Of puke and hills and bullies and aging parents...

Disjointed thoughts passing through my head tonight:

Puke: Why does Munchkin continue to have an easily-provoked gag reflex? Why did she get scared of "the new kids" today at her ice skating lesson and start crying? Why did she then start coughing? Why did I skate over and pick her up only to have her projectile vomit all over me (and herself, too)? I stood there in shock with Munchkin's morning breakfast all over my collar and running down her leg into a pukey (sp?) puddle on the ice. We were right in front of 4 other moms...three of whom looked at us in horror--probably wondering what horrible illness my child had now exposed their children to--and one wonderful soul of a mom who went with me to the rest room and grabbed handfuls of papertowels to try to make my cleanup job easier. Do I need to tell you how badly this morning sucked?

Hills: We live in an area with some very steep hills (think San Francisco just not as many!)...why is it that people still can't figure out which way to turn their wheels when they park on a hill? Isn't it just common sense???? And while I'm at it, there have recently been three different kids under 16 in my car who have commented on the shifter--asking what it was and what I was doing when I shifted. Does no one else drive a standard these days?

Bullies: A friend of Munchkin's was bullied by two of the same girls who have been bothering Munchkin...they threw rocks at him at recess. I have emailed and discussed it briefly with the teacher but she says the kids seem to understand in the classroom and then "it's a different story" once they get outside. WTF? I can't wait to bring my secret weapon (BikeBoy) to the parent-teacher conference next week.

Aging parents: I'm working on getting more info for my mom so that she can get some kind of a break from taking care of my sdad. I found out that there is a person with the job title "Caregiver Advocate" (I think) and the person in my homestate who does this job near my mom is an old co-worker/friend of mine from 20+ yrs ago. She is nice and I'm so hoping that she will be able to help us figure out something. Mom spent the night in the ER last week and was diagnosed with chronic hypertension/panic attacks...mostly due to the stress she's under. It must be hard to be in your 80s and caring for someone 5 yrs older who is in crappy health (not to mention showing signs of dementia). It's a sad scene from any angle. :(