Almost Over the Edge

OK - I am almost over the edge today. After trying like mad to fall asleep last night - I finally left the two tornadoes asleep in one room. I was just drifting off to sleep in my own bed when I heard a big bonk and a little one crying. Of course, the older one sleeps like a out of control clock (round and round the bed with arms and legs splayed out like clock hands) and pushed the younger one off. After crying for 15 minutes (him, not me-although I was crying on the inside), I laid down beside him and finally drifted off to sleep. I think it was about 4am. This morning's rush to school allowed no time for the pre-drop-off coffee, so I waved bleary eyed to the boys and made my way to the drive-thru for the magic elixir of life.

Work was a challenge today - non-stop - craziness, but nothing compares to trying to manage the kids. Around 4pm, I rushed home to pick up the kids early to take them to the doctor for a check up on their ears, nose and throat. It seems like they have constant sore throats and runny noses. As well, I needed a physical assessment of my little one because he is due to have dental surgery tomorrow. I loaded the kids into the car and left the house in such a hurry that I had forgotten to pee. As benign as this seems, I had just guzzled a bottle of water and an XL coffee.

And - of course - I thought I knew where I was going - but I was sadly mistaken. As it happened, my family doctor was out of town and after calling every pediatric clinic in Toronto, I found one willing to see them - but it might as well have been in Neverland. After driving to the wrong part of town and frantically eying Google Maps on my eye phone, I realized that I was about 40 KM away from the clinic. At that moment, I think I felt my eyeballs start to float. Cursing the bottle of water and eying the clock, I turned around to head north toward the clinic.

What a waste of a trip. The only good thing was the clean washroom. Honestly, I am more disappointed in western medicine every day. As soon as my 5 year old senses that he is near a doctor or a dentist, he bursts into melodramatic tears. Tonight was no different. He watched as the doc examined his brother - tears streaming down his face---sobs beginning to get uncontrollable. When it was his turn, the crying had finally subsided a bit. The doctor turned to me after listening to his chest and said, 'perhaps he has fever - look how red his eyes are?' My inner Monique almost kicked him in the ass for being so stupid. Like the typical North American doctor, he thinks of the body as a bunch of disconnected parts. He then scribbled out some prescriptions, including Predisone. I was mortified. I can't believe that a doctor would prescribe Predisone for a comon cold or allergies (there was no real diagnosis from the 'doc'.) And the REAL reason I trekked half way around the globe (GTA) to get the doctor to okay him for dental surgery (which required a pulse, blood pressure and weight check) was annulled. The doctor proclaimed him much too sick for dental surgery. Are you kidding me? ARRGH. I loaded the kids into the car and we were off in search of food.

The older one was demanding dinner at Montana's because he loves steak. The younger one declared that only ribs would do for him. After Googling Montana's and discovering it was in the wrong direction, I set off toward home - confident that we would eventually see something similar. St. Louis Ribs appeared out of nowhere and was my savior. We ate like the three little pigs because it was 9pm by that time. Yes - that worthless expedition took FIVE hours. FIVE. FIVE. FIVE. 5 Hours. Arrgh!

Exhausted and fed-up, I called the 'after hours' number of the dentist's office to inform them that we might have a problem. After several calls between the dentist and the anesthesiologist, we decided to tempt fate and proceed. So at 11:00 EST tomorrow (Friday), put in your ear plugs, because I suspect that the little drama king will be on center stage.