Worrisome things abound

After Cary's fine rash and blotchy patch on his face refused to go away, I made an appointment for him at the pediatrician.

Dr. Bodnar said Cary's got extremely dry skin, and although he wouldn't go so far as to say he has eczema, the blotchy patch on his face is a form of it. So we now have switched to a new soap and a new lotion, Cetaphil, and we have to lather him up with it twice a day. He prescribed a stronger medication for the blotchy patch, which has to be applied three times a day. And Dr. Bodnar urged us to start bathing the children every other day, instead of every day as we had been doing. (That's one recommendation I can cheer about.)

While he was there, Dr. Bodnar could hear Cary coughing and listened to his chest. Picking up on some wheezing, he has now declared my poor Cary asthmatic. (This is the third or fourth time Cary's gotten wheezy when he has a cold.) So now, he's on a nebulizer treatment two or three times a day.

When I told my sister this news, she reminded me that doctors say that asthma, eczema and allergies tend to go together -- the Big Three. So I guess we should now be on the lookout for any allergies Cary might have.

Additionally, Cary's had a fever for the last two days and has been fairly cranky about it. Dean's had a fever too, but has been more pleasant -- until this morning. I checked them both when they woke up and Cary's temperature subsided some, but Dean's jumped up a degree to 100.8. And now both of them are crankypants. The whining, people. Good GRIEF.

They've both been out of school since Tuesday, and I figure I'll just keep them out tomorrow too. Apparently, a lot of kids in their class are sick, so perhaps I can keep them away from the other germ-generators long enough to rid our house of this bug once and for all.

Meanwhile, I am really worried about our nanny, Michelle. She's having some quite serious personal issues and I worry about her emotional state. I also worry that 1) She'll be distracted and depressed when she's with the kids and 2) She'll very soon need to find other work that will pay better and offer medical benefits.

This makes me so, so sad, I can't even tell you. I love Michelle so much. She's such a good, kind, giving, funny person and she has been amazing with and for our kids. I knew we couldn't keep her forever -- she's ambitious and talented and wants more for her life. But I had really hoped Clair would get to benefit from her love and care until she was at least 2 and ready for pre-school. And the boys -- who have been with her since they were 9 months old -- truly think of her as family. As do I.

She hasn't said she's leaving us, but she has mentioned that she is conflicted about what to do. And as much as I really want to, we just can't afford to pay her any more money. And honestly, even if we could eke out a few extra dollars, it wouldn't ever be enough for her to really support herself.

So I'm going to have to look for other alternatives, none of which, frankly, will ever be as sweet and comfortable as what we have going now. So I'm bummed. And worried about Michelle. And worried about Cary and his myriad afflictions.

One bit of good news (I'm almost afraid to say it, because you know how this works): I think I've finally figured out the secret to a full night's sleep! Two melatonin and a baby monitor turned down so low I can't hear all of Clair's moans and groans. (But I can hear if she is truly in distress.)

So -- YAY for that. Because all of these worrisome things seem much more manageable when I'm not dog-dead tired.