Halala Mama

Ismael:  What year were you born?

Me: 1970

Ismael: What day?

Me: Whhhhyyyyy??? ::eyeing the computer suspciously::

Ismael: Just nothing. I just ask.

Me:  You never just ask… what are you doing.

Ismael: Nothing ::pecking away at the computer::  What grade you teach? Fourth?

Me: For the love of God, what are you dooooing?

Ismael:  Sixth?  I’ll put sixth.

Me: ISMAEL WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

a looong silence.

Ismael:  Signing you up to teach in Africa.  You get a free ticket.

Me: And malaria.

……

And now a picture of my sleeping child.  Hopefully this will distract you from the fact that I have been on a bloggy vacation because work AND blogging? When your work isn’t blogging?  Nearly impossible.

Ismael gives me a hard time about everything I ever ask him to do.  It’s his favorite source of amusement.

A few barky coughs from Adam signaling the onset of croup changes everything.

“Change his diaper, while I get the Motrin ready just in case he gets a fever.”  Done.

“Please go get the pack and play from the car so that he can sleep in our room.”  Done.

“Sit with him so I can get it set up.”  Done.

I look at Ismael’s face and I see my own fear mirrored in his expression.  We don’t say it, but we both know.  The beginning of illness is when Adam is most at risk for seizure.  Because he’s had two now, it’s likely that there are more in our future before he outgrows them.  The sudden onset of fever may or may not trigger one.   We have no way of knowing.

The febrile seizures, though terrifying, are not  likely to be fatal.  We have the medicine to stop one once it starts.  We are good at calling 911.  We are trained and know what to do if one happens.

Though it is a fearful night for us, I can’t help but think of those whose children have serious conditions from which they may not recover.  I am able to find some gratitude that our issues are so relatively minor.

By far, the biggest change in our lives so far this 2010 was the decision that Ismael would not go back to driving a taxi.  The company he drove for did not cover his medical expenses when he was hit by an uninsured driver.  Thankfully, the accident was minor, while the bills were not, and we determined that it was simply too much of a risk.

So he is job hunting… in this economy…and it sucks.  There is no other way to put it.

He has cobbled together some temporary assignments to get us through until he finds something full time and more suitable.  The current assignment has him working from 7 AM to 3:30 PM.

The same hours as me.

For the first time in YEARS we are on the same schedule!

Which means, HOLY MOSES I no longer have the house to myself in the evenings but someone else actually does live there…hmmmmm.

Though I long for the security of a full time permanent position with benefits for him, I am finding aspects of this new life to rejoice about along with the struggles of sharing a television with someone who wants to watch nothing other than 24/7 coverage of the Haiti earthquake.

Something that has been difficult to manage is that Adam now goes to the babysitter all day.  Working different hours meant that Adam had the luxury of sleeping as long as he needed and wanted every day, sometimes up to 13-14 hours a night.  Now I have to wake him by 6 AM in order to have him dressed, fed, and out the door so that I can get to school on time.

After a week of adjustment, he doesn’t seem to mind.