We made it to the other side! Of spring football season, of my first stake speaking assignment, of Alice fully transitioning to a long one-nap sleep schedule. And on the other side we found . . . our family's first ear infection! We're focusing on gratitude that in our kids' combined 8 years of life, this is the first ear infection. I'm also big-time grateful this week for the perk of Jared being able to call in prescriptions for our family instead of having to jump through the hoops of making an appointment, waiting for the appointment, dragging my kids there, paying for the visit, and waiting for the prescription to be called in. It feels really good to be on the other side of that long decade of medical training.
The ear infection hit Jack hard last night. Right as I was getting into bed Jack let out a deathly scream from his room and had woken up in agony. Jared went in there as I finished calendaring all the school performances we'd need to be at this week, and tried to comfort him. Got him some medicine. Determined that the problem was an ear infection. But then he just left him in there screaming and went back to bed? He must not have realized the extent of the issue and thought it was a "bad dream, he'll calm down and fall back asleep on his own in a minute" type of situation. That was not the situation. Poor kid was in so much pain. I ended up spending the night on his bottom bunk and getting him medicine and warm compresses as he woke up screaming in pain every 2 hours all night long.
Frankly I'd be justified in feeling annoyed at Jared opting out of the night care, leaving Jack screaming and assuming I'd just take care of it after a week of me staying up late working on my talk, but (a) I think he truly believed Jack would settle down and sleep through the night, and (b) these days Jared is usually the default night-care parent if Alice wakes up in the night. She gets more worked up when I go to her at night and calms down more quickly when Jared goes to her. He is very sweet with her during her sleep disturbances. It's true that there is more work involved with two kids than one, but there is something satisfying about being able to cut the load in half pretty evenly with two kids in situations like this (Jared taking Alice's night wakings last week, me taking Jack's). Doesn't always work out that way but looking back we've been pretty good at ebbing and flowing over the years when the parenting night-shift load needs needs adjusting (when Jared was in residency I handled most of Jack's night wakings, when I was pregnant Jared handled them, when I was breastfeeding I handled nearly all of Alice's, now we split the kids' wakings pretty evenly). It isn't always an equal split, but it feels fair and has worked for us. That was a random tangent I didn't intend to go on, but I've been listening to the "Fair Play" audiobook this week so it's top of mind.
Anyway, Jared looked in Jack's ear this morning with his otoscope and was taken aback by just how bad it looked. "Definitely a middle ear infection--not a 'wait and see' situation. I'll send in for antibiotics immediately," he said. SO satisfying to hear. I kept Jack home from school since he was still writhing in agony. And now we cross our fingers that the antibiotics will make quick work of this infection because we've got a Kindergarten spring program to be at tomorrow evening!
Can't end this post without touching on the highlights of our weekend. Jack had the "best Saturday ever!" It was his final flag football game of the season. He scored two really incredible touchdowns in the pouring rain. Then his team had an end-of-season party at his school's park. And then he went to a birthday party all afternoon. I gave a talk on "Finding Personal Peace" Sunday and it went really well. It was a timely topic for me and I loved collecting insight from loved ones to add to the talk. I'm finally starting to hit my stride in this calling. There is actually a LOT required of it (monthly ministering in different wards, semi-frequent stake speaking assignments, teaching training meetings and planning/executing several large activities during the year. I'll be honest and admit that sometimes I feel really weighed down by it, but when I do the elephant approach and take it one bite at a time it's ok. Definitely a lot for the stage of life when I have young kids at home, but I don't feel like it's going to drag me under anymore (famous last words).
Anyway, here are some pictures from our week:
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