Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus

...and evidently that stands out at day one.

Anabelle got a fever over the weekend. On Saturday night she woke up in the middle of the night and called out. I didn't even hear it, Tyson ran to her rescue and then told me the next morning she was running a fever, so he gave her a shot of Tylenol and she flipped over and went back to sleep, then slept in Sunday morning. When she came out, she was happy as can be with the exception of a snot trickle. We got my parents to watch her so we wouldn't infect the whole Sunday school class at church (see, I do have discretion!), and by the end of the day we figured she was as good as new aside from the green monster leaking out of her brain here and there.

On Monday (see previous blog entry) I went back and forth on whether she could go to school, but since she was happy and begging to go and snot free for the first couple hours of the morning, I sent her. Before I sent the kids off, I noticed Dawson's finger had become infected from a splinter I tried to remove on Friday but apparently had not successfully done so.

I bribed him with a ring pop I found stashed in the cupboard leftover from Halloween so he would be a trooper and sit still so I could drain the wound and get what was left of it before he developed gangrene and CPS showed up on my doorstep. Of course to make it fair, I had another sucker stashed and I allowed Dawson to offer it to his sister so she wouldn't feel left out at the end of the ordeal. I told them they could have one lick before school, but save the most of it for when they got home after lunch. They both eagerly ripped off the package and ran for the kitchen table where they sat side by side arguing about whose was bigger (that's what she said, but STAY WITH ME), and out of the corner of my eye I watched Dawson lean over and take a giant slurp off Anabelle's ring.

NOOOOOOooooooooo!

The damage was done, Dawson broke into a fever exactly 12 hours later. His version of the same exact illness was... well, lets just say I'm tempted to buy a long term care policy for my toddler boy.

Tyson went in to cover him up before we went to sleep after 10pm like he does every night. He had just crawled into bed and turned out the light when a godawful screech came from his bedroom. We ran down the hall with our ears bleeding all over the carpet and the glass shattering out of the windows, and sure enough... let it be heard, oh quiet village of Atascadero!

Dawson now has a matching low grade fever.

We got him Tylenol. We got him water. We closed his closet door, assured him there was no 'buzzing sound' in his brain (he says this every night), changed him into cooler jamies, found all 3 blankets he can't sleep without, turned the bathroom and hall light back on... and finally went back to bed.

He woke up again here and there just to let us know he was still uncomfortable in his own special way until about 2am, when I finally wised up and gave him some 'sleepy cough syrup' along with his second dose of Tylenol. And then he decided to get a good night's sleep.

Unfortunately, about that time Anabelle started to get restless. She heard me rummaging around in the bathroom to get the humidifier and sat up in bed. She asked for the special breathing machine so she could feel better. I told her no, that it was Dawson's turn because now he was sick (because of your stuuuuupid lollipop, brat! ha ha) but NO, apparently karma was rearing its ugly head at me for something horrible I must have done at some point... she kept insisting she "needed it! BUT ITS MIIINE!!"

Finally I went back to bed... and she followed me. She always tries for his side of the bed first because 1. I was smart enough to request the side furthest from the door when we delegated sleeping arrangements for that very reason and 2. he is a HUGE sucker and almost always lets her. But this time, I was awake and pointed out that she was going to breathe snot germs in his face all night... this seemed to make sense to Sargent softy, and he put her back.

THEN she started crying. I knew something was wrong, because she NEVER does this. I went in to negotiate, and she started saying how something was in her ear. Uhhhh-oh. Infection.

I propped her up and made her comfortable, more drugs... but she kept tossing and turning in her room, I could hear that she was restless and not asleep tho she stayed in bed crying out every so often until about 5:30am when it was time for me to wake up and she drifted peacefully back to dreamland.

Oh, sleepless nights! How I despise thee.

I called and scheduled a doctor appointment first thing yesterday for Anabelle, just in case she had the infection I suspected. I almost cancelled it when she woke up and acted like I was crazy when I asked her how she was feeling. She said her ear didn't hurt anymore. I thought I'd be safe and send her anyways, and my wonderful Mom took her in for me.

For Dawson, I assumed he could lay low for the morning, hang out in his jammies, and watch TV in his room (we have a small one in the guest bedroom that we move on special occasions, like when he is sick and we don't want the whole house infected!).

He woke up fever free, but I told him we were having a quiet day, he could stay in his jammies if he wanted (he loves this) and watch movies and color in bed.

He lit up like he won the lottery jackpot. He quickly rattled off his demand of movies, coloring books, activities he would like to try from bed (cars, play dough, Legos... ugh), and then asked me ... are you ready?!?!?...

"... and where's that special tray with the tractors on it?" (I bought one of those 'homework stands' at the kid thrift store last summer, its never been used).

"Could you bring me my breakfast in my bed on that tray, please?"

Meanwhile, Anabelle comes home with a 'raging ear infection' and an enormous dose of antibiotics, while Dawson sprints thru the house at the speed of light all day long terrorizing innocent citizens, and then insisting he is 'sick' and so he needs" ______."

All I can say is... although Venus is a WAY better sick patient, funny how despite the fact that its alien territory and I'll never understand the science of it all, in some way its nice to know Mars depends on me so much. And my universe would not be complete without both of them in it.