SAHM I Am

I like a lot of things about my daughter. I like that she's self-confident ("I am so pretty mommy"), I like that she tells a good joke, I like that she tells it like it is, but one of the things I like most about her, is her imagination.

Last summer, for weeks on end, we had to call her Mickey Mouse. Starting in October or November, she was Penny (Penny from the movie Bolt). Recently our family is the gang from Scooby-Doo. She is Daphne, I am Velma (or Melma as she says), my husband is Shaggy, her stuffed dog Bolt, is Scooby-Doo and some imaginary dude is Fred. She enters a room and announces "Melma, Shaggy, we have a mystery on our hands." Usually we're looking for the Creeper or the Witchy Witch, and we often find the evil-doer in a closet. We then pull the mask off the bad guy and discover who was behind the mystery. It never gets old to her.

Last Thursday after I picked Audrey up from school, I had to make a few phone calls to my bank (the real evil-doers in this story). I told Audrey to go in her playroom and play nicely by herself for a little bit. When I came downstairs, this is what I found.

This configuration was originally a school bus that was taking all the kids to school. It then became the school itself and Audrey was the teacher. I asked why the teacher didn't sit in front of the class and she told me that all the kids weren't listening so they had to face the other way. Makes sense, I suppose. Later that day the chairs became the seats at a movie theater where they were all enjoying a screening of "Hotel For Dogs" along with bowls of pretend popcorn and chocolate shakes. In the evening it was the Polar Express that was taking them all to meet Santa.
The chairs seen in the picture go with the new white table she received as a Christmas gift. The table was set up in the playroom for her to work on puzzles, color, and set up some of her Barbie Dolls. I think the table has been used once to color, a couple times for puzzles, and never for Barbies. The table has been a fort, a place for the babies to have a tea party, and as a stepping stool to get on top of her play cottage.
Perhaps Danzae Peace said it best. "I think the world really boils down to two types of people-those who see shapes in cloud formations, and those who just see clouds." I think my dear Audrey sees shapes, many, many shapes, and I happen to like that about her.

We’re back in the throes of illness.  On January 1, as in the first day of a whole new year, Audrey went to bed as she normally does and within an hour was whimpering in her sleep. Two hours later she was awake, crying, and I could feel the heat from her little body.  A dose of Motrin and a move to mommy’s magic bed and she was a little better.  The next day we saw the pediatrician who immediately ordered a Strep Test that just as quickly came back as positive.  New year, new illness.  Hey, nothing like digging into that deductible right off the bat. 

That night after her dose of straight-up penicillin, she had a mostly restful night of sleep.  I should have known that things are never that easy with a kid who is battling two immuno-deficiencies.  The next day the cough started and for the first time, she lost her voice.  I thought it was odd to get a cough with Strep, and I was right.  She acquired a virus on top of the lovely bacterial infection.  So that night she took the penicillin and some more Motrin and coughed for nearly 90 minutes before falling asleep.  We were back at the pediatrician’s the next day where she was given cough medicine with codeine, or “magic syrup” as I lovingly refer to it. I hate to think of “drugging” my kid, but the one thing she needed was sleep and if a little codeine could do the trick, then I was all for it.  HA! Two hours of coughing Monday night led to a wake up time of 6:00 AM because the cough wouldn’t let her sleep.

Tuesday night, another dose of penicillin, another dose of the “magic syrup”, a teaspoon of honey, a rub down of Vick’s, and a humidifier with a tablespoon of vinegar in it (Thanks, mom for the tip).  I was absolutely sure the kid was going to sleep that night.  She fell asleep only after 10 minutes of coughing but by 8:30 was up again coughing to the point where she couldn’t catch her breath.  She was scared and refused to go back to her own bed. 

In to my bed she goes again.  I rubbed her back as my husband got his things together to go sleep in her room.  “We really need an extra bed”, he said.  “That air-mattress sucks.”  I told him I was sure this wasn’t going to last forever and that we’re all so tired and cranky that we should do whatever it takes to get some sleep.  As I was speaking, I felt myself drift off. 

I don’t know what it is about mommy’s bed, but it has always worked in calming Audrey.  Through colic, teething pains, stomach flu, and now Strep with a little bit of virus added in, my bed has been a source of healing.  I don’t know if it’s the coolness of our room, the loveliness of the plush pillow top, or just my presence, but last night we both slept better than we have in a week.  Who needs “magic syrup” when you have the magic of mommy’s bed?