Yesterday I found myself in the Pediatrician's Office.  We were a pathetic sight.  Chloe came home from school Thursday afternoon and told me she felt like her bones were made of broken wood.  True story.  Having just gotten over a nasty bugger of a cold, I braced myself for a new round of nursing.  Friday morning she woke up and seemed to be feeling a bit better, but I kept her home from school anyway.  During the day she seemed okay, but each night around 2:00 AM she would come in our room complaining of considerable ear pain.  Sunday, I thought she was over the worst of it.  But by evening time, she was a mess.  Her eye was half shut, puffy and pink.  Her ear was hurting.  She could hardly speak out of hoarseness.  She was quite a sight.  She handed me a pile of handwritten notes, both pathetic and hilarious.  

"I am sad! read this note. 

I can't talk to well.

I am sad.

I am lonly.

I am sick.

Stay away from me!

I don't (want) you to get sick too.

I want to be good now!

I don't want to wait!

I want people to sit by me!

I wish I could touch people!

people don't want to sit by me! I'm sick!

I am sad.

it is the sicknesses falt!

I wish I was good!

I wish I was not SICK!"

Well the next morning, we ended up in the Doctor's office.  Like I said, we were a pathetic sight.  Chloe managed to accidentally give Macie a rope burn on her neck during the car ride over there, by pulling off some stupid lanyard Macie was wearing around her neck. So Macie was icing her injury and red faced from 15 minutes of crying and bemoaning the tragedies of her life, and Chloe sat dejectedly on the exam table when the Doctor entered the room.  So it turns out Chloe has an ear infection and pink eye, no surprise there, and she checked for strep throat just for good measure.  Now Chloe has never had the privilege of experiencing a strep throat test, and was taken quite by surprise by the discomfort of having a 10 inch cotton swab forced down her throat.  I on the other hand, remember very well the discomfort ( having a Doctor for a Dad and thus a recipient of frequent strep tests).  And that is when it hit me.  Delirium from 4 nights (and if we are counting Oscar, 6 months) of less than ideal sleep, sympathy for my suffering kids, and also the hilarity of the sight of them, I burst into a very strange fit of both laughing and crying.

The rest of the day turned out better. That is, after the broken jar of pickle relish was cleaned up off the floor and after I found my cell phone, which I was convinced for 3 hours was lost at the Doctors office, but actually was lost in my car.