Home on the range

The Pioneer is down. The fever I mentioned yesterday, the one I thought was fleeting and due to exhaustion, stayed with us all night. I wish I could tell you how high it was, because I’m sure you’re on the edge of your seat with wonder, but I can’t.

One of the things Brandon’s travel schedule forces me to do is to be well stocked and prepared for any minor ailments or emergencies that might crop up. I don’t have the luxury of running to the drugstore at 10:00 p.m. when we run out of Motrin. I dropped the ball and we had two doses of Children’s Tylenol and a thermometer with a dead battery.

I took heart in my pediatrician’s long standing advice that parents over treat fevers. He believes a fever has a job to do and knocking it out with repeated doses of fever reliever is the equivalent of union regulations. So, I gave Alex a luke-warm bath and set an alarm so I would wake up every two hours and change the cold cloth I put on his forehead.

I don’t function well without at least seven hours of uninterrupted sleep. I opened the door this morning to let out Rolly and completely forgot to turn off our alarm. It went off and I made the dash to the keypad. We have 30 seconds before Noblesville’s finest come calling. I turned it off and yelled an apology to the kids. I came back into the kitchen and their were Rice Krispies everywhere. From what I could deduct through the giggles, Meredith had a spoonful when I triggered the alarm and needless to say, it startled her.

Happily, Alex is much better today. After a morning trip to the drugstore, where I bought Motrin and one of the very specialized batteries our thermometer requires, I still can’t tell you what his temperature is. I bought one battery. Our thermometer requires two.

Alex is very unhappy about being sick because today was tie-dye day at camp. He was so excited to turn a pillow case into a linen worthy of Gerry Garcia.

I was supposed to get a tooth filled so Meredith was going to spend the day with her grandparents. I was completely willing to post pone having my filling replace, but Meredith was not willing to surrender time at Grandma’s house. It will give me a chance to get stuff done and Alex will have a chance to rest without Meredith’s constant inquiries about his well being and why his “hair looks crazy.”