The Neglectful Parent

Sam has definitely been not himself for the past couple of weeks. Ever since the Energizer Virus at the beginning of the month, he's had some good and bad days, which is really out of sorts for him considering he really is mostly a good day kind of kid. I kept telling myself that maybe all good things come to an end, and we were starting to get the bad days typical to any kid. And really, bad is a relative term. Bad for Sam is nothing like bad for Addie. Bad for Sam entails a little bit of fussing, some trouble falling asleep on his own, maybe waking up some during the night. Bad for Addie at this age was a whole different story. But back to Sam. On Thursday night, he woke up screaming- a rare occurrence- and was not to be readily consoled. After a full waking with the whole fam and some playing, he finally settled down. Friday morning after he woke up, I made the delightful discovery that his right cheek and right ear were covered in wax. I'd been debating all week about whether or not he had an ear infection, but this confirmed my suspicions. After a trip to the ped, I learned he's had not just one, but two ear infections, and one ear drum had ruptured, hence the screaming Thursday night and wax volcano I discovered Friday morning. Those moments always make me feel like such a neglectful parent. I feel bad that I've prolonged my child's suffering. Worse, I have the realization that I've pushed aside promptings as my own silly thoughts when I really should have been listening and then taking action. I do that all too often in my life, probably causing bigger suffering sometimes than just an ear infection. I really need to work on listening. Maybe that should be my 2008 word, as suggested by Sharla who stole the idea from Kristi of Everything is Pink notoriety. I'm still pondering on my word for '08, but listen might do quite nicely....