January 2013
FIVE-YEAR OLD THREATENED WITH SUSPENSION FOR MAKING GUN OUT OF LEGOS
This is what happens when common sense is thrown out the window and paranoia takes over. The Massachusetts daycare teacher needs to grow up and so does Barnstable School Superintendent Mary Czajkowski.
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CONJUNCTIVITIS IS HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS
Got a call from daycare today saying to come pick up the boy. 15 months into his life and Conor gets pinkeye. It's medical name is conjunctivitis so I like pinkeye better. Sounds less…permanent. It's highly contagious and schools don't like it.
What exactly is conjunctivitis? It's a virus (or bacteria) that causes inflammation of the clear membrane that covers the white part of your eye.
How is it spread? Conjunctivitis is passed from one person to the next after the infected person rubs their eyes then touches another person or touches something that the next person then touches. That's really the only way you can spread pinkeye. It turns your eyes red for about 4 days and makes them really itchy. Like having sand in your eyes. It makes my eyes hurt just writing this. It usually goes away on its own but it's still important to see a doctor because there are side effects that can occur with untreated conjunctivitis and you don't want that to happen.
We took Conor to the doctor within 2 hours of the school notifying us. A common secondary condition that can occur with pinkeye is an ear infection. So the doctor checked Conor's ears and sure enough, he had an ear infection. So now we have a mild antibiotic for his ears and eye drops for his eyes. Giviing a baby eye drops is like telling an elephant to tiptoe through a petunia patch; it ain't gonna happen. The trick is to give him eye drops while his eyes are still closed in a horizontal position and when he opens his eyes, the liquid runs into the eyes and it feels good and you're a hero. Bam!
CONOR JUST ROCKED HIMSELF TO SLEEP ON HIS ROCKING HORSE
Conor was having the best time on his wooden rocking horse for about 20 minutes this morning. But after awhile, I saw that he would rest his chin on the horse's head, and when the rocking would slow down he'd sit up and get the horse to rocking again. At first, I thought he was resting and just enjoying the ride. Then I got closer when I saw that his posture wasn't right. I noticed his eyes were closed and his breathing was heavy. He was sleeping. I gently lifted him off the horse and took him to his crib where he curled up in a ball and continued to sleep. I tried to use my iPhone to record the event but as usual, it had run out of battery juice.
THE SIMPLIST OF THINGS CAN BE A REAL PLEASURE
OUR SON IS SHOWING NO SIGNS OF SHYNESS
It was cold today in Boston and Conor needed to run around so we took him to Natick Mall where they have a little kids indoor playground. After he got tired out, we visited the Yogibo store, Yogibos are like the bean bag equivalent of 1978. Except cooler. When we arrived, there were a few girls trying out the Yogibos and having a good time. Conor, not having a shy bone in his body, inserted himself into the middle of their conversation and somehow made the meeting about him. I dug around the internet to see if this was a normal attribute in kids and it's not necessarily so. There are in fact, shy kids and it's usually hereditary if they exhibit signs at an early age. There is a stage of infant development called 'stranger anxiety' and it doesn't last very long in the development process. And Conor has shown signs of it at times but after he sized up the situations, he ran into them head first.