It's the Creeping Crud, Dang It!

We're so stinking sick and miserable. The kids are dragging around, and trying to kill each other over absolutely nothing in particular. They're all just easily annoyed today because of their various aches and pains. Also, they're being incredibly loud at all times. There is a overkill of loud screaming and complaining. My personal observation is that my children get really loud when their heads are congested because their ears fill up with fluid.

The good news is that the grand-paternals are arriving tomorrow to give us some much needed backup in the parenting realm. This means there is a chance for some actual sleep in my future. I can use it, too. In retrospect, I should have known that we were heading toward a case of the sicklies when the three kids took turns having sleepless nights last week, complete with screaming night terrors and grinding teeth.

The bad news is that being sick means that we had to miss a whole lot of opportunities for fun today and probably for the rest of the week. In other bad news, Em's orthodontic work looks like it's going to run at least $1000 for extraction, spacers and a retainer. I'm sure the cost of services will rise as they determine what else she needs in the future. Did you know that being a mouth-breather (while awake or asleep, but especially asleep) causes alignment/orthodontia issues? I didn't really, until Dave told me today. Emily has always been a mouth-breather and a tooth-grinder, which is apparently a very bad combination....expensive, too.

We are officially entering the phase of parenting I like to call "the era of the leaking bank account". It's scary and depressing. I'm hoping we'll come through it well, but we don't feel at all prepared.

~L