Global Warming? Nah, You're Just Standing Too Close to My Kid

I was home yesterday with Ainsley instead of working one of the five extended employment days I have to get in before July 1. It's one of the little-known facts about being a school librarian; most of us work longer calendars because of all the ordering, paperwork, inventory, and cleanup we need to do and can't do when we have kids and teachers needing us during the school year. Yesterday was supposed to have been the first of my five, and I look forward to getting them over with because when they're done, I'm done.

But when I tucked Ains in night before last, she felt done. Not like finished, but like...done. Like a Thanksgiving turkey. I swear, touching that kid's forehead was like touching the front of my oven when I'm baking some Pilsbury break-and-bake cookies (hey, I spare no effort.) She'd had a cough for a couple of days but was fine when we put her in bed. But by midnight, she had spiked a fever over 102 and had cheeks the color of a Coke can.

The last time she ran a fever this high, it was strep. She's not particularly fever-prone; the only other times she runs them are with an ear or sinus infection. So I had reason to be worried and to make arrangements to stay home and take her to the doctor.

The rest of the night and next morning I tried to bring her fever down, but it didn't respond to Tylenol or cold cloths. I got her an appointment and just knew I'd be coming home with an antibiotic.

As fate would have it, the fever started coming down as I was getting her groomed for her appointment. By the time the nurse came in to take her temperature, she was normal. So I looked like a bit of an idiot.

They "tickled" her throat to do a rapid strep (seriously, why do they tell them they're going to "tickle" their throat with the swab? Let's be honest and say, "We're going to scrape your sore throat with two rough cotton sticks and make you gag for a half hour." Either way, my little one is going to freak out, so they might as well tell the truth.) To my surprise, it was negative. And her ears looked good. And her sinuses were clear. And her breathing was fine. So it's just a nasty virus that's going around, and doc says she could run a high fever off and on for 4 or 5 days, and that she will probably keep the cough for a while. And since Ains has asthma, she may have some wheezing and just feel generally awful for a while. It's going to be a great weekend, methinks.

Her mamaw is home with her today while I get one of my days in. She told me she wanted her mamaw, not her mommy or daddy, because "Mamaw will give me treats." That is my mom's way; give 'em chocolate and Coke and scratch their backs and they'll feel fine soon enough. Which may explain why my older sister still likes my mom to come take care of her when she's sick.

The downside of mom watching Ains is that mom has older-adult farsightedness but, unlike most people whose eyes have gotten bad with age, my mom won't ever wear reading glasses. She still does the hold-your-arm-out-until-it-reaches-Albequerque thing when she needs to read something. So when Ainsley needs her Tylenol or Sudafed, I have to run home and give it to her lest mom misread the medication label. Sigh.

At least when it's lunch time Ainsley will be able to warm up her soup by merely standing next to it.