An Adventure with 'Roids

Jack man.  Love that guy.  Wouldn't change a thing about him...character, charm, energy, silly-willy-ness.  But, alas, the trying threes have arrived.

Threes have always proved to be more challenging to me than twos.  The twos in my house really weren't all that terrible.  There was an occasional tantrum, some inevitable "no!!"s shouted, but really, the episodes were pretty time-limited as I found that the kids were easily manipulated and/or distracted.

With the age of three comes a switch of the lightbulb in the three-year-old brain---a dawning of the realization "I can actually push this lady to see how far she will go,"  "She has buttons--pressable ones--that work to my advantage,"  and "Hey, I have stamina...and I bet I can hold out longer than she can....let's give it a try.  After all, that candy in the cupboard is worth it."

As far as boys go, Jack is a pretty sensitive guy, but in the last month or so, his 'tude has really grown.  Gone are the days of "But I want to be a good boy mommy," and here are the days of flailing on the floor at Lowe's, precisely at the moment that a judgemental older woman passes by, peeking at me over her spectacles with that "can't you possibly control your behaviorally challenged child" look. 

The past ten days...ten loooooonnnng days.. a new element was added. 

Roids.

As in steroids.

Jack snores like an old man.  A loud old man.  With a megaphone. 

It's an I-can-hear-you-through-the-wall kind of loud. 

So, long story short, he was sent to ENT to find out that he has huge adenoids and somewhat large tonsils.  The adenoids definitely need to come out, but the ENT doc thinks the tonsils will shrink enough with a steroid and antibiotics to avoid surgery.  Thus....10 days of roids. 

Wow.  I knew that steroids have many side effects, but under the influence of steroids, Jack grew a new head with long horns...pointy ones.  It has been like 10 long days of sleep deprivation combined with caffeine overdose, teething, an earache and sugar overload all at once with a P.S. of an appetite the size of a whale. 

There were moments on Thursday when Livvy and I stood outside on the sidewalk at K4J and Yo-Yo-Berri finally just laughing as we really thought his head was going to start spinning around and hurtle right off of his shoulders.  I have never seen him so desperately out-of-sorts.  And if a 3-year-old ain't happy....ain't nobody going to be happy.  Especially momma.

And here, "Seriously, Jen???" brain kicks in....

...because there are moms out there who would read this and sigh, thinking, "You have no idea.  That is a drop in the bucket." 

And I don't have any idea.  I don't know what it is like to have a child on mega-doses of steroids or other potent medications for chronic conditions or as a part of their cancer treatment. Medications that flip daily life on its backside for as long as it takes to make it better in the long run. 

I can only imagine how much bravery and tenacity it takes.

So...to Lily, a most beautiful and spunky 1st grader fighting leukemia, and her mom, Susie, both of whom I admire from afar... you have no idea how much you are heroes to those around you!  Godspeed to you, beautiful girl.  You inspire me.