Just Another Day with the Ingrams

We have had a very eventful day.

It started by my waking at 522am, which has been the norm for the last 2 weeks, and it has not all been the mouse's fault. I think God wants me to pray, so I do.

Then we Skyped with Joe, which was distracting enough for me to still be in my p.j.s at 715am, when I had to leave the house at 745am for the kids' appointments.

I took all 3 kids in for the annual sports physicals and it turns out that Chloe needed 4 shots. She knew she needed one, not four. Chloe is my professional shot taker, took allergy shots for 3 years, never cried, never whined, even as a baby. So today she was sitting there and I could tell she was letting her brain freak out, so I reminded her that it hurts like a pinch, but she'll be fine, and when they asked if she wanted two at a time, I said, 'Yes, get them over with." They gave her the first two and one was the tetanus, which is horrific and she said, "Oww, owww, oww," and as she was lamenting the first set, the second set went in. Throughout the process, she was still except for saying, "Ow," but I knew something was wrong as soon as she said it. Her voice was changed, her skin was getting pale, and so I walked in front of her to calm her down. No sooner had I gotten there than her entire little body locked up, went sheet-white, and started shaking as she went backwards. She literally fainted in a locked position. The nurse lowered her down and as soon as her body was level, she came too and said, "Mommy, I passed out again" and then started to pass out again.

From experience (Colorado), I know that passing out is a terrible feeling. You have no control over your body, but you literally feel yourself getting pulled down. It is difficult to explain and just plain bad to experience. I started talking in her ear, telling her to breathe, being very calm, and the nurses started running around to find vital sign equipment. Her blood pressure was really low, her pulse was very low, and she was still just as white as a sheet. She was only 'out' for seconds, and I kept her looking at me as they hooked her up. They wheeled her to the 'check them out' room and hooked her up to oxygen while they tilted the bed so that her head was lower than her feet. I must say, as a mother, there is nothing scarier than watching the pass-out process. This is the second time this child has done this. I know I passed out once when the docs were drawing my blood. I think I was around 14 and had no idea why my body was slumping. I could tell Chloe felt the same way. She was literally fighting it the whole way down. The docs said it's the whole nervous system response to 'fight or flight.' It has a fancy term that I could look up online and then pretend that I remembered, but I'm too tired to do that. All I know is that her body flew the coop when it got nervous. I could tell she was back to normal (or, as Josh said, she's back to weird!) when she started making jokes. I sat her up, put her shoes on, and asked the nurse to unhook her.

By then we were all really hungry. That's never a good thing in our house. People get cranky when they're hungry, and by 'people' I mean ME.

I ran our errands on base, the few that I could get accomplished, so my list was left only partially accomplished and anyone who knows me knows that irritates me. I like my PLANS! :) I came home to teach piano, which went well. We went to tennis, which went really well, but the kids somehow managed to jerk on the car door's handle enough that it got stuck in the locked position. I couldn't get it to release, so we had to drive home with the door ajar, with Caylea holding it to keep it from flying open. I have done everything I know to do, along with Joe's suggestions, and the thing won't release, so I'm going to pray that my Mom reads this all the way to the bottom and tells me how to fix it. Otherwise I'll have to call the auto shop tomorrow and see if they can help.

Now I am over-tired, grumpy, and in desperate need of a bed before German lessons tomorrow and the big home school sale. They've asked me to sit on a panel of 'experienced home school moms that will be transparent and not put themselves on a pedestal.' They asked the right girl. I don't own pedestals, I don't mind saying what I think, and I usually say something silly enough to put everyone at ease so they'll stop taking themselves so seriously. What does the education of your children matter if you don't have a good relationship with them? Yes, they need to be able to read, write, and do math. More importantly, they need to know how to love and be loved...giggles included.