Slow Week

Have you ever noticed how SLOWLY a week can drag on when you have a sick kid? We had one of those weeks this week, but hopefully it will be better this week. We are expecting temperatures in the 70’s tomorrow and then in the 60’s for a few more days, so I hope that we can get out and walk and ride bikes and play at the parks. Of course, we could use a little moisture for the trees and all……..

Ashtyn had a four-day weekend with a Friday and Monday off of school. Jantzen became sick with a fever and cough on Thursday night and was sick on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We went in to the doctor on Friday as his breathing was becoming a little crackly and we were calling him “Jantz-a-Mantz, Mr. Ornery Pants” because he was so cranky! Turns out that he had pneumonia and an ear infection! He is on the upswing today after two days on the antibiotic. Whew! It was a bad week for sleeping at the Brown house! And my, are we in for some terrible two-year-old tantrums from that little boy! Whenever he gets mad he just throws things! Today he chucked his little truck straight into the lap of a young man sitting behind us at church….much to his own and the young man’s surprise! Luckily, he didn’t hurt the guy, but at 27 ½ pounds he’s getting more force behind that arm of his!

Other lessons learned in the realms of parenthood this week were:
- Don’t talk to your child while trying to close the back door of the minivan, or you might just pop yourself in the face with the door! It might bleed and leave a mark! However, your yelps of pain might startle the kids in the backseat enough that they stop fighting and actually ask you what happened and if you are okay! Hey, they really are developing feelings for others!
- If pizza and movie night is supposed to be a picnic at home in your basement, then just let well enough alone! Don’t feel like you need to “treat the kids” to eating out at Pizza Hut just because one of them earned their free pizza from the school’s reading program. The service on a Saturday night will be SLOW and SLOPPY and your kids will ask you a dozen times why you’re not eating at home. Then they’ll be too tired and cranky to stay up and watch the movie anyway, but they’ll insist that they’re not and it’ll be a battle to bedtime! Just stick with the picnic and carry-out the pizza!
- If you’ve had to reschedule horse riding with friends two times, the third time really will be a charm and a delight for everyone! So many people really are kind and generous with their time and resources. Ashtyn rode for over an hour all by herself in the ring. She trotted for the first time, and although nervous the first round, soon loved it! She sits well in the saddle and remembers what she is supposed to do. Alyssa rode just a little bit, but didn’t like it so much. What she really enjoyed was playing around the barn with our friend’s little girl and loving the four barn cats who were super sweet to her.
- If you haven’t spoken to your spouse much during the course of the week, due to work and the sick ornery kid, a date for lunch on a sunny Saturday afternoon really does wonders for the relationship! Our treat was to try the new Rodizio’s Brazilian Grill in town. It was awesome and we had a great time talking and then shopping at TJ Maxx for some clothes for ourselves…….Yes, we really shopped for clothes for our OWN SELVES. It was delightful and so great to not chase the little bitties around the racks and the stalls in the dressing rooms!
- You may want to check the meat supply in the freezer before late on Saturday night. The pork roast you were planning on for Fast Sunday dinner may have somehow disappeared during the course of the month (you were SURE it was just in the back behind the frozen veggies) and you’ll find yourself scrambling to think of what wonders you could perform with five chicken tenderloins! Luckily for us, there was Aunt Judy’s chicken. Not roast, but pretty acceptable. A hungry daddy on Fast Sunday can be a scary thing, indeed!
- Although participating in rec and church basketball leagues two nights a week is a bit of a pain with putting the kiddos to bed, it is worth the fulfillment that your spouse will feel in exercising his amazing sporting skills and letting off steam from the workday. And if they would ever schedule those games at times before 7 or 8pm, you might actually get to take your kids to see their super-dad in all of his glory…….but don’t hold your breath.

It was still a good week for us, much better now that Jantzen has been diagnosed and is receiving proper medication. It was nice to see him smiling and laughing most of the day today.