Blister Boy and the Apology

Doesn't that sound like a good name for a Vegetales video or something? It was the only thing I could come up with to relate the 2 stories from today.

The first is that Ryan has hand, foot, and mouth disease. This is a common virus in young children that results in blisters in and around the mouth, palms of the hands, feet, and sometimes other areas. After I noticed some blisters around his mouth and hands at lunch today, a quick search of the internet made me pretty certain he had hand, foot & mouth. I made an appointment at the clinic and the Dr. quickly confirmed that I was right. The good news is he doesn't have an accompanying fever, the bumps don't seem to bother him and the mouth sores aren't affecting his appetite at all. The bad news is there isn't a way to treat it and it's contagious among kids, so he has to stay home from daycare for 3-4 days or until the blisters clear up. So, dad and grandma are going to get to spend some more quality time with him this week and our weekend plans to see Saylor probably won't work out. Bummer!  The other kids at daycare don't have it, so we're wondering if he picked up something at the nursery he went to on Sunday. Hopefully we can control the spread of the disease, though, by keeping him away from other kids starting the first day we noticed the blisters.  The upside is that he did great at the doctor's office and loved seeing the birds and fish again! He asks about them whenever we walk by the clinic and sometimes fake coughs, then announces, "I better go to the doctor. The birds and fish miss me."

The second story was another one of my "time out fails".  Ryan had been whining in the kitchen and after firmly telling him to stop, he retaliated by hitting me. I immediately sent him to time-out in his room. When I came in to get him and asked him why he was in time-out, he once again not only told me but demonstrated why he had been sent to his room by hitting again. I asked him why he hit and he said, "Because you were angry with me" (he hates it if you raise your voice or even speak firmly to him--he cries immediately).  I explained that mommy might sound angry when he is not listening to me and I need to get his attention. I explained that I love him, but hitting is not acceptable and he needs to listen to mommy the first time.  He got a sad look on his face, walked in close, gave me a big hug and said,

"Mommy, I forgive you."