Sleep and Unexpected Events

Last night, my toddler fell asleep on the couch, my son went to bed on time, and I was in bed at 10:00 and must have fallen asleep immediately.  I can't remember the last time everyone was in bed that early, especially on a Saturday night.  I suspect my daughter was awake, but she was at her dad's house.  I hope she can sleep late.  My little guy woke up very loudly at 6:30 this morning.  I scurried him downstairs so my other son could sleep.

The thing is I took a break because the week was overwhelming, just getting kids to school, taking kids to soccer and their end of the year concerts.  It's especially difficult because my husband drives to minimize my foot pain.  He's in Mali this week and next. 

I stopped writing for a few days so I could put less expectation on myself, so I could relax a little.

Instead, my toddler got the runs and a rash on his butt.  (He's OK now but has given up on potty training entirely and is back to diapers for the weekend.)  We missed the end of the season soccer party because I lost my phone in plain sight in my house.  It was hiding in a window sill like an Easter egg for about 36 hours.  My middle son either passed out or had a seizure on Friday and fell backward from standing onto hard floor.  He got a concussion. 

He was lucid enough to remember I had his "real" dad's phone and told the nurse to call it.  The home phone wasn't working and my phone just found but the ringer was still off.  I knew it was a concussion when he puked in the car on the quarter mile drive home.  We went to the emergency room while he vomited the whole way.  By some amazing miracle, my sister was home and available and came to the hospital to get my babes.  He didn't have lunch yet and was already done examining every device in the room and had started climbing on the furniture like a monkey.

I texted my husband in Africa and texted my daughter at the end of her last period class to ask her to cancel her plans for the weekend.  Four and a half hours later, my son started looking and feeling better.  And I breathed.

He told me I need to trade in my car because of all of the puke on the floor.  I agreed. 

We were going to have an amazing weekend of amusement parks, bike rides, and swimming.  Instead, we are letting him rest and are watching him close.  He looks good this morning. 

Yesterday, my mom agreed to stop and get Lego sets for him and a new Duplo set for my little guy to keep their minds busy.  The Legos were a miracle, they made him so happy.  He was able to concentrate on building them and following the directions with no problems and no headaches.  I think he's OK.  Thank you, God.

In the meantime yesterday, I saw that my basement floor drain was clogged.  My air conditioner and dehumidifier drain into it.  I contemplated what to do.  My ex-husband offered to snake it for me.  I checked my sump-pump.  It looked good.  I decided to suck up the water with the shop vac, which was conveniently right there, but inconveniently had a very dusty filter attached to it.  I am severely allergic to dust and have really bad asthma - I am feeling it today.

I sucked and something popped out of the end of the shop vac.  It looked to me like a dead mouse covered in grunge.  I choose now to believe it was a glob of gunk that happened to have a tail and eyes.  I absolutely freaked out, screamed like the boogie man had gotten me and cried like a hysterical little girl.  My baby scolded me for screaming like that when I came upstairs with the little monster in the garbage bag. 

Later I went back down after my heart rate had gone down and I had convinced myself there was only one.  It was still clogged.  I had to turn off the AC to stop the drip of water into the drain.  I sucked it up some more, ready to run if any creatures surfaced.  I looked with a flashlight and imagined I saw little rodent feet.  I ran upstairs and called a plumber.  They said they were on their way.  I waited.  He cleared the clog and said there were just toys and pencils down there.  We all stared at the little guy - he gave us a solid, "It wasn't me look."  I breathed a sigh of relief and now have decided to believe it was a toy mouse in that drain, not a real mouse - although I have heard on the news that mice and rats are coming up into people's basements all over town because of the 14 inches of rain we have had recently.

Today my impulse is to clean, to clean and organize and set out mouse traps in the basement (just in case), to rotate toys so we can have fun today even though we can't swim or ride bikes or go to the amusement park.

Did I mention my son has had seizures?  He doesn't have epilepsy, but has had at least one verifiable seizure - it happened right in front of me 18 months ago.  He has lost consciousness six times in his life.  They asked me the number at the hospital.  I counted.  Six.  That doesn't sound good.  He was cleared 18 months ago for normal activity except he can't go in water alone - he can't take a bath, only showers for the rest of his life. 

But the thing the doctor said, which I said to him last night, is this:  he gets good grades, he excels at school, he has great behavior, he's otherwise healthy, so he doesn't have a defective brain, just this thing where once every year or two he passes out and maybe has a seizure.  I pass out too and had a seizure once.  I had a very bad concussion once, which is a story for another day. 

So today I write because I need to get my story out and move on today. 

I feel bad for my son.  The neighborhood kids were convened outside for fun in the yard next door.  He had to rest.  He is being an amazingly good sport about it.  We looked up on the internet what a concussion is and why you need to rest.  We read about seizures and all the info from the hospital.  He knows he needs to take care of himself this week while his concussion heals even though it's game week at school.  He volunteered to sit on the bench for his soccer game on Tuesday to cheer on his friends since he can't play - he is banned from sports for a week.  Luckily, his school is wonderful and they will help him figure out a way to participate in the games at school without being active in them.  He said maybe he can be the ref for kickball on Friday. 

The thing that hurts us is the bike.  He can't ride his bike until neurology clears him.  I hope they have an opening soon.  And, yes, we have a bike helmet for him.

So I hope this day is better, that no more emergencies flare up, that nothing important breaks, that no one gets hurt, and that my son continues to feel better today.  I hope my husband is safe in Africa and remembers his sunscreen.

Last night before I got a good night's sleep, I prayed and I cried.  Today I pray too but with a smile on my face.  Today I think we are OK.