Thursday, February 12, 2009

relaxing my grip

i feel like im turning a corner with myself and my kids and my life. i blogged a few entries ago about how 2009 was being dubbed the year of giving up the illusion that i have control over other people. whenever i feel like im going to blow a gasket whether with a moment of agoraphobia or dealing with being the mother two children under 3 just being alive almost always it comes down to me feeling the need to be in control. i never realized how many conflicts, internal or external, occur because im consciously or unconsciously being a control freak! to guide, discipline, raise up in a Godly way, and love my children yes, to control them no. to teach them self control yes! up until this point i have believed i was teaching this to my children but in hindsight i was teaching them submission not how to set appropriate boundaries for themselves. more than anything i want my kids to learn how to make their own way through the world, to think for themselves and my approach has been wholly flawed in that i was much too controlling. example: augustine and i regularly fight over him wearing socks to bed. we turn our heat down to about 55 at night in the winter and even though he has flannel sheets and i layer him up, i still insist he wears socks. i used to dread bedtime because i knew he and i would butt heads. guess what? hi control freaking! my intentions are most always good but my application is poor. if the boy doesnt want to wear socks who cares! i dont even like wearing socks to bed but in the winter i do out of necessity. im finally learning that the fights that happen could be avoided if i loosened up a little or met them half way in their child-ness, something like that. the last two weeks or so since ive made my big declarative statement about 2009 have been SO much less tense around here.

anyways, my parents are on a cruise right now and we are cat sitting my parents fluffalump cat moses (mosey. you know, because he's so fat he doesnt walk. he moseys. true story) right now he is hiding somewhere in this apartment and ive checked every known spot i can think of save for the crevasses in the basement amongst boxes. how can one lose a 30 pound white cat?!



what is this?! augustine came home from preschool today and gradually his skin started looking like the above pictured. before i get all psycho on the internet, any thoughts on what this might be? seriously, what a sad sad photo!

12 comments:

Happy Hippie said...

I'm not a Doctor, but it looks like Roseola. Both of my kids have had it.It wasn't too big a deal for them. As in i don't think they had to take antibiolics,but they did have to stay away from pregnant women, infants, and people with low immune systems.
Here are some links:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/skin/roseola.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/roseola/DS00452
I hope this helps. Poor little guy...

MamaFeelgood said...

Looks like Roseola. All kids get it sooner or later and some develop a rash and some don't. By the time you see the rash, they are in the last bouts of it. It should go away within a week.

MamaFeelgood said...

By the way, I don't know how I just posted 3 simultaneous comments.

Beth said...

That is the saddest photo ever!

Olive said...

im happy to report that the rash is now 95% gone. no clue what is going on!

Momof2boys said...

It does look like Roseola. My kids have never had it, however, a friend of mine's (sp?) daughter just had it. Her's was accompanied with a cold. She kept getting a low grade fever and then the rash came. She was on antibiotics for the cold, but, for the rash they said to just give her benadryl if the itching was bothering her. Good to hear that it's almost gone.

It could be an allergic reaction to something at the school too. If they put on painting smocks or something??

I still to this day think you are doing a WONDERFUL job raising your kids. I fight with the socks at bedtime as well-in the winter months. Maybe it is a control issue, but, I think mostly it's a health issue...lol Or maybe, I just try to justify my control freakiness..lol

Anonymous said...

Hello!

Perhaps it could be an allergic reaction, my daughter is allergic to many things and sometimes, a new fragance or a new "soap" used at school for clothes can cause her this sort of red skin.

I hope Augustine will be better, if not you can use Calendula Oil which be very "soft" for damaged skin.

Sorry for this "approximately" English! :-)

Amber said...

Totally unrelated (although this blog spoke loudly to me and my controlling nature)...Im planning a home birth in about 10 weeks or so...any book recomendations or advise you can offer?

Judy said...

Hmmm...just wondering...
We had a White cat (orange too) named Moses, about 30 lbs. We got rid of it about 3 1/2 or 4 years ago. That wouldnt happen to be the same Moses would it...perhaps? My toddler children were too mean to him. I regret every day that I think of getting rid of him (now that they are older). Just curious.

Olive said...

amber -

birthing from within
ina may's guide to childbirth
immaculate deception II

& another one ill recommend is journey into motherhood which is a book dedicated solely to natural birth stories. it was a great reinforcement that natural birth is normal

aceofhats said...

Poor little buddy! This just tears me up Sis. That boy really needs his pa-pa or something.

Amber said...

thank you!