Good Lord.
O.K…….I had a long, long day at work. Got home a little after 7:00 and as I walked up to the house Owen flung the front door open and stood there with his arms spread wide and a huge grin. I walked in and hugged him tight, telling him that I had never had such a great welcome (which was the truth) but he immediately shook his head and said, "tonight you have to care more about Leo than me." Mind you I was tired so my response was, "huh?" He nodded urgently and again said, "tonight you have to care more about Leo than me" and as I stared at him Ernie came down the stairs and said that Leo didn’t feel well. OHHHHHH, now I get it.
I went upstairs and found Leo with huge,wet brown eyes huddled under his blanket with his guys (SpongeBob, Woodstock and Mr. Frog). He said his left side hurt, right above his hip. We talked for awhile and I got him to read a book for a bit. I kind of figured it was just gas pains or something like that so I wasn’t terribly worried. Went downstairs, collapsed and looked forward to a well-I’m-sorry-he’s-sick-but-at-least-one-kid-is-quieter-than-two evening. A little while later Owen went up to check on Leo and reported back that he was sleeping. The three of us sat down to watch a Gilmore Girls and were peacefully enjoying it when all of a sudden I heard Leo crying. Found him sobbing with pain. Now I gotta say…..Leo NEVER complains about physical ailments—in fact he generally refuses to admit to any—-so this was WAY out of character. We finally called the patient advisory nurse while I googled madly (stupid I know) and she asked a couple of questions and said if it went on for another hour then we should bring him in. Suffice to say….it did. Part of me thought he was probably o.k. but it’s hard to stay convinced when you have a sobbing child in your arms. He screamed and screamed as Ernie carried him out to the car. I went back in the media room and sat next to Owen who had fallen asleep through all this and clutched the phone. About half an hour later I heard footsteps on the porch and in they marched. Evidently when they pulled up to the emergency room Leo was busy reading the signs and admonishing Ernie for parking in the wrong spot. When Ernie queried him he admitted to feeling better. As we all stood there in the living room, Leo clutched his blanket around his shoulders and said, "I feel better
but I may need to sleep late in the morning because it’s so late." By
this time it was somewhere around 11:00 p.m. so I just said, "sure
sweetie" and off to bed he went.
I stared at Ernie and we started giggling. I poured him a glass of red wine and a healthy one for myself. Once several years ago—-I bet Leo was only three or four—-this happened. Ernie (because Leo always wants Daddy at times like that) went so far as to sign him into the emergency room when as they sat there all of a sudden a long, slow fart emanated from my sweet baby. Suddenly the tears stopped and Ernie looked at him and said, "do you feel better?" and Leo nodded with a slightly embarrassed grin. They managed to get out of the place before having to pay the $200 co-payment.
and what WOULD be so wrong with a quiet evening?
I guess I have a lot to look forward to as my daughter gets older. The fart thing is hilarious as, let’s face it, most farts are.
You know anytime either one of the kids complains of pain in the gut or an upset tummy, I always ask if they need to go to the bathroom. Maybe you need to start asking that of Leo.