Graceful Parenting in Austin

The past 24 hours have felt like the show 24.

Jack Bauer is on his cell phone.

“Carol. What is going on?”

“Jack, you are the only one who can help. Don’t ask why. I need you to get children’s Benadryl and adult Maloxx and meet me at my house. There may be someone already there. Be careful…”

Technorati Tags: babies, child safety, laundry, parenting

All right, maybe there weren’t any nuclear threats or crashes of Air Force One. And maybe Jack Bauer was really my sister-in-law. And maybe the person already in my house was our maid and I had left the back door open for her. But the Benedryl and Maloxx is real. This is what the doctor said to mix together and give to Baby Girl to soothe the cut in her throat.

Baby Girl was crying when I picked her up from day care and she wouldn’t stop crying. I took her to the doctor and they found a cut in her throat. She had put something in her mouth that had a rough edge. Baby Girl kept crying and crying and crying. I panicked, because I didn’t understand how this could have happened and then I started crying and crying and crying too.

My mind jumped to child abuse because that is the hysteria, that is what happens everywhere, all the time, if you believe the TV. I asked the doctor what happened. She said Baby Girl is teething, so she put something in her mouth that she shouldn’t have. It was an accident.

But the day care didn’t say anything about an accident. Which was worse? That they knew something happened and didn’t tell me, or that they weren’t watching when something happened? Was I wrong to leave her in day care? I needed to quit my job. I was definitely going to quit my job. I can’t leave her somewhere where they have accidents. I will watch her myself, every minute, and never have an accident.

Blue Eyes is out of town, so my sister-in-law helped me with Baby Girl and calmed me down. I love my family. Baby Girl was less upset and we took turns holding her. She was able to eat and she even played a little.

I called the owner of the day care and told her what happened. She was sad and worried. She didn’t remember any event, just that Baby Girl started crying. She called me back a half hour later. She took everything out of Baby Girl’s crib, she went through all the toys, she cleaned the whole house, looking for what Baby Girl might have put in her mouth. She found a toy corn-on-the-cob with a rough edge on it. She wanted me to look at it in the morning to see what I thought, if this might have been it. She was very sorry for this toy being in her house. She was worried about Baby Girl and asked how she was doing.

Baby Girl took her night bottle and fell asleep. She slept soundly through the night.

Baby Girl was still fussy the next day, so I kept her home with me. The doctor said the day before that besides the throat, she still had an ear infection. We were already on our third antibiotic for the same infection and there were infections before this one. Since Baby Girl and I were home, I moved up her appointment with the ear doctor and he told us what I already knew. Baby Girl needed ear tubes. We set a date for surgery. March 20. I wished Blue Eyes was with us.

Baby Girl woke up from her nap just in time for my appointment with Adult Protective Services (APS) and Helen. I had called APS about Helen earlier in the day and expected the government to spend some time with the paperwork, but instead a case worker called back and asked if I could meet him at her house. “When?” I asked. “Today.” he said. I can’t fit this whole story in this post. I will post about it in a few days.

Then there was getting some work done, folding the laundry and heating up left over pizza for dinner.

It was 5:30 and Baby Girl had just gone down for a nap. I thought what I wanted most was a long hot shower. Then I remembered. The night before, the hot water handle in the shower broke. We only have one shower in the house. With all that happened today, I forgot to call the plumber. I called them just in time before they closed. They said they will come the next day.

After a cold shower, I’m ready for bed. Baby Girl has been asleep for a while and all is well in the house. This season of 24 is over, for now. The good news is that it doesn’t usually feel like this, not very often anymore. It is easier to handle it when I’m not handling it all the time. And when next season comes around, I’ll be ready again.