New for Me!

I reached my milestone for me today: I took Aidan with me to my private practice.

Yesterday, as I was getting dinner ready, Aidan was just sort of blah. He complained about his tummy, he complained about his legs hurting, he just complained. Then he only ate 1 bowl of my fried rice, and since I was also given the fact that he napped at school (something he had given up long ago), I thought, "All these facts do not bode well for me."

Still, Hubby and I, via phone conference, decided that Aidan is a big, strong bloke, and probably would be fine in the am.

That, he was not. I heard him go to the bathroom around 6 am, then I heard him cough...until he started to whimper about 6:45. Upon using my trusty thermometer (my hand), it was obvious that this child would be staying home, with a fever. Oh dear.

Hubby was out of town (will be home late, late, this evening), and I had no backup care. I could call my FIL and see if he happened to be free, but then I looked this poor chap, and thought, of course he rather be with me. I let him choose, come with me to my office, sit in his own little office (really, a roomy toy closet) for three hours, or ask Grandpa to come over and keep him company for three hours. He chose to go to the office.

With the plans set, we took Zoe to school- might as well keep her on her routine, and away from the germ mobile. We went to Trader Joe's and got Aidan some orange juice and some other essentials, picked up my shoes from the cobbler, and hung low.

We packed up everything I thought he might need, a picnic lunch (nearly crumb free, to keep my clean up to a minimum- his lunch included string cheese, grapes, a few shrimp chips, a soy corn dog, and some orange juice in a sippy cup.) We took Hubby's sleeping bag, his lovey, his blanket, 14 books, lots of papers and pens, and I counted on that he would play with some other toys in the closet. (There is this toy closet because there are a few therapists there who work with children via play therapy.)

I got him all set up, and laid down the rules.
1. Only knock on Mommy's door if there is blood or if a dragon shows up.
2. I will check on him every 50 minutes in between patients.
3. Play with these toys one set at a time.

We prayed (I had been praying ALL morning, "Dear God, let this work. Have mercy, have mercy, have mercy...")

Between 12-1, he did great. He ate his lunch, really neatly, and played.
At 1:50, he was half asleep, I thought, "Fantastic, just like I had hoped. Maybe he will sleep for another hour.
At 2:30, I heard this cry, and I thought, "Whose baby is that? Why is there a baby crying?" Then it occurred to me, AIDAN is crying. I excused myself and went to investigate. Turned out, someone needed to get stuff out of the closet and Aidan was startled awake and sort of freaked. I hugged him, gave him my watch as a token of me, and had to go, and he kept asking, "Can you come back in one minute?" Very SAD!
At 2:45, a colleague knocked on the door and said, "Your son is crying." Granted, he was sobbing to himself very quietly. I excused myself once again, and brought him to the door, so he sat outside the door while I finished with my 2 pm patient.

My patient (a new patient no less...) reassured me that this was not a problem and he understood. I felt SO bad, for Aidan, and for this patient. But alas, he was very eager to make a return appointment, and Aidan was very eager to see me and all was well between us, especially after I said that he worked really hard for those three hours and he should get paid. His salary for the day? $10. Two weeks worth of allowance.

(BTW, with his allowance, he has his eyes set on the AT-AP Walker from Lego, which is about $90. The child, with his 10% compounding (monthly) interest rate has about $60! Pretty amazing how long he has been able to hang on to his greenbacks.)

Anyway, Zoe is now happily asleep (I hope she is not getting sick). Aidan skipped dinner and went to bed at 5 pm- I guess he will eat later? How much later, I wonder?

There is a high likelihood that Aidan will need to stay home again. Thankfully, Hubby will be home, and he can cover for me between 1-4 pm, my hours that are already booked in my private practice. As for my salaried position, I will just have to take some sick time. Ah, the beauty of working for the government.