UGH

Have you ever disliked someone that you work with so much that every time you see them you want to throw a stapler at their head? Or something equally as heavy? Like a monitor. Or a PC.... nah, couldn't get a whole lot of air throwing a PC.

Fun Updates!

Well, it's been an interesting couple of weeks here at the Duncan house. Not really interesting, just a little busy. Will had tubes put in his ears last Wednesday, and so far it seems as though his ears are finally back to normal! Just as we got really good at holding him down to put the eardrops in his ears? It's all over. I'm supposed to see some dramatic change in his behavior, but he's generally a happy kid so he's pretty much the same. Minus the occasional tantrums because I won't let him OD on Flintstone vitamins.

Speaking of tantrums, the little shit threw the mother of all tantrums yesterday morning. He's really not a morning person, so when I went into his room at about 7am to wake him up, he really wasn't happy. It's all the routine, so I pick him up, give him his cup of milk and lay him down to change his diaper. He immediately starts screaming out for DADA! DADA! (He's been super obsessed with Chris lately.) Chris had already left for work, so there's the first thing that pissed him off. THEN he still has to have his diaper changed. Pissed. Then he won't let me get him dressed for daycare. Then I won't let him go downstairs to play until he and I are both dressed. What does all of that equal? Furious baby.

I turn Sesame Street on and go about my morning, ignoring the screaming, writhing child who claims to be mine. 10 minutes later I'm ready and I hold him down to get him dressed. and FINALLY I'm ready to go downstairs. At this point? He doesn't care anymore, he just wants to be difficult. I drag him downstairs and try to get some breakfast in him. He eats a few cheerios but is mainly just in a really bad mood. Finally, I've had enough. I bend down so that I'm eye level with him and say "Will, you are being ridiculous. If I were a stay at home mom, today would be the day that I would drop you off at daycare." What does the little shit do? Says "EH" and throws his milk at me. Nice. Sometimes I am happy to have a job.

This morning was much easier. Chris and I both woke him up, and the whole morning he was this incredible dream child. We fed each other cheerios and shared yogurt, then picked flowers and played with Jenny. (Before the bitch ate another pair of his nail clippers. Stupid dog! She chewed all of the plastic from around the metal clippers. How annoying!)

I have to get a video of this, but Will has been doing something really cute recently and we finally figured out today where he got it from. For the past week, he'd walk over to one of us, bend down at his knees, then jump up and throw his hands up like he's trying to touch the ceiling. Then he'd start laughing and do it again. And again. And again. Finally realized today, that at daycare the snacks are stored on shelves that are *just* out of reach for most of the girls, so they have to jump up to grab them. It really is hilarious, I'll try to get it on video soon!

Oh Will!!!

So, most of you probably (might) know that Will has had this persistent little ear infection since ... DECEMBER. We have just started on our 5th antibiotic, but I am losing hope. We saw an ENT today, who is strongly recommending tubes. I think that we're going to do it. If I'm this sick of having a sick baby, I can only imagine how Will is feeling about the whole thing!

I have been researching this for the past week or two, along with alternatives. When I was about 18 months old, I went through the same thing. My pediatrician wanted tubes to be a very very last resort, but recommended that my parents take me to an ENT to get an opinion. Of course, the ENT wanted to put tubes in my ears. The Ped told my parents that he didn't think that tubes were necessary, that ENTs always go immediately for the tubes because it's very lucrative, and that we should see a different ENT. We saw that one, same thing. My Dr. told him that he wanted him to lance my ears first and see if that worked before we went the tube route. Apparently, that pissed the ENT off, so he ended up lancing my ears right then without any anesthesia. (Talk about pissed parents, they still get all worked up just talking about it) But it worked! Never really had problems after that.

The problem with a myringotomy (lancing the eardrum) is that it is a very temporary solution. They make a tiny incision in the eardrum to relieve pressure from the fluid buildup. (According to Wikipedia) The difference is that, instead of then sticking an itty bitty tube in that incision to keep it open and allow ventilation, you leave it as is and then in a few days the incision heals. My first thought was to request this only because we're getting into the warmer (okay, okay, HOTTER) months where we're less likely to have ear infections, so a temporary solution makes sense.

Of course, seeing the ENT made me all the more confused. I was fully prepared for the tube talk, and this doctor totally knew a sucker when he saw one. We weighed both options, and decided to sleep on it. BUT in the meantime, Will has started his 5th round of antibiotics. He's back on Augmentin which was the one that totally tore up his poor tush last time. That was the one that helped us discover the confusing mess that is a little boy's yeast infection. WHAT? Yes, for 2 days we thought that he had a really awful diaper rash. Turns out? Yeast infection. Surprise! On his butt! You know what you use for it? Athlete's foot cream. Good to know. You'd better believe that I tucked that little golden nugget of info away for next time he gets fire butt. As if I needed to be any more confused about his nether regions...

Anyway, so after talking to other parents whose children have had tubes, it really does seem like the best option. (Like I said. Sucker.) But, I can't keep making this poor kid miserable on more antibiotics, plus right now he really needs for his ears to be well since he's starting to talk more and develop language skills.

Questions About Staying at Home

The more Chris and I talk about me staying at home, the more questions I come up with. My main concern (and this is probably going to sound stupid) is that I'm worried that the balance that I have worked so hard to create will be gone. Right now, since we both are contributing financially, I feel like I have more freedom to go out, to insist that Chris do things with Will, etc.. I am afraid that I'm giving up this power since he'll be the breadwinner. Does anyone have any thoughts/suggestions on this? Am I just being silly? I know that staying at home is a job in itself, but has anyone had issues with this?

Also, how do you work out the financial aspect of staying at home? Does husband give you a certain allowance/budget for your own personal use, or do you just spend as you see fit and hope that it all balances out in the end? Chris' Dad gives his stepmom an allowance per month since he didn't want her to work, and she uses it for a cleaning lady. That always made me laugh! Of course, she doesn't have just any cleaning lady, no no no. She has a "domestic" who basically deep cleans the house with a toothbrush and a razor blade. She's like the MacGyver of cleaning ladies... insane.

We're thinking about selling my car (I know, we JUST got it in September) and buying a small car for Chris to take to work, and I'd drive his monster SUV. Not my ideal situation, but it would help with expenses a little. Getting rid of my $500/month car payment in lieu of something much smaller seems ideal, but I really really love my car! It's the perfect size and everything! Keeping mine and selling his is also an option, but we use his for traveling since it's so much bigger. I don't know that I'd want to make the 8 hour car drives to PTown or NOLA in my Highlander... Grrr... Although, if he gets this big promotion, then it might not even be a discussion that we'd really have to have....

Also, when it comes to cleaning, etc, do you have a schedule? Like, laundry/dusting on Mon, Wed, Fri and vaccuming/bathrooms on Tues/Thurs kind of thing?

Any info that anyone can give me would be GREATLY appreciated. Also, I'm really looking forward to exercising during the day. I totally need a jogging stroller, and I need to find a way to convince Femme to come to the park with us. It really is fun! Really! Will doesn't have any friends there yet, but he loves the slides and loves to hang out in the soccer field and stalk dogs. He likes to run up to them, yell "WOOF WOOF! DOG! WOOF WOOF!" and try to pet them and love on them. He's really used to Jenny. His new favorite thing is to lay his blankie on top of her and then lay down on her to cuddle. She tolerates it, she's a good dog. It sort of makes up for all of the toys and pacifiers that she's eaten. And the snacks that she's taken from him. What can I say, she's a lab. It's what they do. She's usually really good about not taking his snacks, she just stalks him until he drops them. (Which he always does) But sometimes she just can't take it anymore. He really does taunt her. He pretends to break off a tiny piece and offer it to her, then he runs away. So what is her solution? Knock the kid down and steal his snack. Bitch.

Anyway, any suggestions and advice would be fantastic! Maybe I'll start a ticker to countdown until the end of June...