Judge Not...

Not gonna lie, I used to get so irritated at parents who brought their kids to daycare when they had a day off. I really never wanted to be that parent.  I was off today but had a lot of errands to run, one of which included taking three of our dogs to the vet for shots. As with my parenting skills, my dog training skills lack a little discipline and they tend to show out in public. But I decided to keep Madeline with me today rather than take her to daycare while I ran errands. I mean, I have one child, how hard could it be?  haha

Well, I almost drowned in my own sweat by the time I got the dogs loaded (and Madeline) after covering every inch of my interior with blankets to keep it from getting scratched or barfed on. (Phoebe gets carsick sometimes) By the time we got to the vet, I was frazzled but I managed to get them all in, get their shots, and get out without too much embarrassment. Madeline really was an angel, but got a little mad at me when I wouldn't let her take their copy of Cat Fancy home with us. At what age do kids understand, "Thou shalt not steal"?

So we took the dogs home, went to walmart, grabbed lunch, gas, filled up our 5 gallon water thing, and headed to my doctor's appointment on base. Yes, not only did I think I could take Madeline to the vet with all three dogs but why not let her come to the doctor too? Brilliant! I just had to have my TB test checked but it looked suspicious which involved a second opinion, measurements of the injection site, etc. Well, by the time we got out of there, I knew we were on the verge of total meltdown mode. She wanted to walk so I held her hand in the parking lot, and as I was putting my shot record (which is now worth a small fortune to me) in the front seat, she tried to run away from me while I was holding her hand. Somehow she twisted her arm and started screaming. 

Well, I kinda thought she was being dramatic so I put her in her seat where she proceeded to get more upset. She had her arm across her chest with her wrist flexed and wouldn't move it. So I pulled over to look at it but it seemed ok. She kept crying and about halfway had worked herself up so bad that she vomited. I got her home, cleaned up, and she still wouldn't move it. After an hour, I called the pediatrician who said go to the ER and get an x-ray. So I got Madeline ready, put my shoes on, and as I went to get her to put her in the car she was turning pages in one of her books with the injured arm. So I decided to leave it alone and she has been just fine all night. Seriously, what age do they start faking things? She's too young, right? I am still perplexed about the arm thing today.

This is the lesson I learned today: Moms who take their kids to daycare when they have horrifically boring and difficult errands to run are SMART. I am not.