When a trip to the ____ isn't just a trip to the _____

For those of you wondering, I have, indeed, gotten some sleep! Of course, it completely hit me around 11 the next morning. Luckily, Max was sleeping, and Nolan was playing Wii. I can sleep quite well through Wii games! Poor Nolan.

Anyway, When a trip to the _____ isn't just a trip to the _____. Have you ever gone somewhere, a routine trip, which turned out not at all like you were expecting? I had two of those experiences in the past week.

Scenario 1: When a trip to the doctor isn't just a trip to the doctor.
I've been so fortunate that my trips to the doctor have been quick and easy, with all three kids, every time. Last Tuesday I took Max for his 15-month checkup, just trying to get in and out as soon as possible since I had Nolan with me too and it was Max's naptime. Temperature, normal. Height, tall (99th percentile). Weight, normal (60th percentile). Head, normal. Breathing, oh wait. Wheezy. Ears, oops! Infection. I left with more medicine than Max has been since he was born, and he got shots too. Not so fun. He's still wheeezy, even with breathing treatments, but I'm hoping that by midweek he'll be better. Otherwise, back to the doctor!

Scenario 2: When a trip to the park isn't just a trip to the park.
Last week I took Nolan and Max to the park by Abby's school. We were going to go in the morning, but the Max took a 10 AM nap, and slept until 1. So, we couldn't do morning, and couldn't really do the picnic we planned. Instead, we went at 1:30 and stayed until Abby got done with school at 3:30. When we first got there, there was one other mom there and she had her four kids there. It was obvious that she must home school, since the park is right across from the in-session public school and three of her kids were obviously old enough to be school-aged. The boys started playing and I walked around by the mom, and she started talking to me right away, asking how old my kids were and just general questions. She was very nice, and before long I realized I hadn't asked her anything about her or her kids, so I asked their names and ages. One of the girls was 7, so I mentioned that I had a daughter who just turned 6. The mom asked me when her birthday was, and after I told her she said she had a son who passed away but would have been 6 on September 26 (which was Abby's original due date so kind of strange). I told her I was sorry and commented how hard this time of year must be for her and her family. She said it was, and then also said that she just miscarried a 12-week pregnancy, too, the week prior, so this year was especially hard. Then she mentioned her son who had passed away again at four years old, and so I asked what happened. The boy (I wish I could remember his name!) had the flu and had asphyxiated in his sleep. She said that the girl who was just a year older than him had real trouble going to sleep that night and woke up saying things like "I'm going to miss him" and "He was such a good brother." The mom promised her everything would be fine, that he just had the flu, but then, five hours later when she went to check on him, she couldn't wake him up. Wow, that's really scary! Her older 12-year-old boy said that was the last time she ever made a promise, since she promised he would be ok but he really wasn't. A different time in the conversation (which was only about 20 minutes) she also mentioned that she miscarried an 8-month old baby about 10 years ago. I just looked at her in amazement and she said that she knows there's reasons for all of this, and knows God is with her. She mentioned some of the prayers that have helped her and she was very strongly witnessing her faith. While what she said was all very familiar to me, I assumed she must be born-again or a fundamental faith of some sort. I asked her what chuch she belonged to, and she said Holy Angels, which is a Catholic church near her. I was shocked! Being one, I know a lot of Catholics, some weak and some strong in their faith. But, I'd never heard anyone be so outright without being crazy, overbearing or otherwise strange. She was very normal, nice to talk to, and so strong in her faith of being able to deal with all these things that have been dealt to her. It was really quite amazing. I pray that I never have to test my faith to that extent!

After she left, we were at the park for another hour or so, and watching Max just makes me tired. He's everywhere, trying to climb every ladder, slide, swing, ramp, everything! There was another mom who brought her son, who looked about 10 months old. As we were leaving, they were sitting by our bikes, and she asked how old Max was. I told her 15 months and I asked about her son. She said 15-1/2 months, but he couldn't walk yet because he had had several surgeries and some things wrong with him so he was about two months delayed developmentally. Point taken. Max makes me tired, but I appreciate, appreciate, appreciate him and his abilities. And I'll even take the crazy doctor appointments where he has (gasp!) an ear infection. All right, I get it. And I'll stop taking it all for granted.