I’ve wanted to blog the past several days, but things suddenly got hectic.

Mom called Wednesday night with the news of her impending release on Saturday. So much for talking with the social worker before they let her out. So much for the list of affordable apartment complexes as well. Not that it really matters because I think she’d pull another freakout if she moved into an apartment. I have a feeling she’d have a repeat of her “move” to assisted living.

Peanut started running a low grade fever while home with Hubby on Thursday. It spiked to 103 at 4:30 am Friday when Hubby got up for work. We loaded him up with Motrin and I shuffled out to the kitchen to call the direct line to my boss’s voicemail. After an hour or so, Peanut and I got back to sleep. I hemmed and hawed and finally called the ped’s office in the afternoon. They decided to see him given his history of ear infections and strep. He had a MAJOR freakout at the doctor’s office. I had to hold him on the scale and the measuring device. He refused the oral thermometer, so he got stuck with a rectal one. (Amid screams of “No bummy! No my bum! I want Daddy!”) Once the nurse left, he begged to leave and said something about his bum. He was slimy from lube and insisted on having it wiped. Many repeats of “My bum slimy.” When the doctor came in, he had a freakout take 2 and was noncompliant with everything. He clamped both hands over his mouth and wouldn’t let her look in. His ears were fine and she ended up having to do a throat swab since he wouldn’t open/hold still for her to look. It took 3 of us to hold him down long enough for her to shove the swab in. It was negative, of course.

I continued alternating Motrin and Tylenol until bedtime when Peanut’s temp spiked to 104 - on Tylenol. Hubby and I got scared and he called the ped’s office. The on-call nurse was wonderful (on-call is handled by nearby Big City Children’s Hospital) and said to go ahead with Motrin, ditch the Tylenol and hang tight unless fever went up to 105. Motrin and a damp washcloth to the forehead worked, and Peanut’s temp went down to 102-103. We got some fitful sleep.

By morning, his fever was low again, so I held off on medicating him. We picked up Mom, got lunch, ran a few errands so she could pick up some stuff, then Peanut and I took a 3 hour nap. Bliss. Mom informed me she has painful edema on one leg and foot. The mental hospital staff were aware of it, but somehow the LPN never got around to seeing Mom. They told her to go to the ER if it got worse, otherwise to see her doctor as soon as she could. Thanks for the excellent medical care.

Hubby and I didn’t f*ck around and gave Peanut pre-emptive Motrin at bedtime. His temp had crept back up around 101 and we didn’t want a repeat of the previous night.

Hubby came home early on Sunday to burn up some overtime and we tried to get a nap with Peanut who talked, thrashed, bounced, sat up, and was otherwise very annoying for an hour until we gave up and put him in his room. Screaming/crying ensued and Mom started in on me. I told her to please not mess with our parenting.

“Let me go get him. He’s miserable.”

“No, Mom, we told him if he wouldn’t sleep in our bed he needed to go to his bed. He’s sick and needs a nap.”

“Well, he really should sleep in his own bed.”

“Yes, Mom, I know. But this is what we go through when we put him in his bed.”

She called around about some mobile homes and the owner of one place came to get her so she could see it. Hubby and I were too pooped to take her. It’s also in one of the worst parts of town, is very cheap, and we have a feeling it’s not the place for her. The super-low price doesn’t give a feeling of confidence in its structural integrity. She bugged us all evening to go see it. We compromised by driving her around to a couple of parks closer to our house. One is in the county, so we’re not sure if she can get transportation. The other is in the city limits, so she could definitely get transportation, but she wrote if off as “too expensive” without seeing any prices. I wrote several phone numbers down just in case. She’s all gung ho over a shithole in crank central, but won’t make any effort over a decent park that’s convenient to us, her pharmacy, and the bus.

Peanut fell asleep in the car, so Hubby stopped to feel his forehead. Just to make sure he wasn’t burning up. Mom got all on his shit “Can’t you just let him sleep?” Peanut didn’t even flinch. Gah, 36 hours and it’s started already…I’m sick of the freakin’ comments second-guessing our parenting skills.

Hubby has Mom at the doc's now. I hope the swelling isn't anything serious.