And then there's this....

SOOOOOOO......

I've been communicating by phone with the mother of one of Colin's little friends at school. Apparently, the Giardia situation is way out of control there.

A group of parents (including those of this little boy) were in the office a week ago Monday, demanding more answers about the outbreak. They also did not agree that it was okay to keep the kids who tested "negative" separate from the untested kids, but let all of them play TOGETHER on the playground. (Said one mother who is a pediatrician: "Giardia can live in the water and mud puddles on the playground, and you're not really keeping the kids segregated if they're playing together, anyway!")

The school has set up a meeting, run by the Department of Health, for tomorrow at 4 p.m. Hubby is considering leaving work early to attend. Especially as I passed on the info (that I got from aforementioned mom) that another of Colin's little friends just got his test results back today: *positive*. AND she mentioned something that just blew me away: the teachers are NOT CHANGING GLOVES BETWEEN DIAPER CHANGES FOR EACH KID. If they have three kids lined up for diaper changes and two kids on the little potties, they will wear the SAME GLOVES for all of the diaper changes.

I told the mom, "I can understand that you wear glove for your own protection, but what about preventing communicable disease BETWEEN the kids." She said, "Well, they have kids lined up, so they're just using the same gloves. I know [teacher's name] doesn't change gloves." I said, "If you go to a lab and there are three people lined up for blood tests, the phlebotomist doesn't keep the same gloves on for each person! Oh my God!!!!!!"

My husband said, "Does the Department of Health know about this?"

They might by tomorrow morning, if I have anything to do with it.

Speaking of that, what about OSHA?

Now our big decision is whether Colin should go back to this school. Granted, he's been there 2.5 years and this is the first major thing that's occured. We can either switch him to another daycare, or just have me work only one day per week (with my MIL watching the kids) until he goes to preschool in the fall.

Oh, and the mom also mentioned that a letter was clipped onto the sign-in/out sheet this morning: during an inspection, there was a code violation in that a child (who must've been five or younger!) was walking in the outside corridor on the way to the bathroom, without a parent escort or line-of-sight supervision by a teacher or other staff member. The letter must be signed and returned to the school, showing that we've read it.

Let's not neglect to mention that all of the letters re: Giardia have NOT been sent to our house while Colin's been at home. I wonder if that letter will show up or not.

PEEVED!!!!!

What I'm listening to: Nothing - saving my eardrums for "American Idol"
I just: Ran Colin's bathwater (hubby is watching him)
Now I'm gonna: Get Colin's PJs out of the dryer

The importance of a five-point harness carseat

Coincedentally, we just adjusted Colin's (Britax) carseat yesterday. This YouTube video is heartbreaking AND educational. A 78-year old, mentally incapacitated woman drove her car through a red light, hitting their minivan and flipping them into a ditch. Their daughter's seatbelt held and she walked away from the crash; their son was killed because his seatbelt came unlatched. BOOSTER SEATS ARE NOT ENOUGH. Please watch and learn. My heart breaks for this family. Don't let Kyle's death be for nothing!!!!!

The bambino is five months old today

And I totally had the sh&t scared out of me.

I was sitting at the kitchen table, writing thank-you cards for his baptism. He was sitting on my lap. I'm mulling over what to write when I notice that he's got a pen in his mouth. I pull the pen out of his mouth and notice the cap is missing.

This is where I started to FREAK OUT. My memory is blurry, but I believe that I shoved my fingers in his mouth to try to retrieve the pen cap. That must have activated his gag reflex, because he started making litle choking noises. At that point, I was convinced that he had inhaled the cap and was going to die.

I jumped up, baby in my arms, and smacked his back (no, this is NOT the right thing to do but it was instinct). Everything I knew about infant CPR flew out of my mind. I ran to the garage door to try and find my husband. Couldn't get to him. So I went back to the table and... noticed the pen cap laying on the kitchen table.

That's when I noticed my arms and legs felt weak and I was shaking. I think I had stopped breathing myself and not taken in any oxygen.

I went outside, found my husband, and said, "I just had a MAJOR freak-out moment." I told him what happened, and he's like, "That's why you need to keep the table clean." !!!!

Number one, it's not my "job" to keep the table clean, Mr. Leaving a Nut and Bolt on the Desk. (Husband: "I don't expect him to be over at the desk." Me: He's a baby. I hold him. Wherever I go, he goes.")

Number two, I THOUGHT OUR SON WAS CHOKING. A little sympathy, please?

So naturally, while my husband went on doing whatever he was doing (checking pool chemicals? Puh-leeze!), I sat down at the outdoor table and tried to calm down. I held the baby, and tears welled up in my eyes. Then he started gumming my hand and going, "Ahhhraarraaarraaarr." I realized if he was doing that, he was okay. And I should, therefore, be okay. I told him I was sorry for whacking him on the back. Then I vowed that every pen cap in the house would be removed, every tabletop would be cleaned, and the wool rug in the living room that kicks up wool balls would be vacuumed every other day. I started picturing my house as a sterile, lifeless place, akin to San Francisco's public toilets, where nothing is detachable and the whole place rinses down and disinfects itself after each use.

Time to baby-proof the house. And start some anti-anxiety medication. Between pen caps and bird flu, I'm a walking basket case.

Happy 5th month birthday, little guy. Mommy loves you more than you know.