Last night the kids got their valentines all ready to take to school today. They were pretty excited. But about twenty minutes after she was supposed to be asleep, Emily came to me and said that she couldn't find her bag of valentines. At that point I was much more worried about getting some peace and quiet than in missing valentines, so I told her to go to bed, and "I'm sure we'll find them in the morning." Well...
In the morning we looked. And looked. And looked some more. All three kids were late for school because everyone was helping to look for the missing valentines. I finally sent them off, and told Emily I'd find them and bring them before her party at 10:30. Turns out that was much easier said than done. I searched everywhere. Not only in the usual places, like under beds and couches and in toy boxes, but also in places like the dryer, the mailbox, and the crisper. (Because you never know what might be in the crisper.) Those valentines just weren't anywhere. I even drove over to Robyn and Ben's school to double check their backpacks, but no luck. I finally gathered up all the leftover valentines, counted out enough candy for her class, and took her a bag containing a mixed variety of valentine greeings to give to her class. In the meantime, I've only come up with two theories for where that missing bag could be.
1 - The bag suddenly decided of its own accord to take a vacation to Florida. (Not that I blame it at all.)
2 - A thief came in the night. A thief who had no interest in my purse or the various electronics he might have seen, but was only interested in a handful of Dum-Dums to snack on while prowling through the night. And of course, some princess valentines with the name Emily on the back. Once again, I really couldn't blame him.
I've decided it's just not a good thing if the doctor walks into the room, takes one look at your baby, and says, "OH, I know what
she has." It makes a mother very nervous. Then when you tell him all her symptoms, and he just keeps nodding like you're saying exactly what he expected you to, it just makes a mother more nervous. And when he finally pronounces that your daughter has Scarlet Fever, it's a little hard to keep your face calm, and try not to show any of the alarm you feel because the doctor seems so calm - almost amused. Very unnerving. He even expressed regret that there was no medical student there when he needed one, because it was such a classic case.
But if that ever happens to you, you don't need to panic
too much because it turns out that Scarlet Fever is just strep throat with a rash. A very weird rash that gets puffy in the worst areas and leaves the skin bumpy even after the red is gone, but it's still an easily cured disease that a few days of antibiotics will quickly take care of.
So I've spent the last couple days being very grateful for modern medicine that not only cures the disease, but can also relieve all her symptoms until it's gone. I've also been trying not to feel guilty for all the children we inadvertently exposed in the two-to-five days of being contagious before any symptoms appeared. And maybe in the two or three days before the rash appeared when I was still blaming her fever on her teeth.
Sheesh. This mothering job can sure be hard on the conscience sometimes.
Happy Birthday Cannon!
