The last straw was that today was Grandparent’s day at the elementary school. It was the thing that tipped Gleek over into a little ball of sadness, but it was not the true source. Her inability to cope was more caused by her lingering head cold and the ear we did not realize was infected when we sent her off to school this morning. She was so glad to go. She’d missed two days already and she did not want to miss out on her after school art class. That art class was a tipping point too. It was the reason she was so determined to be well and why she did not realize that her general overwhelmed state was due to illness. She was trying to manage, but then the Grandparents arrived. Or rather, other kid’s grandparents arrived. Gleek’s grandparents, whom she loves dearly, live two states away. They can’t make a trip to be in her class for a day. Gleek’s teacher called me. I got a doctor’s appointment and came to get her.
The classroom was full of grandparents with groups of kids clustered around them. There were more kids without grandparents than with them, but this did not comfort Gleek much. She was sitting, eyes red, arms wrapped around her jacket as if it would save her from drowning. She was glad to see me and even gladder that we would go to the doctor to check on the ear that had been bothering her for the last two days. (The home remedies we’d been applying did not work.) We made a quick stop at home to pick up something more snuggly than a jacket and we were off to the doctor.
Gleek has always been fascinated by the doctor’s office. When she was younger this interest manifested as her climbing on things, jumping off of things, and collecting small piles of tongue depressors or rubber gloves. These days she is far more interested in reading the posters on the walls, asking questions about them, and learning about how the various equipment works. I’m not sure that the nurse practitioner expected to be grilled on biology while examining ears, but she was. Before we left the office Gleek learned about larynxes, uvulas, infections of the uvula, ear infections, how ear drums work, why the stethoscope works like an ear drum, how to use a stethoscope, what a reflex mallet is for, the difference between reflexes and other actions, why doctors look for reflexes, that lack of a kick reflex can mean spinal problems, that an over active reflex can indicate other problems, that babies have reflexes kids don’t, that neurologists sometimes tickle the feet of diabetics, and that doctors are often like detectives looking for clues about what is wrong. By the time we were done it felt like we’d had an educational field trip rather than a mere doctor’s appointment. Oh, and we diagnosed her ear and got a prescription.
After the appointment I let Gleek choose whether to go back to school. She decided to stay home, which I feel was a wise choice. It takes time for medicine to work, so all the pain that overwhelmed her before was still present. She did get to go to the art lesson, but I can tell that her concentration there was not the best either. By morning things will be better and she will be back to school. As for me, I didn’t get anything done other than tending to Gleek. It’s actually a pretty good way to spend a day. I like my Gleek.