And I Came Home To?.......

I have started tutoring with a company after school. At first, in mid-December I was working Tues and Thurs. I would leave the house at 2:30 and return around 5. Now I am tutoring Mon-Thurs. It has been a nice change of pace. I enjoy the time away from home and working with kids who are struggling in school. I have kids in grade K and grade 1. I don't think I am quite ready to go back teaching full-time but with tutoring I can still help kids who really need it and give them extra attention. I only work with a small group of 3 or 4 each day. 2 kids can work on the computer portion of the curriculum and then I work with just one or two teaching basic phonics and reading skills.

My leaving in the afternoon has been a big change for Colby and me though. Mike comes home from work to be with him and they get dinner ready. However, Colby has also decided to cause a fuss over nap time. Naptime was from 1-3. I have started to put him down around 12:30 so he would be up when I leave. I think Colby gets scared when Mike or I leave when he is asleep. I really have to explain at naptime that Daddy will be back after "sleep" and then Mommy will go "Teach boys ABCs". This little discussion seems to help but there are some days when COlby just can't seem to settle down. So, this leads into yesterday.

Both Colby and I have been fighting colds. I think Mike was sick first and got us sick. So, Colby was a little whiny in the morning. I thought he would go right down but nope. He went to bed great but then wouldn't stay. Thus began the up and down battle that we fight most nights and many naptimes. Mike came home to this and saw me frustrated. I hate leaving when it is like that. So I let Colby up but told him no playing with trains because he didn't sleep. And off I went to tutot. I had a parent late picking up their child so I was home a little bit later than usual on a Tuesday.

When I got home I heard the crying and just knew things hadn't improved. I opened the door to Mike yelling, "Watch your step!" Watch my step? What was going on? Then I smelled it and saw it. The poor little guy threw up all over the kitchen and was now in the bathroom. Everything was a mess. He needed to be changed and so did Mike! The story was he cried and fuzzed so much that Mike put him back to bed and he slept for about 45 min and then Mike was holding him on the rocking chair when it came. Yuck! I HATE that smell. Our night didn't get much better. I changed Colby, only to have to do it about 4 more times. We tried some water but nope. Nothing stayed. And he hasn't eaten much today either. On the plus side he is very clingy and wants to be held. But that isn't really how I want to get my hugs. He doesn't seem to have a fever, he isn't warm. I can't find a good thermometer but by touch he seems ok. He was very pale yesterday and part of today but his cheeks have some color back now. Hopefully it was a 24 hour thing and we are over it. But boy did I want to walk right back out that door.

Well, I knew we would have days like that. Thankfully we have been home almost a year and this was Colby's first really illness. He seems to have great health. He had a fever shortly after we came home but that I think was due to teething, all four molars popped out. My poor little guy. I hate to see him sick but thankfully he's looking much better now.