I just want my mommy

There are times that it is difficult to be anything but a mommy. Yesterday was one of those days. Annie had a rough night and woke up a few times complaining that her ear hurt. Because she has NEVER had an ear infection (or at least never been treated for one that didn't go away on her own) and because last year her doctor diagnosed her with "water on the ear" when she had similar kinds of ear pain,  I gave her some tylenol and sent her to school. I also went into the nurse and gave her some medication that Annie could use for pain relief throughout the day. I was just hoping to get through the day and get her in to see a doctor after I got in a few more hours of student teaching.

At about 9:00, Annie was sent to the nurse because she felt warm and she was complaining of ear pain. The nurse took her temperature and it was a little over 100. At that point, she couldn't go back to class and I was stuck not knowing whether I should be a bad mommy or a bad student teacher. I need to graduate in a few weeks - and that means I need to get in a certain number of hours - it's important - but so is my sick kid. My mentor teacher made the decision for me when she kicked me out of class and told me to go take care of Annie. Bless her heart.

We made an appointment with the doctor, she was diagnosed with her first ear infection (in the first grade!) after they burrowed a hole through a mountain of ear wax. They said it probably started as "water in the ear" and then moved on to heavy waxy buildup and an infection set in behind the wax. She's on antibiotics - she's staying "home" today with a friend.

It was one of those days I wished my mommy lived closer. I wished I could just call her up and tell her to pick up the girl and take care of her while I was being responsible. I wished I could be in two different places at once. I wished my husband had a better sick leave policy at work so he could take off and take some load off of me. I've never had more empathy for working mothers than I did yesterday. It's perfect when everything is perfect - but you put a wrench in the system when a child is sick.


I'm grateful for wonderful friends who have stepped up and offered to help. It's made things easier - although, I'm not under any illusions that this is going to be easy.