Starfish to Shrimp + Shrimp to Guppy

After my week long SAHM trial, getting back to work was not easy. It's always hard coming back to find procedures not in place, things done incorrectly (or not at all), and an in-basket piled high. Today, I finally found the bottom, only because I had to be sure nothing was there that had a deadline. It's all mine. This huge stack held all my insurance certificates for the subcontractors on all of the projects the company is currently on. Because I'm so far behind, I'm sure there are a few subs out there working on jobsites with incorrect insurance coverage. Yes, I'm the Insurance Police. I've been known to void contracts of subcontractors lacking proper coverage or trying to squeak by with minimal limits, etc. THAT, although a pain for Project Managers, is my favorite "stick it to 'em" thing to do (when I catch those!) So, it's certificate chaos in my in-basket. New ones, old ones, renewed ones and revised ones. I'm buried in them. I'm hoping that after tomorrow, I won't feel so far behind and things will be under control. It's only taken me an entire week!

Dononvan came to work with me today for about 45 minutes. He had an appointment with his ENT for his ears. After having the installation of ear tubes back mid-October, we're now approaching 9 months of much-appreciated relief from constant fluid build-up and infections. The appointment was scheduled well ahead of time, but it was a coincidence that he was showing signs of a possible earache: fever, crankiness, cold/congestion. My well-equipped daycare provider has an otoscope to see what may lurk in there. It's been a nice tool to have when I've been in doubt in the past of whether to take them to the doctor or not. We saw no sign of infection, however we could see that his right ear tube was making it's way out of his ear (they usually fall out naturally between 9-18 months of installation). It was hanging on the brink. After discussing our findings with the ENT this morning, I have once again been labeled the "mom that doesn't know what she's talking about". Okay, so he says the tubes are in there "rock solid". What do I know? And, heck, my daycare provider has seen it all before...having two boys of her own (25+ years ago) with 2-3 sets of tubes EACH in their younger years. Heck, we're not doctors! We're just moms! (...and we don't know anything!)

Tonight was the last session of our 2-week swim class. I'm not sure if any skills were gained. It was a "play day" for class tonight, in which the kids (if they wanted to) could venture down the waterslide into the pool. Daddy was definitely more excited to go down than the kids. Rudy went up to the slide and got into position to go down with Donovan, when he "caved" and listened to his son's plea to NOT go down the slide. Wow! I thought for sure he'd force Donovan down the slide? Miss Sarah, our instructor, attempted to go down with another student, when that failed and since she was already in position, I had Daddy hand over Donovan. WHOOSH! Down they went. Miss Sarah went under while holding Donovan's head up out of the water. Amazing! The crowd clapped and cheered while Donovan stared at them frantically looking for his Mom and Dad. Dominic tried to avoid the entire scene, but of course, couldn't. Away he went, first with Miss Sarah...that wasn't so bad, so he tried it again..this time Daddy made him go by himself. Absolutely terrified, Miss Sarah was at the bottom to catch him. Again, the crowd cheered and applauded. He was done. The teeth start to chatter. More fun was had when the 3-4 lifeguards/instructors that were there each got bodyboards and used them to create waves in the pool. That was fun. All of the kids got to "swim" through the waves. Mind you, it was only 3 ft. of water or so. Dominic "pogo-sticked" to the other side. He thought that was a riot. So after our session today, my starfish will become a shrimp next year (along with me, yea!) and the shrimp will soon become a "guppy". Now guppies are a huge advancement (for me anyway) as the class is WITHOUT parental support in the water. Yikes! I'm not so sure my guppy can be controlled! He's usually like a fish out of water. Time will tell. Perhaps his year in Kindergarten will discipline him enough to follow an instructor's lead. Donovan and I will have at least 1-2 years together before he moves on to "guppy". The kids enjoyed popsicles from Miss Sarah. Icky sticky!

From Starfish to Shrimp...

From Shrimp to Guppy...