Pneumonia, Pills and Parent/Teacher Interviews

So, somehow January is over and we're nearing the half-way mark of this shortest/longest month of the year.

I think winter has finally hit our part of the world. We've had a little bit of snow and some very cold days, with more in the forecast.

We've spent the better part of this week bunkered in. After being back and forth to the doctor for a bad cough several times, each time coming home with different medications to try out, The Bean was diagnosed with Pneumonia. He finished his antibiotics this morning and was back to school for just the one day this week as tomorrow is the first day of a four day weekend. Of course, now Sprout is coughing, but I'm hoping it doesn't develop into anything. She's also all but given up her mid-day nap, which is another thing all together, but to continue the theme from my last post: Tired Mama.

Thankfully before kid-sickness hit in full force I was able to get myself in for a few long-overdue doctor's appointments. One of those included a chat with my GP and the starting of some anti-depressants. It was time. I don't like the idea of them (for myself) and I resisted even considering them for so long, but the truth of it is that things have been getting worse rather than better. My mood has been impacting my interactions with both Jen and the kids in a negative way. Something needed to change. And, though it's only been a week, I feel like it's making a difference. I am so glad.

Tonight we had our first-ever parent/teacher interviews with The Bean's teachers. His report, which I only picked up this morning, was more or less what I expected. It's hard to read between the lines --the teachers mostly select comments from a drop-down menu so it doesn't say a whole lot and what it does say isn't neither very specific nor backed up by examples. Talking it through was good. We had requested the interview a while ago since he had been resisting going to school quite a bit before the break and we wanted to follow up on that. His teachers spent nearly 45 minutes with us, which is about three times what we were scheduled for. (They didn't have any interviews scheduled immediately following ours, so I guess they didn't feel rushed.) Most of what they had to say was about what a bright and social student he is, but they also seemed to have a pretty accurate insight into other things --his perfectionism and desire to please, his sense of social justice and his tendency to "police" others. We walked away with the feeling that they know our kid pretty well and are doing a good job supporting him. We also got some reassurance that they making efforts to challenge him academically despite him already meeting many of the curriculum expectations.

It's only 10:30pm, but it's been a long week. Tomorrow I will have both kids home again and with -20*C temperatures in the forecast I think it will be another long day spent indoors. I best rest up.