Festivus Lite

I have some minor general gripes that I'm hoping I can let go after writing them out.

1. We keep a just-in-case epi pen around for Nico even though he hasn't ever had a breathing reaction associated with his peanut allergy. Inevitably they expire and I throw them away and get more. The other day I was cleaning out the medicine bin in our cabinet looking for an extra inhaler for him and found a double pack of expired epi pens that I never even took out of the box. I get that it's a good thing to not have to use them and that it's better to have them in case we do ever need them, but it seems so colossally wasteful. I'd be even crankier if we didn't pay for them with vouchers from his allergist.

2. With Elliott starting preschool in the fall (WHUT? I know.) I figured it was time to find out what we're supposed to do about checking whether he also has a peanut sensitivity. I called the allergist's office a few weeks in advance of Nico's yearly checkup and they said for siblings they now recommend a skin test. I was able to book E for one on the same day as N's appointment, and we did that on Monday. Elliott was awesome for his test, even though I was an idiot and let them put the test drops on his soothing-fingers arm. There was something wrong with their solutions, though, and even the forced-positive histamine drop didn't cause a reaction. After waiting about 20 minutes for that test and having it fail to show anything, we ended up being sent to the lab for a finger-stick blood test instead. I'm not really upset about this because it wasn't anyone's fault that the first test failed, but I'm wondering why they didn't just do the finger-stick in the first place. With Nico they offered us a choice between doing the skin test first with a follow-up blood draw or just going straight for the blood draw. We picked option B because it just made more sense. Seems like that would've worked just as well this time, but I suppose I am not the expert.

3. There's a kid in Nico's class who is, unfortunately, kind of the regular problem child. I try really hard not to be a judgy asshole about him because he clearly has a speech delay and possibly some behavioral issues beyond just not being raised right. Because my own child makes terrible choices in school / camp friends, he hangs out with this kid all the time. Lately I'd been feeling a little soft toward Problem Classmate because he allegedly helped Nico learn to zip his jacket and has been less problem-y the last few times I volunteered in the classroom. But today the children had a really nice field trip to the local Philharmonic, and the Problem Classmate was spitting on kids from another school. I was sitting with two other moms from the class and we were all mortified. I'm shocked that our teacher didn't do anything since she's usually really stern with him, but maybe she didn't want to disrupt the group since all the adults were in the back and he was in the very front? I don't know. I nearly came out of my seat to yank him out of there myself, I was so outraged. Spitting on people! He did it again to a classmate in the bus line afterward and I grabbed him by his sleeve and yanked him out of line and told him his behavior was absolutely unacceptable. I'm sure in this day and age that would be considered overstepping but whatever. Neither of his parents were there and the teacher didn't see it and hell no, kid. Check yourself. I texted MB after the kids left on the bus and said that I felt mean thinking it, but I kind of hope this child isn't in Nico's class next year. I also realize I'm probably That Mom, but dude. No.

I'll bright-side for a moment - it was a really, really nice field trip. The children got to sit on the stage right in front of the musicians, and kids from one of the local ballet schools danced during the pieces. I'm pretty sure half the little girls lost their minds at this particular moment. I heard several breathlessly whisper, "She's a ballerina!" Bonus points if you can spot Nico in the front.

4. It's been rainy most of this week and now it's looking like it'll be rainy most of next week. I'm already tired of trying to re-book field trips at work and I'm going to be really irate if our camping weekend gets ruined. Weather, you're on notice!

5. I watched the video for Hozier's "Take Me to Church" even though I knew it would upset me. Why did I do this? Ugh. I still have a little bit of a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I love the song, but I wish I'd used common sense and just avoided the video. Here's a safe version for those who are smarter than I am:



Okay, let's see if I feel better tomorrow. I'm sick of walking around with this low-level crankiness. Please feel free to use the comment section for your own airing of grievances.