we were made for the beach life

I'm about to discuss a whole week of life in one post so settle in and buckle up.

Last Thursday night Annabelle starting exhibiting signs (namely screaming) of a UTI. The next day I kept her home from art camp and brought her to walk-in hours at the doctors. He said he doubted she had an infection but if I wanted, I could take her down to the hospital for a test. I disagreed with his diagnose but he's the one who went to medical school. My degree is only from Web MD. He wrote a prescription for an antibiotic just in case.

We had never been at the hospital so of course, we didn't know where to go. The man behind the registration desk was not one for chit-chat about the weather or our weekend plans. I was reading the paperwork upsidedown as he highlighted the lines to sign and saw a word I didn't recognize. "Aminor." I thought it was a French word. Perhaps is was pronounced ahhh-me-nor. Then he turned the paper around and I saw that it said "a minor" as in "I am signing for a minor." WHY AM I IN CHARGE OF A CHILD WHEN I DON'T UNDERSTAND ENGLISH.

When we got to the lab bathroom, AB had the most epic meltdown about not wanting to pee. I wouldn't want to either but she had to do it. I could not convince her to pee. She was crying and screaming and tears were pouring down her face. The nurses said we could leave and bring the pee back later. Sesame skipped out of the hospital as if we had just had a leisurely stroll through a garden center. A few hours later she peed in her pullup. She had several accidents since the night before so I put a pullup on for while we were out and forgot to take it off. How was I supposed to squeeze pee out of a pullup? She must have sensed my frustration (or maybe heard it when I said I was very frustrated) because she pulled out the little potty and went. So back we went to the hospital with a cup of pee. Several things then went wrong at the library and Walgreens so I rewarded us with munchkins and coffee. Eating my feelings since 1989.

Saturday we packed for our long awaited trip to Florida. I planned for us to leave early Sunday morning. We woke up that night not once, not twice but four times to the sound of Annabelle throwing up. The antibiotic was not gentle on her little stomach and she was so miserable. She lay on the couch all morning barely speaking which is how you know when she's sick. I felt nauseous too but I couldn't tell if it was because I felt been cleaning up vomit or because the stomach bug was about to bite. Thankfully she perked up by the evening thanks to zofran so I planned to try leaving the next morning. I packed a trash bag with towels, paper towels, changes of clothes and a cleaner. It was not my first rodeo. I've traveled with a vomiting child before. 

The doctor called the next morning to say she did indeed have an infection. What a surprise! I knew it. My Web MD degree is valid after all. He called in a different prescription so armed with the new prescription and zofran we set off. No one threw up or had accidents. 

"I think I look pretty fabulous. You do too, Mom."

We had the best time. We grew up so far from Grandma Connie that we only saw her once a year at most. This time we had her to ourselves for three afternoons and evenings. She is hilarious. She knows everyone in her retirement park and is the life of the party. We drove her golf cart up and down the streets stopping at her friends' homes. Most of them are widows or widowers so much of the talk is about who likes who or who wants to be asked out by who. Grandma is happily dating Charlie from four doors down so she isn't looking for anyone, as she frequently points out. She is part of Weight Watchers but doesn't diet on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday because she has standing plans with her friends and wants to eat what they're eating. 

In the morning while she was at work went to the pool or the beach. This is the first summer that AB will wear a lifejacket and float around on her own. What a game changer. I can float around on my noodle and not have her glued to my hip. A new swimming day has dawned. 

It's important to wear proper floation on land.