Just Call Me the Nurse

I kept thinking something blogworthy would pop up to post about, but I have nothing, so I'll post anyway.

We are in recovery mode around here. Gertie is doing well in the sense that she's had no complications. I think her throat hurts quite a bit. She isn't eating all that well, although, she is eating, so that's good. But she wants a lot of different things, and tries to eat them, and then decides she's done after a bite or two. As the enabling parent, my excuse is that I want her to eat something, so I keep it coming. She wants peaches. I get peaches. She eats two bites and then she's done. Five minutes later she wants pudding. I get pudding. That is a one-bite snack, and then she's done. First she makes a mess of her face and arms and chair, then she's done. Then she wants a cheese taco. That she mostly eats. Then she wants a gogurt. Two bites. Then she wants a bagel, but I say no. Then she wants a bowl of Kix. Again, I say no. I'm ready for bed. Time for bed.

And when it comes to drinks it's almost just as comical. Again, because I'm trying to get her to drink a quart of liquid a day (and she's not doing it) I keep the fluids coming. The last few days she carries around a chocolate milk and a juice and sometimes a water. When she snuggles with me--which is almost all the time--she needs both drinks, both in her lap. Of course, she rarely takes a drink from either of them, but she needs them close. In her lap.

What she does like is popsicles. She eats them in the morning, afternoon and evening, one after the other.

She is whining again an awful lot. I feel bad because I know she isn't feeling well. She tells me many times in the day that she isn't doing very well. She comes to me often and says, "Will you love me for a minute?" So I feel sorry for her and I've had many adults tell me they had their tonsils out and they remember it, either from being an older child or even an adult, and it really hurts and it takes a long time to heal up.

So I am creating many, many bad habits that I'm praying we are able to break when the time comes. I am neglecting so many things that need to be done because she must be in my arms most of the day, and if I do go off to do something, she becomes desperate for me. I am trying to remain patient.

And then I really rode Grace and Ethan hard today. They were very helpful and did lots of chores for me. When we were cleaning the bathroom, Grace kept complaining about being freezing. I said, we'd better take your temperature. We did. It was high. So I've been keeping her going all day and she doesn't feel well either. I don't know what her virus is. She seems okay other than this fever. She did say she's tired, though.

John is teaching two back-to-back three-hour classes on Tuesdays this year, and he's doing that about 45 minutes away from us. He just got home, exhausted, and I'm going to greet him.