Musings of a Michigan Mom

Can I just say it’s nice having someone it the medical field in your extended family when you are a first time parent you have little ones.  I can’t tell you the number of times my sister-in-law has saved us from taking our kids into the doctor by having some of the medical equipment on hand so she could look in their ears to let us know that no, they dont’ have an ear infection or by listening to their breathing to let us know that it doesn’t sound like bronchitis or pneumonia.   It makes me think maybe I should of done gone in the medical field like that too, but since I have a hard time with the sight of blood I still don’t think that would of been the perfect fit of a job for me.   I still am glad I chose the route I did as staying home, watching the kids grow up brings me so much joy!  (Unless they are in their crabby moods and are fighting)

I never noticed it until my sister pointed it out, but it seems to be a common thing in our immediate family to have dark circle under our eyes.   Here I thought it was only me that had it, but looking at pictures she does and so does our kids.  (Although I don’t notice it all the time)   It has me wondering for Christmas I could look at getting (as a prank) some eye cream for dark circles.  I would think she would know it’s a joke since my kids & I tend to have them too.  Now it’s just a matter of remembering come Christmas time.

I’m thinking before to long we will be bringing another family member into our household.   No, we aren’t adopting or having another baby.. instead I’m thinking it’s time we get a furry family member! 

In Kevin’s class this week they were talking about responsibility and out of 23 kids, 14 of them are responsible for feeding their pets.   I couldn’t help but think of how I had pets when I was the kids age and since we won’t be going South next year, maybe now would be a good time to get one because I’m sure before to long both kids will be busy with life and the new member I’m thinking about getting only lives about 2-3 years anyways. 

So what am I thinking about getting them?!?   Are you sitting down.. a pet RAT!  Before you say GROSS, I honestly think they are the best pet around!  Maybe I’m partial since I did have a couple when I was a kid.  At first I we had cats, but then after they died we switched over to the rats and between the two, I would pick a rat hands down.  Cats seem to just go do their own thing, while Rats will interact with you a lot more, plus one of them I had would love to sit on my lap while I watched tv and let me pet her.

The bonus thing about them is even though it’s best that you have 2 at a time (they need companionship) their toys to play with and pet beds don’t take up a lot of room!  I did read that you shouldn’t put them in an aquarium and that’s what I used to have mine in, so I’m going to end up doing more research to see what kind of “house” we should get for them. 

All I know is I’m excited to get one!  I think they will make a great addition to our house, even though I don’t think Paul thinks so.

I look at my kids and I can’t believe how big they are getting.  Then I look at my nephew and I can’t believe how big he is getting either!  I’ll never forget  holding him in my arms, when he got a little older taking him to the school next door and playing on the playground with him, taking him shopping with me… doing all that fun stuff.   

How much our lives have changed.  Now he’s teaching me how to do things on the computer, beating me in chess, looking down at me as he is now taller than me and of course now he’s caring a little bit more on his appearance (not that he didn’t before) but is now cleaning his face with an acne wash and having fun (as much as a boy can) clothes shopping.

Before I know it he will be taking drivers ed and instead of me taking him shopping he will be able to take me shopping!  (That’s if he isn’t embarrassed of driving around his aunt)   What’s scary is to thing not to long after that my boy will be doing the same thing!  YIKES!

Do you ever have something that you like to go to the store and find out they no longer carry it?  That has happened not only once to my Mom, but twice!  First it was the phisoderm face wash.  She liked it because a lot of face washes tend to try out her skin, but this one was that she found that didn’t.  Her face actually felt clean after using it.

Then it was the Bakers Joy spray.  I’ll never forget her complaining how she couldn’t find it at any of the local grocery stores anymore to of had me go to Save-A-Lot last year and saw a big selection of it.  She ended up stocking up because the employee said that it was just a seasonal item.  We never did figure that one out because don’t people bake all year long, not just during the holiday’s?    Now this season when we went to stock up on more, the no longer carried it as well.   So I guess when we go south this year, that is one thing I should look for as that might be a good present for my Mom.  At least I know she would like it.

Here I had been having crazy weeks back to back and was hoping this past week would of been back to normal.  Unfortunately that didn’t happen as Monday I ended up calling my parents to find out my parents were both sick and my Dad wasn’t doing good at all as he was in tons of pain in his stomach area.  It felt like gas, but tums & alkaizer wasn’t touching it.   I told them if they needed anything to give me a call as the kids and I were going to go out to Holland to see if I could find Kevin a pair of boots.

While at the mall I ended up calling my parents just to see how they were doing and found out Dad was doing so bad he said he needed to get to urgent care.  So I grabbed the kids as dropped them off at my in-laws (they live a 1/2 mile from our house) and then rushed over to my parents so I could take my Dad in as there was no way my Mom could as she was feeling awful too.

We get to the urgent care and we lucked out that they got us back right away, but found out there was nothing they could do as he would need to get some cat scans done and the ER has much better equipment than they do so they told me to take my Dad in.  Once they discharged us there I hurried to Spectrum Downtown (aka Butterworth) and as soon as we got there Dad got rolled into a room.  (The Urgent Care and called ahead to give them a heads up)   Since my Dad got back to a room in the ER so fast I had a feeling things were going to go good.   That’s where I should of known better.  As my Dad sat there in pain, it seemed like it took forever for someone to come in and help.  Finally when they did, it would be for a minute and then we would have to sit and wait some more.  

I just don’t understand why it takes so long to get anything done there.  Here they are the biggest hospital in the Grand Rapids area, they have the best medical equipment around as if some of the other smaller hospital’s around can’t do something, they always will send their patients here. 

Sometimes I wonder if that’s why things go so slow there.  Yes, they may have all the best equipment, but they also are the biggest so they also get more patients and yes, people do go to the ER for a cold.. I heard it first hand.

After taking Paul to Zeeland’s ER on Thanksgiving and then taking my Dad into the Spectrum Downtown’s ER last Monday, I now know which ER I would go to if I needed to go to one.  Paul was out in 4 hours… it took my Dad 8 hours just to get admitted!   That’s a LONG wait when you’re feeling yucky and they say they will put a tube up your nose and down into your stomach so you can feel some relief, but they can’t do it until you get to your room.  Maybe it wouldn’t of been so bad had a nurse of come in even once an hour to see how you’re doing.   Sometimes the only reason one came was because I had to hunt them down because my Dad needed more pain meds.

So next time you have to go to the ER, just remember not always done bigger mean better.  (or at least with our hospital’s)

If you live in Michigan near a Celebration Cinema and have kids 12 & under than I have the deal for you! Celebration Cinema is once again having their Flick’s Family Film Festival! In case you’ve never been to one of them before, kids 12 & under are FREE, while adults are just $2.50!

Their schedule is as follows:

Oct 2-Oct 8 Aliens in the Attic
Oct 9-Oct 15 Night of the Museum
Oct 16-Oct 22 Monsters vs Aliens
Oct 23-Oct 29 Ice Age 3
Oct 30-Nov 5 Harry Potter

If you would like to find out where the nearest Celebration Cinema is that is closest to your house, you can just click here.

Today is Paul’s day off of work and since he’s still sleeping I’m debating on what we could do today. The weather here in west Michigan is quite dreary where it looks and feels like it could start raining at anytime. I know I have to help Kevin with homework yet that’s due tomorrow, but what I’m also thinking of is heading to the zoo once Paul wakes up.

My theory is since kids are back in school and it is dreary out maybe, just maybe it won’t be busy and we will have it pretty much all to ourselves! Plus then we can make sure we got our money’s worth out of the family membership we had bought this year.

What are some of the things you do with your kids when you really don’t feel like sitting home all day?

A year ago my sister was walking down the stairs at her house and ended up tripping and landed squarely on the outside of her ankle.  She was in so much pain and had an x-ray taken and all they saw was an  old fracture so they thought it was just a bad sprain.

Since then there are times where her foot didn’t hurt at all, but then out of the blue she would be in so much pain.  She ended up seeing a chiropractor and that didn’t work so was sent on to a podiatrist and when he looked at her new x-rays he saw was the issue.  She had chipped her bone and every time that chip floated around her foot would throb. 

So last Monday she ended up having surgery done to remove the chip.  Apparently it was the size of the doctors thumb nail!  YIKES!   Thankfully the surgery went good, the only downer for her is that she was bed ridden this past week and if you knew her she is not one to just sit around.   

Now the tricky part for her will be to take a shower/bath without getting her foot wet.  I know she has been looking online for bathroom safety products in hopes of finding something that would help her sit in the shower/tub and not get her foot wet.  

All I know is she is counting her days down to when she can get that cast off and can walk normal again!