My Kid Caught The Swine....

I have never once in my entire life had the flu or if I did I don't remember. I have had a few colds - this year I've had three (3) which is highly unusual.. My kids are almost never sick - my oldest would have had a perfect attendance record if we had not taken her out of school a couple of times for vacations and/or Disneyland....

On Thursday my youngest developed a pretty nasty cough - I kept her home because of the cough and she sounded congested..... No fever... she had a great mood and attitude... On Thursday night my oldest started coughing and not feeling well. On Friday morning - I had both girls stay home from school - my youngest probably could have gone to school but I felt it best to be safe rather than sorry later... The cough seemed to be worse for my oldest (she's 13) so I just kept an eye on her - she did not feel warm to the touch.....

Last night around midnight as I was going to bed - I checked on the girls. The youngest was sleeping peaceful and her forehead was nice and cool when I kissed it. The oldest was tossing and turning - I kissed her forehead and she was very warm. I gave her an Advil and checked on her throughout the night (I'm tired).... This morning - she was downstairs shivering - we're in Southern California and today is very warm... I touched her forehead and she was burning up. I searched high and low for a thermometer and could not find one. I went to a neighbors and thankfully they had one.... I had to confirm my suspensions that I wasn't just a paranoid mom but that my kid actually had a fever - the husband an hour before said she felt cool... Well her temperature read on one of the those ear thingies 101.8. Took her to Urgent Care...

The doctor's office was a madhouse - and here is my poor kid burning up, shivering, and trying her best not to cry - I wanted to cry for her... While we waited - there was a toddler running around the waiting room - jumping on chairs - screaming - eating Cheerios and spilling them on the floor - He proceeded to grab his stroller and started running it into people... The mom of this spoiled brat just watched her son and laughed... Here we are in a doctor's office on a Saturday morning - everyone is feeling like crap - and here's this "head up her butt mom" thinking that we all want to watch her kid terrorize everyone and all I really wanted to do was kick her for being so clueless... I always wondered how some parents just don't get it -Just in case one of those moms or dads so happen to read this post - I have something to say....People do not think your kid is as cute as you do - really we don't... So please please please control your kid if they are running around in a waiting room when there are sick people around.. thank you.

Finally it was our turn to go back - her temperature reading hit over 103 degrees.... After waiting in the treatment room for about 30 minutes - the doctor walked in - after describing her symptoms - the doctor concluded she had Swine Flu - the nose swab confirmed it... Got the prescription for the meds - dropped my poor baby off at home - went to the pharmacy to pick up the drugs and with our insurance discount the total came up to $98.99 for 10 pills!!! Crazy..

So today - my kid has the Swine Flu..... Never thought it would happen.. Stocked up on Gatorade, tissue, and comfort food. I bought my own thermometer... Poor thing she looks so pitiful... Have you been hit by the Swine?

The "Lady" Who Freaked At Target

As parents we often tell our children to be nice. Play nicely with your neighbor - share your toys... Don't say bad words... Show respect to your elders... Say thank you and please... Don't double dip...

The other day I was doing my weekly grocery shopping at Target with my girls.. I was in line to pay for my groceries and this lady (I say this very loosely) in front of me had two (2) beautiful young children with her..... She was yelling at the cashier because an item that she saw on Target's web site was not in the store.. I am very serious.. The cashier offered to track the item and discovered the item can only be bought through the Target web site...

The F bombs - the S bombs - the every bad word you can imagine bombs just started exploding out of this mother of two beautiful kids.... In addition to yelling - the "lady" started throwing her coins at the cashier.... What I found really sad is that her kids seem oblivious to this over the top lunatic rant.... My kids stood there with their mouths just about hitting the floor...

The "lady" was causing such a stir... all 12 lines that were open stopped to watch... All the customers and fellow cashiers just stood there as this poor cashier is getting pelted with quarters.. No security coming to her rescue - no managers walking our way.... So I'm thinking something has to be done.... (I'm lucky I didn't get pelted or belted).. As the lady was taking more change to throw - I grabbed her elbow.... I said, "Throw another quarter and I will personally see you arrested".... my eyes were angry... my voice was deep and shaky.. The "lady" looked at me - angry at first..... then reality must have hit her - her eyes did a 180.... As I saw the transformation in her appear - I said, " I feel sorry for your beautiful children to have a mother that can't even control herself... shame on you"... Right about this time - security came.. The woman was escorted from the store....

It amazes me how grown adults can act like this.... Throwing temper tantrums in a public forum because they can't get what they want.... I feel so very sorry for those children.... Growing up with an abusive parent. We as parents set the example for behavior...... What example was this "lady" setting for her children???

Have you ever seen something like this?

Auto Repair At Your Fingertips

Two summers ago I took my girls on a road trip - we had the best time. We drove from California to Utah to Colorado and back - putting over 2000 miles on the car... Before our trip - I dropped my car off at the local gas station to have everything looked at and update whatever needed to be updated.... We left the house early on a Sunday morning... As I was approaching the freeway on ramp - 2 blocks from my home... the check engine light came on..... I still proceeded to go on my trip and the next morning I called the station and they said don't worry about it - the car is fine and we'll turn the light off when you get back...... When I got home two weeks later - I went to the station and they turned it off - only for the light to come on again.... it stayed on until I brought my car to a station that specialized in my type of car.....

How do you find a shop that can give you what you need? Unless you have a mechanic in the family it is hard to find the right place... until now.... There's a site that I recently discovered called Repairpal. It's great - you can go onto the site and find useful information about your car. It helps you find a shop that specializes in your car needs..

Let's say you needed to find a Los Angeles auto repair shop - for your Ford Explorer because you need to replace your head gasket.... You can go onto http://repairpal.com and search for whatever service you need.. I loved that you could preview several different shops - compare prices - the site even has a map for you that pinpoints the locations of all the shops in the area you need to be in.... There is so much information about your car that you'll come off the site feeling like a pro...... at least more knowledgeable about your car.

So if you are looking for information on your car from an independent company - then try out RepairPal and let me know what you think...

Reality TV Parents - Shame On You!

One of my biggest peeves is reality TV - especially when it exploits children.... TV stations no longer care about people... all they care about is rating and advertising dollars... Parents like Jon and Kate (plus 8) do not care about their children as much as they care about themselves - just watch any tabloid news show and you'll see Jon and Kate tearing each other apart.... I truly feel sorry for the kids especially when they get old enough to see what their parents did for "fame and "fortune" Jon and Kate say they do the show for the kids... yeah right.. They do it for themselves.. In my opinion parents who truly love their kids and have their kids' best interest at heart don't exploit them for money... gimme a break..

Last week one of one my clients called me and said for me to turn on the TV - there was a balloon in the air and a little boy was stuck in it.... Every news station was covering this. I watched the balloon with a million other people - praying that the child will be okay... I remember thinking in the back of mind - I bet this is a hoax... It just didn't ring right. The balloon landed and no boy - then people became fearful that he fell out and there was a mad search for him - but thankfully the little boy was fine - he was hiding in a box in the attic.. When the father asked him on a morning TV show - why he stayed in the box - the little slipped and said "I stayed in the box because you told me too"..... the father ignored that comment and proceeded to talk about something else..... the poor little boy was so traumatized he vomited right in the middle of the interview...

As the details of this story unravel - we have come to learn that the parents are reality TV junkies - they were on Wife Swap a couple of times and have been trying to be on TV any way they can... We need to have some laws to prevent these things from happening.. You see it all over TV - people getting paid - famous for doing the wrong thing... it is so very sad to me...

What do you think should be done?

I Got My Prize!!!!

Yesterday in the mail I received a prize!!! I never win anything - so this is a big deal... huge deal.. Thanks to Kat at Heart2Heart I can now say I am a winner...

Kat had a give a way for a book called Seaside Letters - A Nantucket Love Story by Denise Hunter.. I can't wait to start it.... Publishers weekly says "A good kiss goes a long way..."

Thank you, Kat! And for my friends that have not met Kat yet - Please visit her amazing and loving blog - Heart2Heart - you'll be happy you did!