing--I hadn't had a chance to see it before it was all done with. Oops. Apparently the back brakes did not need replacement as urgently as they said. How was I supposed to know? He sent me to get them fixed and I did. I mean, ya gotta have brakes, right? ;) Oh, well.
Evie is not exactly sick right now, but she's not really NOT sick, either. Back in January, she started acting all weird and then she got sick and then she got better and then she got sick and then she got better and then she got sick and.. etc. Through it all, she's kept a runny nose and a really nasty cough and a fussy attitude and she's tired all the time. Finally, I decided that I had had enough when it occurred to me that another symptom was probably related--she can't HEAR stuff anymore. I will be talking to her and she will keep asking me, "What did you say?" or just not responding. My mom was really concerned about her hearing and I started noticing it more. So, I made the appointment yesterday, which was a total waste of time and effort and money. I am really, really not one of those people who require antibiotics for things they won't help, but the child has been sick for six weeks. She has something that is not going away on its own. However, I think the woman saw a mostly healthy child (after waiting 45 minutes, E's patience was wearing thin so I had her standing on one foot, etc, when the doctor walked in.) Her opinion is that Evie has allergies. My opinion is that we won't be seeing this doctor (think she's not an actual doctor, actually) again if I can help it. Her hearing test was fine, when they inserted the thingie in her ear and played beeps at her, so she completely dismissed the hearing thing. She does have fluid in one ear, though, and that can cause temporary hearing loss--not that SHE said that, but Google did. I don't know. I really could have been okay with a "this is not an antibiotic issue" if presented in the right way, but the kiddo really doesn't seem like she has allergies. She seems like she's been sick since January. She seems, in fact, like she's had a raging sinus infection since January, based on my extensive experience with raging sinus infections. But..whatever. Bring on the Zyrtec, I suppose, once we actually make it to the store to acquire said Zyrtec (her official recommendation.) I had asked M to buy some last week, but he couldn't find the kids versions. I've had some success with keeping sinus infections at bay with allergy meds in the past so I had been planning on trying it already.
Have I mentioned that I am very disenchanted with ballet by now? It's not exactly that the child for whom I am dragging myself out into the cold for every week doesn't even enjoy it, but it's... sort of like the child for whom I am dragging myself out into the cold for every week doesn't even enjoy it. She doesn't particularly want to leave the house. Ever. Even when it's one of her fun activity things. She drags her feet and there's a fight to get her ready to leave. (Yeah. Kindergarten. I KNOW.) She seems to have fun after she's there. After we're in the CAR she seems to be cool. But, she's very meh about it mostly. It's not fun and exciting and the culmination of her life's dream anymore. It's more like "oh. Ballet again. Whatevs." This is not worth sixty bucks a month to me. I'm glad she got to do it, but I will be so relieved when it's over, and I think she will too. I think it's occurred to her that it's WORK, and they want her to dance the way THEY say, not the way she wants. She actually has a pretty good sense of rhythm for a little kid, when it comes to dancing. She dances better than I do (although, this is not saying much.) They do ballet in sort of a school-year arrangement, September through May, with a recital at the beginning of June. We are going to make her see the year through in a honoring-your-commitments sort of way, but she won't be doing dance again in the fall unless something major happens to change my mind, and I really can't imagine what that would be at this point. Gymnastics, however, is still something she enjoys. She told me recently that she wants to be a gymnastics teacher when she grows up. Unlikely to be what she settles on, but cute nonetheless. :) I can sort of see her being a teacher, actually. She's bossy enough for it, certainly. Of course, she kind of doesn't like other kids but maybe they'll grow on her.