It's so hard to be little...

Sometimes when I get tired of being an adult and wish there wasn't so much responsibility, I look at my sweet children and think it must be nice to be little and not have anything to worry about, nothing to be accountable for, and to be care free and happy with the simple things in life, like a clean diaper and playing patty cake. But after weekends like the one we just had, I am reminded that it's just as hard to be little and that it comes with it's own set of problems. Here are a few examples...

Ava woke up Friday morning with a fever. It was low and the only other symptom she had was a little congestion. No biggie. By Saturday afternoon she was clingy and wanted nothing to do with anyone except for mom. She wasn't satisfied with Grandma who was babysitting while Dave and I attended a class, and she wasn't satisfied with Daddy. Which if I'm being honest, does make a mom feel extra special! So we snuggled. And we snuggled. And we snuggled some more! Typically I don't hold Ava to put her to sleep, but I knew she really wasn't feeling well and maybe just needed a little extra TLC. So Dave and Ella went on to our nephew's baptism on Saturday evening while I stayed home with Ava. While I was holding her I realized I was getting hotter and hotter. But with the pregnancy hormones and having a baby sound asleep on me for so long, I really didn't think much of it. I took her temperature anyways and much to my astonishment it was 104.2. Okay so it obviously wasn't just the hormones or the sleeping baby. I'll admit, I freaked out a little. In my 5 1/2 years as a mother, we have never reached a temperature above about 102. I called Dave, who at this point was at a friend's house being "handy man Dave", and we agreed it was best to take her in. We went to A-cute Kids Urgent Care in Flower Mound (I'm only telling the location for those that live near by and ever need an urgent care place to go.) They were amazing! We were there for an hour and while it was the longest hour of my life, they were so great with her. After a throat culture came back negative and there were no other obvious symptoms, they said they would have to take a urine sample and do some blood work. Poor baby. If she could only tell us where she hurt or what she was feeling, we could most likely avoid all of that. It took 4 people to hold her down while they drew blood and my heart has never ached more. I finally got to pick her up after what seemed like an eternity only to have to lay her back down right after she calmed down so they could give her 2 shots of antibiotics. She thought her world was coming apart. I thought my world was coming apart...it was just awful! We left with nothing, no answers...to make the rest of my long story short, she was still running a fever yesterday and started having diarrhea last night. I'm thinking it's probably just a virus that is going to have to run it's course, but my fear now is that she will become dehydrated because she will hardly drink or eat anything (even though I have tried EVERYTHING...water, pedialyte, gatorade, popsicles....). We went to our pediatrician this morning and she told me just what I expected. We are praying for at least 2 wet diapers today and that the fever will be gone soon. Until then, we are quarantined...See, it's not so easy being little... :( And while I don't have any great pics to post, here she is. These were taken yesterday morning after I gave up trying to get any breakfast in her. (Don't you love her bed head?!)





And then there's Ella. Ella reminds me frequently actually that it's "just so hard to be a little girl." I never should have told her that in the first place! She says it in this whiny voice that if you didn't know better, you may actually feel a little sorry for her! Every Friday at school the kids get to pick something out of the treasure box if they were good and got a sticker that day. So Ella comes home and shows me two bracelets. I admire them with her because they are so sparkly and pretty. And then in the most excited voice, she tells me she got "BOTH of them from the treasure box!" After a bit of listening to her explanation, I realize she was only supposed to take one but that it was okay because one of her friends took two also. And the lesson begins. My happy overjoyed girl suddenly had a sad look of disappointment on her face as I explained that what she did was dishonest and that it was actually stealing from Mrs. Stephens. Much to my surprise, she then tried to cover it up! I really couldn't believe it. "But mom, I just forgot how many I was supposed to take." No no no...we've done this every Friday for the entire school year. I'm certain she didn't just forget. We talk about it some more and she finally fesses up..."Well, I was holding them both in my hands and I couldn't decide which one I liked better." Mom: So you took them both? Ella, looking down seemingly ashamed: Yes. While this is unfortunate and made me feel a little disappointed too, we talked about why it was wrong and what we could do to make it better. We talked about repentance, which I realized was something we haven't really talked about before. Ella picked a bracelet and put the other one back in her backpack to take back to Mrs. Stephens today. Fast forward to this morning when she realized she was going to have to actually face Mrs. Stephens..."Mom, I don't feel good. My throat hurts and I really think you should take me to the doctor with Ava." The whole ride to school, she was fretting it like you wouldn't believe. We talked more about it and how we get in less trouble when we do something wrong and admit it instead of trying to hide it. She kept telling me all the awful things that Mrs. Stephens would say and do to her. I walked in with her. With her head hung low, she explained to Mrs. Stephens why she took 2 bracelets and that she knew what she did was wrong and then she asked Mrs. Stephens to please forgive her. Of course Mrs. Stephens gave her a big hug and thanked her for being honest. I could see the look of relief come over Ella's face. Afterwards I gave her a hug and told her I was proud of her for telling the truth. See, it's hard to learn these life lessons! Maybe I don't want to trade being an adult for being a kid again! I was kind of laughing about it on the way home as I was going over in my mind the conversation on the way to school. As a mom, those cheap plastic bracelets are really not a big deal. Ya know, they are the cheap 3 for $1 ones. But to my 5 year old, they are sparkly and beautiful and it's so hard to pick just one! I'm hoping this lesson will stick with her and that we won't have to deal with this on bigger issues (like the girl we saw at Walmart being busted for shoplifting the other day...) I'm actually glad we had this experience.

This is long...I wonder if anyone is actually still reading it!! I wanted to post a picture because I think blogs are more fun with pics. So here is one that Ella took of herself the other day. I didn't realize she had my camera and had taken any pictures until I downloaded them this morning and found about 30 pictures I hadn't taken! Here is one of my favorites that my sneaky girl took...