Flu shots

Note: I posted this amid halloween chaos yesterday, so I've made a few edits.

I'm not sure when getting vaccinations became quite so polarizing, but I've long been a proponent of them. Both kids, because they were preemies, had a vaccination a month for 6 months against a common "cold-like" bug that can hospitalize and kill premature babies. And, these were not "easy" shots. They hurt...a lot. Screaming, swollen leg, crankiness. But, this small pain was worth it to prevent a potentially life-threatening illness.

After this, it was the normal course of childhood vaccinations. I even gave Faith the chicken-pox vaccine when you had to pay for it. (And, if you want to start a debate, toss out that little gem in a roomful of moms. Yikes.)

No surprise then that I took the kids to get vaccinated at for H1N1 today. Blake's in the high-risk group (under 5 years), my sister-in-law is 8 months pregnant, and we have great-grandparents to visit, so we are getting vaccinated for ourselves, and for others. I've also had the experience of holding a barely breathing child in my arms while we waited for an ambulance. If there's any way to avoid that happening ever again, I'll grab it with both hands.

So, this morning, we packed up snacks, activities, and a large blanket and headed out to one of the region's flu shot clinics. We arrived at 8:00 am, for the 9:00 am opening, and were already in a line of well over 300 people.

Faith bundled up in the blanket and we chatted with our line-mates and chased Blake around. I ended up holding him for a lot of the time as it was windy and cold. He did pretty well in the line, but after about 3 hours, it was getting a bit much for him.

We waited outside for about 2 and half hours until we made it into the school, where another long line awaited us. But at least we were out of the wind. The blanket then turned into a little bed/sled for Blake to sit on as we pulled him along the winding line-up. Everyone was remarkably patient and friendly for what was essentially a giant pain in the butt for all of us. But, it was a loooong wait. At one point, a woman in her fifties fainted about 10 people away from us, so the paramedics that were on site came down and loaded her up onto a stretcher, oxygen mask and all. (Those of left behind just hoped she could get her flu shot before she left, especially after waiting all that time. We were partly joking, but mostly serious.)

When we finally made it into the cafeteria for the flu shot, we first headed over for someone to enter our info into a computer, which then was fed directly into the nursing stations where we had our shots. Quite efficient actually. Of course, this was when Blake said, "I have to go poop!" Gah! So, we trotted off to the bathroom and then popped back to finally get the shot

Blake was a total trooper. This picture is of him before getting his shot, fooling around for the camera.
He didn't even cry when he got poked with the needle. He just had a "what the heck was that?" look on his face. I got my shot next, and my very own bandaid. Then Blake cried...he didn't get a bandaid! Faith was last. By this time, she just wanted to get the whole thing over with. We were all tired. Our total time invested? 5 hours from start to finish.
But, in Faith's words from last night, "It's better to get a shot that to be dead."

October 26, 2009 - Construction woes

October 26, 2009
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

I used to find driving home relaxing. No longer. Every day I run the gauntlet of construction that is my home town. The latest obstacle is the new "stoplight" they put up about 25 metres from my turnoff. They're tearing up the road, so the stoplight at each end controls the flow of traffic. Or should I say trickle? The light has a nice warning on it that says "Wait 3 minutes". Do you know how long 3 minutes is when you're on a deadline to get to your house, park the car, and run across to the school to pick up the kids? This assumes I can even turn onto my street at all.

My sitter's husband works for a company that supplies construction sites with equipment, signs, etc. And guess what? In Ontario, they've run out of Detour signs! Yes folks, there are now so many construction projects going on across the province that we have to figure out our own detours, at our peril.

Some sick part of me s looking forward to winter this year, only because it means the end of construction season.

Misery

Blake's been in, and causing, sheer misery the last couple of days. His best moment of the day is when I meet our sitter at the school to pick him up. He runs across the playground when he sees me with a smile on his face screaming, "Mummy!" I open up my arms and scoop him up for a big hug, which generally causes passing parents to smile happily (and me too).

But, it's all downhill from there. He's had some sort of coughing thing that's been getting him up at night, and it's morphed into a cold that's now making him miserable during the day. Last night he was up for 2 hours straight crying, whining, alllllmost getting back to sleep and then crying again. We finally gave up and let him sleep on the floor next to the bed, just so we could all get some sleep. Ughh. (I defy anyone to make rational decisions at 2:00 am. Not gonna happen.)

Today, the misery continued for 4.5 hours from pick-up time until we got him into bed. Every night we read two books, he yells "good night" down the stairs to George and Faith, and then we read the "sleep rules" that are taped to his door...a formerly effective tool for getting him to stay in bed at night. They talk about staying in bed, closing his eyes, staying quiet and going to sleep, either at bedtime or in the middle of the night. Tonight when I asked him what the sleep rules are, he just said, "Don't wake mummy up." Amen.

October 24, 2009

October 24, 2009
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

I took the kids out to the pumpkin patch today once we figured that the rain would hold off this morning. We've gone to the same one for the last three years, so I guess this makes it an annual tradition.

The farm we go to has animals, a mini-maze for the little kids, a big corn maze, and lots and lots of pumpkins in all shapes, sizes, and levels of bumpiness. (When did pumpkins get so ugly?)

This year, we got to see the wonders of animal mating at the farm as well. The first thing we saw after we jumped out of the car was an illustration of why you keep the male and female horses separated unless you want to give me the kiddies something to watch. Faith, of course, asked me what the heck was going on. I, of course, answered truthfully, and in detail. Faith's response, "Well that's weird, and awkward."

After the lesson in animal husbandry, we made our way through the corn maze, had a snack, played in the maze of hay bails, picked out perfect pumpkins, and called called it a day. Another year, another tradition checked off.

October 23, 2009

October 23, 2009
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Faith's riding stable moved to a new facility, including an indoor arena. The best part, however, is a nice viewing area overlooking the arena, complete with couches.

I took this picture through the somewhat dirty glass overlooking the arena, and I like the ghostly quality it gives the photo. It was on my cameraphone, so it's a little blurry, but I think it works. (And, the horseshoe was just there...serendipity.)

Faith is trotting Rocket in the background, off a lead line, as she was getting used to Rocket's gait. Rocket is bigger than the pony she normally rides, so she chose not to canter him, but she had great form trotting him around the ring while Blake and I watched from above.

October 22, 2009

October 22, 2009
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

I bought the biggest pot of fall mums I've ever seen at Canadian Tire in September for an unbelievably low price. And, I've managed to keep them alive for more than a month! The freezing cold weather we've been having is preserving them. Definitely not my loving care.

October 18, 2009

October 18, 2009
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Sunday was road trip day! Our friends came on a visit with us to the family farm on Sunday. We needed to drive down in separate vehicles, as I was taking my aunt's car back to her. (Long story.)

I got the unexpected pleasure of driving in the car without the kids, and listened to the Ongoing History of New Music for most of the trip. It was very strange actually being able to hear the radio without interruptions.

The day was perfect for the trip...sunny and crisp. When we got to the farm, the kids delighted in the cats and horses, especially a nice little black kitten that was loved to death.

Cordelia and William got to ride on a horse for the first time, and we all took a carriage ride back to the lane. The kids also climbed the massive hay bales to complete the farm experience. (They were a touch dirty when we left.)

The day was fun until we hit a huge traffic jam on the way home. But, we did the country-road thing to get home (thanks to a map and the GPS that Karen has on her Blackberry), and only ended up an hour later than we should have been.

A fun day...and an unique birthday for Karen!