Bee stings, Boyfriends, and Bowel Movements

Ella got stung by a bee yesterday. She ran out into the clover and stepped on the sucker. All was fine though. No abnormal swelling or closing of her esophagus. I knew she wasn't having breathing problems by the screeching that was going on right outside my ear. My eardrums are still vibrating today. This was another very clear example of the differences between boys & girls. Well, a clear difference between my boy and my girl (oldest.) Calum was stung by a bee a few weeks ago. We heard the cry across the yard. He walked over to Adam holding his finger high - this is where he was stung. His crying stopped after a few minutes. He whimpered for another 20 minutes or so, holding his hand gingerly and saying 'boo boo.' We moved on. Cut to last night. Ella runs out into the yard and after a few moments begins screaming and crying as if her arm had been ripped off. She lays there, waits for Adam to come get her. Granted, she was stung on the foot and probably couldn't walk well but she laid there nonetheless...in the clover, with the bees. She screamed for 30 minutes - top of her lungs 'I got stung by a bee.' SCREAMING, CRYING, SCREAMING. The dramatics were worthy of a Tony Award. We had to process the incident throughout the evening, as a family. She seems better today - perhaps this experience will only be worthy of one therapy session. I truly believe she wills these things onto herself. She wanted so badly to have the same kind of 'medicine' as Calum when he was stung. But this time we were smarter and simply chewed up some plantain and put it on the sting. Worked wonders. Last week she was disappointed because Calum had a fever and was given some Tylenol. The next day she got the fever...the first thing she asked for was Tylenol. Oye! I cringe to think about high school and 'experimental drugs.' And that covers bee stings.

Boyfriends...Ella had her boy Brady over today. She hasn't seen Brady in over a year but she asked for him this morning every three minutes until he got here. A little shy at first but soon was running the halls with him. I might have to say he's her love. She just treats him different. At one point they were playing in her room, sitting on her bed reading books or something. We called for them to come out and Brady jumped off the bed and Ella followed. Her hair was a bit mussed up - again, high school crept to mind. If they were teenagers we'd be yelling at them to leave the door open. So fun to see them together again, sharing food, playing, doing things for each other. A sweet little friendship.

Lastly, I had to laugh the other morning when I realized I had spent a full hour wiping bottoms of poo. It's the first hour of each morning, when all the kids are finally awake together. It's like round-robin pooping. Poop, wipe, diaper change. Poop, wipe, diaper change. It has to be the most unglorified part of this job - motherhood. Even Ella needs help in this category so I don't even have a reprieve from her. Oh well. Once you become a mom you realize that poop is a barometer of health so I guess it is really best that I wipe and change. And by having four, I'm surely guaranteeing that at least one of these kids will wipe my bottom when it comes time. Ha - planning. Always plan for the future - ;)