Sunday, June 10, 2007

Fever All Through the Night

Pi's had three colds in just over two years of life. He takes probiotics regularly, was breastfed for a year, and through the luck of the genetic draw, appears to have a rock solid immune system, which is advantageous when one's diet is occasionally supplemented with sandbox sand, boogers, and dessicated bits of shredded cheese extracted from the crevices of the high chair.

Many of the T-cells are apparently in Niagara Falls this weekend, but the ones that stuck around are putting up a fight against whatever infection made its way into Pi. His fever was 101.5 at bedtime last night and 102.6 at 3:30 AM (the first time we've all seen the wee small hours in many moons). We dosed him with Tylenol and applied cold compresses. This morning it was down, but at around 7:00 PM he spiked at 104.5, and for only the second time in Pi's life I availed myself of the services of the doctor on call. Through a fog of disdain for the hysterical mother, the ped hurriedly advised Motrin and a tepid bath. Luckily, the ibuprofen in the Motrin was strong enough to penetrate the artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and FD&C colors, and the meds and bath brought his fever down to 100.9 before bedtime tonight. He may spike again tomorrow, or even later tonight, but for now he's resting comfortably.

It's just a fever, which means his body is doing what it should to ward off infection, and certainly a drop in the bucket of his life's illnesses, but seeing that thermometer shoot up over 104 was really scary for both Smitty and me. It's alarming when the ambient heat from your child causes you to break a sweat when rocking him to sleep.

I have one thing to say to Whatever Higher Power is out there: if it turns out that Pi is the only kid I get to have, keep your mitts off him. Even if he's not my only, even if I do get lucky enough to have more, you can't have him. Seriously, you touch one hair on his gorgeous curly red head, and I'll arrange a personal audience with you for the sole purpose of Kicking. Your. Omniscient. Ass.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Missing

We had a big event at work on Friday, one that we've been planning for a few months. When I envisioned it while we were planning, I smiled secretly as I thought of how far along I'd be by then, how much I'd be showing, how much fun it would be to share my second pregnancy with all of our offsite co-workers and invited guests at the event.

It didn't happen the way I envisioned.

I miss you, baby girl.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

The Sharing Paradox

We spend so much time on sharing these days - negotiating who plays with which toy, which toys are community and don't belong to anybody, whose turn is it, etc. Pi was a pretty good sharer when he was younger and didn't really understand what was going on. He would just hand things over when asked, with a bit of a lingering look, but would easily move on to something else. Now, however, he understands all the detail that's involved with relinquishing a toy, and he's really not that into it. He's become one of those hoarders, you know, like "I have all six of the sandbox shovels, and even though only one of them is mine, and even though I can't even physically hold them all, let alone dig with all of them, no one else may approach the Shovel Stronghold." I know that all of this is age-appropriate, and that we'll work through all the sharing politics with experience and more interaction with kids, but I got to thinking...

All the time we spend sharing as children; how does that really translate to our adult lives? The playground social norm is "Share and share alike", and parents bend themselves in half trying to keep that very delicate pH balanced. Then, when we're older, the prevailing attitude becomes, "Get, keep, and hold onto what's yours". This is MY parking spot, this is MY property line, this is the money that I earned, and with it I buy things for ME, etc. There are certainly exceptions to this, but truly shared housing communities are the minority, and everybody always talks about wanting to volunteer and share their time for a good cause (including me), but how many people can make that a reality (definitely not me)?

I was riding public transportation once when I was in college, eating a bag of Cheetos, and a high school girl came up to me and said, "Can I have some?" Not a homeless person, not someone who outwardly looked hungry or poor - she just wanted what I had and asked for it. I gave her a few Cheetos, but I was stunned at the audacity she displayed by walking up to a total stranger and asking for food. Now, as a parent, when an unknown child walks up to Pi and says "Can I play with that?", I move heaven and earth to make sure that all these people we don't know get a piece of what's Pi's. Adults who don't share are protecting their own, but full community is expected of kids.

Is sharing like geometry, one of those things you learn as a kid that doesn't have any bearing on real life? Or am I just telling myself that to help me feel better about Pi's role in ShovelGate yesterday?