Bigger is not always better

Yesterday my husband and I took the kids to a hotel to play in the pool...you know, take a break from the salt water ocean. This pool had three waterslides. The smallest one was only six feet long and was in a shaded, cooler part of the pool. Immediately Chloe and Sam were testing it out. They loved it. They started out going slowly, nearly coming to a stop at the bottom before plopping their bodes into the water at the end. Niether could touch but hteir handy dandy water wings were doing their job and keeping them afloat. The current from the waterslide would drag them away from the stairs so one of the adults would have to "save" them and redirect to the stairs so that they could repeat. This went on for a while...I dont know how long but my lips were turning blue.
I got out of the water to warm up in the sunshine nera by. The kids walked past me hurriedly to go down over and over and each time they went by me I would ask, "Want to go down the big slide?" They would say, "No. Little slide." I even tried rephrasing and asking if they wanted to go down the medium slide. Still "No" was the answer. I sounded like a broken record after asking the water babies the twentieth time...the woman next to me warming in the sun probably thought I sounded like a broken record after only fiver repititions but she politely held her tongue.
Then I asked myself, Why? Why was I trying to pursuade them to go down the bigger slide when they were having the time of their lives on the little one. What pushes me to do that? I still don't know the answer but I can say that even by just asking myself that question, I was able to slow down and enjoy the little slide and join my now blue and shivering husband back in the shaded end of the pool with a big silly smile!

Lead Poisoning

I could have titled this post so many other things but lead poisoning kind of stuck out. A month ago Chloe had her 4 year well baby check. The intake form asked all sorts of questions about her development and included questions about life's possible stresses. We have had all sorts of stresses with the move, new jobs, new relatives etc and I actually started to feel self concious as I was checking "yes" so many times instead of the safe answer "no". One question asked if we lived in a home older than 1978 and if we were worried about lead poisoning. I answered "no" even though I didn't know how old our surf shack was...everything in Hawaii seems like it is from the 1950's.
Back to the current month, Chloe has been complaining of stomach aches. I have tried all of the normal remedies but she still complains. She also has started chewing on soft toys, shirts, blankets, etc. I finally looked up the symptoms on line...even though I try and tell my own patients not to do this. Lead poisoning popped up.
Did I fail to mention that Chloe has been peeling the 2009 paint off of her walls in her bedroom during quiet time and time outs?
So, we just returned from the lab where Chloe had a blood draw. She did well but mad did I feel guilty. I am trying to keep the guilt feeling out while we wait for the results of the labs but it is hard not to let your brain go to scary places.
Scary places was the other title I was thinking of using.

Ohhh Nuts!

I have been a migraine sufferer for 8 years. Prior to that I do remember getting a headache when I was too wound up or had too much on my plate but I had always chalked those up to tension. Just recently I was able to visit my family and had a wonderful sit down dinner with my sister in law. During the meal she asks, "So are you allergic to peanuts too? Every time your brother eats peanuts, he gets a headache."
"WHAT!"
That minute I quit eating peanuts...it has been 5 weeks and I haven't had a headache. I am beside myself with joy. I have tried to figure these headaches out for years, removing all the normal migraine related foods from my diet like aged cheeses, chocolate, and red wine. I need to clarify the whole "removal" from my diet. I only removed them for a short while since it didn't seem to make a difference and because I REALLY like dark chocolate.
I really like peanut butter and hadn't realized how much I consumed...it was in my trail mix, granola bars, sandwiches that I would grab on the fly as I was headed out the door to work...etc. It has been difficult to give it up but extremely worth it. My quality of life has increased and I am so grateful for my sister in law. Leave it to the girl in the family to link us all together!!