Never Say Never

You know those times when things are going along really well and then you slip up and say or think something like "finally, sunny weather" and then boom - a snowstorm hits? Well last weekend was one of those weekends. On Thursday night, the eve of my coveted four-day Presidents' weekend, I made the comment to Bradley that, "Wow, I'm so happy we're all well again". Not two hours later did Carter have a terrible runny nose. Thinking it was just a fluke, I further taunted the cosmos by saying, "I'm going to take a nap EVERY day of my four-day weekend". That night our energetic two year old became a coughing seal who couldn't breathe. That's right folks, croup had found its way into Carter's system. The sounds were so severe and startling that at first, we thought a small dog over at our neighbors' vets office was being sacrificed. Bradley decided to sleep with him on Friday night to monitor his breathing.

First thing on Saturday morning I called our pediatrician in Medford. We drove the hour or so up there (in a snowstorm) and were given a dose and prescription of steroids to bring down the inflammation in his vocal chords. Great, we thought, a little steroids and everything will be back to normal. Wrong again.

About two hours after the first dose of steroids we realized that Carter seemed to be running into things and clumsily falling down. He was also extremely tired and his usual two plus hour nap was shortened to almost 45 minutes. Not to mention that his pleasant and giving personality was replaced by the ghost of Chuckie. The kid was needy, clingy, ravenously hungry, hitting, it was just crazy. After a little soul-searching, I decided to look closer at the steroid label. I found that the side effects were as follows: difficulty sleeping, feeling of a whirling motion, increased appetite, increased sweating, indigestion, mood changes, nervousness. Well, we were four for seven in that set of side effects.

We finally got the demon child to bed around eleven pm. I know that "demon" seems a little strong, but he was a COMPLETELY different child. I took the duty of sleeping with him so that Bradley could finally get some sleep. Strike four.

Around three in the morning I woke up to pee and noticed that all of the lights downstairs were on and I could smell a burning candle. Not knowing what the heck was going on, I walked downstairs to find Bradley cleaning our wood floor on his hands and knees. Yes folks, the weekend had gotten even better, Maggie had sh** all over our downstairs. All of the rugs had to be washed, the floor spot cleaned, and then sanitized. By the time we got to bed at five am, we were able to catch about thirty more minutes of sleep before Chuckie, I mean Carter, awoke.

I think that I did finally get a nice nap on Monday and I am so thankful that Carter is well. I also value Bradley's strengths as a father and true partner/team player. I am a little nervous that we will be outnumbered with two kids, but it is just another reminder that life is so very unpredictable.