A Wild Weekend - Kids

jokomp3.blogspot.com - Last Friday morning S-Boogie got her tonsils and adenoids taken out. Her pediatrician had noted for a number of years that her tonsils were quite enlarged, and she was a very noisy sleeper, but since she didn't get sick that often I wasn't sure if it was worth it to get surgery. A few weeks ago I finally called and made an appointment with an ENT for a consultation, and sure enough he recommended that we get both her tonsils and adenoids removed. Thankfully we were able to fit the surgery in before the start of school (next Tuesday!). I had spent the last few weeks worrying about it and was glad that things went smoothly. We got to the hospital for same-day surgery at 9:30 in the morning, there was about an hour total of prep time while they did various things and we had to wait for our turn. Then they wheeled her back to the operating room and I sat out in the waiting room reading for an hour before they called to tell me she was waking up (the surgery was only half an hour but there was some lag time while they observed her in the initial stages of recovery). We were at the hospital for about two more hours watching Disney Channel shows while S-Boogie woke up more from the anesthesia, consumed enough water and ice to use the bathroom twice, and was able to feel her first dose of ibuprofen kicking in. Friday afternoon and evening went pretty smoothly--S-Boogie watched a movie and rested and the kids all ate some Ramen noodles for dinner.

Saturday was not so pleasant. S-Boogie was in a lot more pain and was feeling tired too. I was tired because I had slept downstairs in the guest room and gotten up a few times to check on her. I was also feeling stressed out about making sure that she was feeling comfortable and healing well so I was having a hard time managing all three kids. So, of course, I thought it would be a good time to try potty training P. Bibby. I thought that would go much more smoothly than it did--she's three-and-a-half and has dry diapers a lot of the time. Instead I discovered that she would sit on the toilet for quite a while without producing anything and then pee in her pants immediately afterwards. After three accidents in a row she was feeling very traumatized and did not want to wear panties ever again. P. Bibby has always been pretty easygoing but lately she's developed a very sensitive side to her personality and doesn't like feeling like she has done something wrong. After lunch I decided to put her back in a pull-up for her nap and that's how we spent the rest of the day.

I had taken off work on Friday and Monday to be able to care for S-Boogie (the kids are now with their dad for the remainder of the week, partly because our babysitter went out of town and partly because of S-Boogie's surgery). On the one hand, it could have been a nice weekend to spend time with the kids and enjoy a relaxing few days, even with surgery and potty training. Instead I was impatient and stressed out and I think the kids could feel it. After a while I even started to wonder what was wrong with me and whether I had forgotten how to be a good parent during all the time I spend away from kids. Little Dude was really acting up and so was P. Bibby, and S-Boogie was just sore and tired. Instead of acting like the grown-up I just whined and complained too. It's always easier to see things in hindsight I think. After dropping off the kids Monday night I felt really bad about how I had wasted my weekend with them. Now that I've had two days to think about it I feel like being a little nicer to myself. It can be easier to see things in hindsight and hopefully this weekend I'll remember what I learned and we'll all have a better time.

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