Henry (3 years old) was supposed to have his tonsils and adenoids removed on the 3rd of January, but he got sick, so we had to push it back. Having both boys at home all the time for almost a month and it being cold outside made me feel cooped up and irritable. Usually only one was sick at a time, and whoever wasn't sick felt neglected it seems. I just couldn't keep everyone happy. Then, mid-January, Henry had his surgery. The surgery went very well, the ENT doc said. They were the biggest tonsils and adenoids he had ever seen on any kid! No wonder Henry has had obstructive sleep apnea and trouble drinking and eating. Hopefully this procedure will help. It was a very long 2 week recovery. The first 2 days were surprisingly mild, and Henry didn't seemed too bothered, and then day 3 hit and it was a nightmare until about day 13!
It's a good thing Henry won't remember. When John heard that his brother had to have surgery, John was very worried. I told him that he had the same thing done when he was 3 and he was just fine. John was shocked, and told me he didn't even remember that! So, only I will remember the trauma, pain and suffering ;) It's better that way. Sweet Seth slept with Henry every night and kept on top of his medicine so that I could have a break from the day shift. But man, after everybody being sick, and then the surgery, I wondered when my husband and I would ever share a bedroom again! Henry started calling our bed, "Mama's bed." I didn't like that and missed my hubby.
Poor John felt sorely overshadowed and jipped during Henry's recovery, since John had to go to school and do homework and piano lessons, and didn't get to watch Team Umi-Zoomi all day long (and I mean ALL. DAY. LONG! - I think on the 90th episode of watching Team Umi-Zoomi, I was finally excellent at counting to 20, I could win a competition.) But thank the Lord for appropriate and educational shows for kids! Imagine trying to help a kid recover from surgery with no good distractions. Yikes! All the screen time sapped all of John's motivation to do anything productive, so I just let the battle go mostly, knowing we'd get back into the swing eventually. Seth took John by himself to the Henry Ford Museum for a Papa and John outing, and we tried our best to help John feel significant and loved.
After Henry mostly recovered, John caught the flu which was rampant at his elementary school.... Oh....winter... Poor kid missed a bunch of school, and John's teacher told us she was very sad that John missed the NWEA standardized testing window (since he's the top scorer in the class. We didn't tell him. We didn't want it to go to his head, which seems very confident already :)
Then Henry got the flu, and then when Henry began to get better, John came home with an eye infection.....truly. I'm not making this up. Then Henry caught the eye infection. I have a theory on all of this. Since John's school made school lunch free for all kids, John has frequently been coming home with a mostly full lunch box. When we try to find out about why, there is always some elaborate story as to why he didn't have time to eat his lunch. I think the real reason is that he is often eating the school lunches which can not exactly be considered healthy. Although there is no way to truly verify this, so I'm not sure what to do. Also, John has been sucking on his fingers since he was born, and now he's 7, and it's still how he self-soothes, despite all our best efforts to help him stop....
We think we may have to resort to getting the mouth guard put in at the orthodontist that has the little spikes that don't feel good to suck on. We sure didn't want it to come to this, but no one would want their child going around licking every door knob in the elementary school, and that's basically what happens when you go anywhere and then suck on your fingers....
This month, Seth and I have both found a lot of solace in attending The Detroit Michigan Temple to worship God and feel His love and help as we serve there. It is wonderful to put aside the cares of the world for a few hours and to be immersed in the holy and sublime.
Seth has also enjoyed playing a little basketball this month, and I hope he'll be able to continue. Exercise is so helpful, especially when the winter makes it often impossible to ride our bikes.
