I was right

I took Dwight to the doctor and as I suspected, both ears are severely blocked by fluid.  The doctor put him on antibiotics, zyrtec (continued), singulair and gave him nasonex to use if it did not start to get better.

He is still not hearing well at all, so we will start the nasonex today.  I had his teacher move his seat so that he can be near to where she stands.  He told me that when they had their initial spell check at the start of the week, one of the spelling words was "eagle" and he thought she said "evil."  Who knows how much information he has missed.

I hope it gets better soon.

What to do...

My 10 year old can't hear.  At least I think he can't.  A few weeks ago he told me his ears were stuffy.  They didn't hurt, except maybe a little now and then, but for the most part, it was just annoying him.  I gave him zyrtec and sudafed and after a few days, it got better.

Lately, though, he is not hearing well.  He noticed it and told me about it, but he says it's fine now.  I can't ignore the fact, though, that when I talk to him he does not hear me the first time.  Could it be selective hearing?  Maybe, but I don't think so.  He isn't that sort of kid.  He doesn't space out or tune me out.

He says he's fine.  He does not want to go to the doctor.  This is a kid who had four sets of tympanostomy tubes and had his adenoids removed.  He is afraid of having to have more surgery.  I've told him that is highly unlikely, given his age, but he still doesn't want to go to the doctor.  He insists he is fine.  I am pretty sure he is not fine, though.

He's a worrier, that's for sure.  So, I haven't told him yet, but he will be going to the doctor on Monday afternoon.  I've been giving him Zyrtec and Sudafed for a week and he still doesn't hear me or mis-hears me.  For instance, the 3 older boys are watching a movie right now and I said, from about 10 feet away, "Is this a good movie, guys?"  And Dwight answered, "I'm fine, Mom."  Hmmm.

We'll see what the doctor says.  I think he got so used to ear pain from having so many infections, he doesn't even realize when he has one now.

Private Parts- keeping the lines of communication open

Sometimes my husband's absence is more glaring than others.  Last night was one of those nights.  I walked into my bedroom, having settled the three year old in his bed.  I found the three older boys sitting on my bed, talking about Pokemon.

I walked over to the bed and the conversation took a turn...  to the uncomfortable side...

6 1/2 year old- "Mom why do private parts sometimes stick out...  like mine is now?"

12 1/2 year old- "Oh, that's called an erection."

10 year old- "Isn't it an irection?"

12 1/2 year old- "No, it's erection, or sometimes people call it a boner."

6 1/2 year old- "a boner?"

10 year old- "Yep."

12 1/2 year old- "Cause it's like there's a bone in it."

10 year old- "What if it snaps?"

39 year old mom- "You have to make sure that doesn't happen."

10 year old- "But what if it does?"

39 year old mom- "Sweetheart, you just have to make sure it doesn't because that is a very serious injury...  OK, everyone into bed now.  It's reading time."

6 1/2 year old- "Mom, when will it go away, it's very uncomfortable."

39 year old mom- "Soon, sweet pea, soon.  Let's brush your teeth and you'll probably forget all about it."

And thank heaven for small favors, he did.

It's times like these that the temporary long-term absence of my husband is more obvious.  Of course, when I sent him an email to tell him to get himself home so HE could deal with this conversation, rather than I, he said, "that's ok, you go ahead."

I've been the facts of life teacher in the family ever since the first question surfaced 3+ years ago.  I don't shy away from it because I'd rather they get the information from me than from classmates.  After last night's conversation, though, I am reminded that they get information from their peers no matter what.  It just makes it more clear that my input is very important and I have to ensure they get the facts at home before they get them at school.

I bought a book back when the questions first came up.  It is called, It's So Amazing.  It is a great resource for kids to get questions answered about everything from the basics of reproduction to HIV, sexual abuses and more.  I highly recommend it.  The creators of It's So Amazing also wrote the book It's Perfectly Normal for pre-adolescent kids.  That will be my next purchase. 

It would be easy to cower from these topics while my husband is deployed, but the truth is, the more open I am and the more information they get from me, the more comfortable they will be talking about these important issues with me.

Clearly, when they are throwing the B word around with me in the room, it is a sign they feel at ease talking with me.  It's important now, but it's even more important when they are teenagers.  I'm happy the lines of communication are open.

It's not always easy to talk about the birds and the bees with our kids, but parenting isn't easy, you just have to buck up and do it!