After a visit to Bright (Hi Fred!) I started drumming in to the girls that We Use Kind Words. Hah, as if. One day we will use kind words.
I think that day is dawning. In the bath this evening, Hazel was playing with the plug. This is OK, because they actually have two separate baths, each in their own bucket. Saves on tears, and means that no-one can pull the plug out. Anyway, Hazel had the plug, and Ivy coveted it. Did Ivy lean over and snatch it? No! Did she screech? No!
Ivy said, "Can I play with it next please?"
And did Hazel turn away in offended fury? No! Did she screech? No she did not.
Hazel calmly handed the plug over and found something else to play with.
My goodness. I sat silently, drinking it all in. Then Hazel stood up for the tenth time, in defiance of her mother's instructions, and fell over, bonking her head on the tap on the way down. Screaming, tears, misery, end of bathtime.
Still, there was a glimmer of civilised behaviour.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
A bad few weeks
We've all been sick.
Ivy caught some virus three weeks ago, and had fevers for five days. Eventually Trudi said "Take her to the doctor" and I said stuff like "what can a GP do about fever, it's just a cold thingy, blah blah". So I took her, and the GP diagnosed post-viral croup & bronchitis. Bad mother. Two doses of prenisolone and a course of antibiotics, and she is better.
Of course the rest of us caught her virus, so T & I battled sore throats, coughs, and then I got sinusitis. Throbbing awful snotty and disgusting. I was totally repellent. Plus Trudi somehow injured her shoulder.
Hazel started with the fevers, a few days after Ivy started. She was on alternating panadol & nurofen, but her fevers keep going up to 40. I took her along to the GP for a checkup with Ivy, and because she had nurofen in her, she looked fine. GP listened to her chest, all OK.
Late that afternoon, Hazel said her tummy was sore, that it had been scratched. There was no mark. She woke screaming at 8:30pm, saying her tummy was sore, plus a fever again. Nurofen, back to sleep. Woke again just after midnight, miserable, still saying her tummy hurt. The kid is very consistent! So I rang Nurse On Call, who eventually said to take her to emergency.
So Hazel and I were in hospital for the rest of the night. They never found anything wrong with her tummy, but her oxygen level was low, and they gave her a chest x-ray and diagnosed pneumonia! Bad bad bad mother again. Antibiotics, all better now.
Both girls were so wrecked that they were having 2 and 3-hour naps every day, and still asleep by 7:30 at night. I had 3 hours sleep on the night we went to hospital, I am worn out after a three weeks of broken nights and rough days, with one bouncy kid & one miserable one.
They have both now finished their antibiotics and are pretty fit. They are eating again (each went on an unnerving hunger strike). Off to creche tomorrow.
But... at 5am yesterday, as I was leaning over to wipe Ivy's bum on the toilet (yes you needed to know that), my back went Ping. So now I am hobbling like a 90-year-old, and looking forward to my follow-up osteo appointment on Friday. Poor me.
Ivy caught some virus three weeks ago, and had fevers for five days. Eventually Trudi said "Take her to the doctor" and I said stuff like "what can a GP do about fever, it's just a cold thingy, blah blah". So I took her, and the GP diagnosed post-viral croup & bronchitis. Bad mother. Two doses of prenisolone and a course of antibiotics, and she is better.
Of course the rest of us caught her virus, so T & I battled sore throats, coughs, and then I got sinusitis. Throbbing awful snotty and disgusting. I was totally repellent. Plus Trudi somehow injured her shoulder.
Hazel started with the fevers, a few days after Ivy started. She was on alternating panadol & nurofen, but her fevers keep going up to 40. I took her along to the GP for a checkup with Ivy, and because she had nurofen in her, she looked fine. GP listened to her chest, all OK.
Late that afternoon, Hazel said her tummy was sore, that it had been scratched. There was no mark. She woke screaming at 8:30pm, saying her tummy was sore, plus a fever again. Nurofen, back to sleep. Woke again just after midnight, miserable, still saying her tummy hurt. The kid is very consistent! So I rang Nurse On Call, who eventually said to take her to emergency.
So Hazel and I were in hospital for the rest of the night. They never found anything wrong with her tummy, but her oxygen level was low, and they gave her a chest x-ray and diagnosed pneumonia! Bad bad bad mother again. Antibiotics, all better now.
Both girls were so wrecked that they were having 2 and 3-hour naps every day, and still asleep by 7:30 at night. I had 3 hours sleep on the night we went to hospital, I am worn out after a three weeks of broken nights and rough days, with one bouncy kid & one miserable one.
They have both now finished their antibiotics and are pretty fit. They are eating again (each went on an unnerving hunger strike). Off to creche tomorrow.
But... at 5am yesterday, as I was leaning over to wipe Ivy's bum on the toilet (yes you needed to know that), my back went Ping. So now I am hobbling like a 90-year-old, and looking forward to my follow-up osteo appointment on Friday. Poor me.
Sleep changes
Hey look! I found an old post from 24 January that I never actually posted. I am so cool and techno-savvy.
Here it is:
Today is Day 6 or 5 (or something) of Hazel's new sleep regime. Ivy joined late, so she's on Day 3. The new arrangement is...
No day naps!
Ivy and Hazel now get up in the morning, keep going all day, and go to bed at night. I can hardly get them to stop... it's a struggle to get them to slow down and have "quiet time".
They are pretty cranky about it though. Last night they went to bed at 6pm. Tonight, it was a little later.
The reason we've made the change is that they were just not tired at bedtime. They would hoon around for two hours or more, being bored hooligans. It doesn't help that they are now in big beds, not cots. They can easily hop out of bed and open their door. One night, Ivy came out five times before she went to sleep.
So far it's going well. They both get pretty cranky by 3pm, but Trudi comes home before 4, so we just muddle along until bedtime. My day has changed a lot. I used to tidy the house and make dinner while the girls were sleeping after lunch, but no more. because they are more tired, they really need me around, so I can't just wander off and do housework unless someone is here to be with them. Last night I made enough bolognese sauce for four dinners. That takes us through to Thursday night. Will have to think of something for Friday... sufficient unto the day.
Here it is:
Today is Day 6 or 5 (or something) of Hazel's new sleep regime. Ivy joined late, so she's on Day 3. The new arrangement is...
No day naps!
Ivy and Hazel now get up in the morning, keep going all day, and go to bed at night. I can hardly get them to stop... it's a struggle to get them to slow down and have "quiet time".
They are pretty cranky about it though. Last night they went to bed at 6pm. Tonight, it was a little later.
The reason we've made the change is that they were just not tired at bedtime. They would hoon around for two hours or more, being bored hooligans. It doesn't help that they are now in big beds, not cots. They can easily hop out of bed and open their door. One night, Ivy came out five times before she went to sleep.
So far it's going well. They both get pretty cranky by 3pm, but Trudi comes home before 4, so we just muddle along until bedtime. My day has changed a lot. I used to tidy the house and make dinner while the girls were sleeping after lunch, but no more. because they are more tired, they really need me around, so I can't just wander off and do housework unless someone is here to be with them. Last night I made enough bolognese sauce for four dinners. That takes us through to Thursday night. Will have to think of something for Friday... sufficient unto the day.
Where is Ivy?
Hazel is playing CDs, Trudi is on the couch, I am also on the couch. It's 4pm on a warm autumn evening. I can hear a lawnmower somewhere nearby. Where is Ivy? I can hear quiet clinking sounds of industry from the kitchen.
Trudi heaved herself off the couch (I have a bad back today) and comes back with a giggle. Go look! she says.
Ivy is on the dining table with no clothes on (it is a warm arvo and I've re-dressed her twice already). She is sitting on my wheat-filled heat sack (cool though). Using a threadbare old cloth that we use for wiping faces after meals, she is washing her legs from the water jug.
Will you say Yes if I offer you a glass of water when you visit?
Trudi heaved herself off the couch (I have a bad back today) and comes back with a giggle. Go look! she says.
Ivy is on the dining table with no clothes on (it is a warm arvo and I've re-dressed her twice already). She is sitting on my wheat-filled heat sack (cool though). Using a threadbare old cloth that we use for wiping faces after meals, she is washing her legs from the water jug.
Will you say Yes if I offer you a glass of water when you visit?
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