Clearly, it's been a long time since I last wrote. A lot of changes have taken place in that time, but it occurred to me this morning in a moment of clarity that my lunch hour would be a BRILLIANT time to begin writing again, so here I am without preamble.
You'll see the punchline to this story coming a mile away, but it's necessary to explain just HOW confused the school nurse is when it comes to telling Darcy and Peyton apart. Specifically, she has never appeared to bother to learn Peyton's name, but continues to call her "Darcy" to this day. I don't know that it necessarily irritates Peyton so much as it bemuses her. Anyway, file that away for future reference.
The story I want to tell today actually begins about a year ago around this same time, just when all of the plants and flowers and grasses and trees and other wondrous reminders of God's creative genius started wreaking havoc on my children's health. Specifically, Peyton's allergies were so off-the-charts HORRENDOUS that she looked like a strung-out junkie who needed a fix or an alcoholic coming off of a three-day bender.
She became so miserable and had visited the nurse's office so many times that her teacher and we concurred that she should no longer be forced to go outside at PE and recess--and trust me, missing recess was no punishment for Peyton at that point. Her allergies didn't improve, but her days became more manageable at the very least. She was quite the talk of the school for a while, though.
Fast forward to this spring. We are again being reminded of new life everywhere we look--freshly mown lawns, budding blossoms on trees, flowers poking up from the ground--believe me when I tell you we cannot keep enough Kleenex on hand at my house during this season. Neither Tyler, Darcy, Peyton, nor Randy have been immune to stuffy/runny noses, sneezing, itchy eyes--the whole nine yards. We have a new wrinkle this spring, however; while last year, Sawyer's allergies were confined to his skin (like Tyler at that age), this year he was hit clear out of nowhere.
On Monday I received an e-mail from the school nurse, informing me that Sawyer had visited her office, and her notes included the following: "Allergies are overwhelming his eyes--looked like Darcy's in 4th grade!" Okay, that would have been Peyton, but sure, I get it. Sure enough, when I got home that afternoon I was shocked at Sawyer's red, puffy eyes. He looked much the same the next morning before school, so I gave him a Benadryl to take right then and another to take at lunchtime. (One positive side effect of the Benadryl, according to Sawyer's teacher, is that it made him "quiet"; I told her that I was sorry but I simply could not medicate him all the way through winter!)
On Tuesday during my lunch break I looked in my Inbox and saw the familiar "Confidential - Medical Event Notice" header in my list of unread e-mails, but was somewhat surprised to see that it was Darcy's name listed this time, rather than Sawyer's. She's a pretty tough cookie and I realized she must have really been struggling that day to warrant a trip to the nurse. I read the notes with concern: "Struggling with eye allergies. Said that she takes Zyrtec with Benadryl to control allergy flare. Took Zyrtec at home, but is needing Benadryl now. Did not want to mess with eye drops." Yep, that sounds like Darcy--just give her a pill and she'll try to tough it out.
By this time, however, I had become quite frustrated internally because I have been negligent in having the kids seen for their increased asthma/allergy symptoms, and have even let several prescriptions expire because I have not had a chance to take them to the doctor. So I immediately texted Randy (yesterday was his marathon meeting day) to tell him that Darcy had wound up in the nurse's office, and I said, "You have GOT to take the kids to see an asthma specialist/allergist PRONTO!!!"
So imagine my surprise when I received a response several hours later that said, "It was PEYTON, for crying out loud!" Oh. My. Word. Will Peyton never learn to speak up for herself??! I guess it's a good thing Peyton's not allergic to Benadryl or this case of mistaken identity might have proved fatal!
You'll see the punchline to this story coming a mile away, but it's necessary to explain just HOW confused the school nurse is when it comes to telling Darcy and Peyton apart. Specifically, she has never appeared to bother to learn Peyton's name, but continues to call her "Darcy" to this day. I don't know that it necessarily irritates Peyton so much as it bemuses her. Anyway, file that away for future reference.
The story I want to tell today actually begins about a year ago around this same time, just when all of the plants and flowers and grasses and trees and other wondrous reminders of God's creative genius started wreaking havoc on my children's health. Specifically, Peyton's allergies were so off-the-charts HORRENDOUS that she looked like a strung-out junkie who needed a fix or an alcoholic coming off of a three-day bender.
She became so miserable and had visited the nurse's office so many times that her teacher and we concurred that she should no longer be forced to go outside at PE and recess--and trust me, missing recess was no punishment for Peyton at that point. Her allergies didn't improve, but her days became more manageable at the very least. She was quite the talk of the school for a while, though.
Fast forward to this spring. We are again being reminded of new life everywhere we look--freshly mown lawns, budding blossoms on trees, flowers poking up from the ground--believe me when I tell you we cannot keep enough Kleenex on hand at my house during this season. Neither Tyler, Darcy, Peyton, nor Randy have been immune to stuffy/runny noses, sneezing, itchy eyes--the whole nine yards. We have a new wrinkle this spring, however; while last year, Sawyer's allergies were confined to his skin (like Tyler at that age), this year he was hit clear out of nowhere.
On Monday I received an e-mail from the school nurse, informing me that Sawyer had visited her office, and her notes included the following: "Allergies are overwhelming his eyes--looked like Darcy's in 4th grade!" Okay, that would have been Peyton, but sure, I get it. Sure enough, when I got home that afternoon I was shocked at Sawyer's red, puffy eyes. He looked much the same the next morning before school, so I gave him a Benadryl to take right then and another to take at lunchtime. (One positive side effect of the Benadryl, according to Sawyer's teacher, is that it made him "quiet"; I told her that I was sorry but I simply could not medicate him all the way through winter!)
On Tuesday during my lunch break I looked in my Inbox and saw the familiar "Confidential - Medical Event Notice" header in my list of unread e-mails, but was somewhat surprised to see that it was Darcy's name listed this time, rather than Sawyer's. She's a pretty tough cookie and I realized she must have really been struggling that day to warrant a trip to the nurse. I read the notes with concern: "Struggling with eye allergies. Said that she takes Zyrtec with Benadryl to control allergy flare. Took Zyrtec at home, but is needing Benadryl now. Did not want to mess with eye drops." Yep, that sounds like Darcy--just give her a pill and she'll try to tough it out.
By this time, however, I had become quite frustrated internally because I have been negligent in having the kids seen for their increased asthma/allergy symptoms, and have even let several prescriptions expire because I have not had a chance to take them to the doctor. So I immediately texted Randy (yesterday was his marathon meeting day) to tell him that Darcy had wound up in the nurse's office, and I said, "You have GOT to take the kids to see an asthma specialist/allergist PRONTO!!!"
So imagine my surprise when I received a response several hours later that said, "It was PEYTON, for crying out loud!" Oh. My. Word. Will Peyton never learn to speak up for herself??! I guess it's a good thing Peyton's not allergic to Benadryl or this case of mistaken identity might have proved fatal!
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