TimWoolery.net Documenting the Journey and the Learning Curve

The Swine Flu Did Not Kill Us

Apologies for the lack of update - all three of us were suffering from the flu.  Was it the Swine Flu?  Probably.  I asked the doctor when I went in after 3 days of misery and his response was "Doesn't matter...stay home and come back if your temp starts spiking.  Here's a note - stay home for the next 2 days."  5 days of fever, aches and coughing - it's true what they say about the flu.  The difference between the cold and the flu is the difference between being hit with a pillow or a baseball bat.  We did survive, though, and are getting better every day.

In among this were the other dramas of life.  Our financial situation has been difficult for the last 7 months and although we are not out of the woods - we're better off now than we were.   Additionally, I made some good-karma decisions about trying to reconcile with estranged family members.  It didn't work out but at least I tried.

Little Man is a constant source of comedy.  A friend remarked how life had changed for me since he came along and to be honest - yes, he did change my life.  In good ways.  I love his spontaneous hugs and how his play time always includes me, even if I'm busy getting ready for work or something.  He likes being around me and I like being around him.  Even if he weren't my kid, I'd still think he was a good kid.

The Road to Dullsville

Way, way too much happening in too short a period of time.  What does it all mean?  I don’t think I’m in a position to know yet.  Here are the highlights:

• As I said before – the job is safe.
• We all got the flu.  Swine flu, seasonal flu – doesn’t seem to matter.  I was sick for 5 days and life just kind of stopped for me.  Fortunately, it stopped for almost everyone in the office – everyone got it at the same time, it was like a scene out of a movie about the plague.  I returned to the office today just in time for Little Man to start crying and holding his head…now he’s got it and he’s in for a miserable couple of days.
• Keeping our finances organized is a full-time job in and of itself.  As I was explaining to The Lady and to Little Man – it isn’t enough to just go out and make money, you have the job of managing your money and ensuring that the little problems like bank errors and random nasty-grams from your loan company are addressed appropriately.  I would estimate that I have spent 40 hours to date over the past 7 months in phone calls with Wells Fargo to participate in the Federal Loan Modification program.  That’s one of several different ‘problems’ I’ve had to solve through the simple act of getting on the phone with customer service and screaming until the job was done.

As Little Man grows up, I’m seeing myself in him in some of the challenges he faces.  He’s afraid to climb up on the jungle gym at the park, his default ‘unhappy’ response is to start crying.  I really hesitate to give a knee-jerk reaction when he does this.  I want to use the problem as a teaching moment.

Other parents have said that each child has his own style and you have to learn what he responds to.  I want to take that a step further with Little Man - sit down and have some quiet moments to talk about what he’s afraid of or doesn’t take to.  It’s worked out well; I helped him conquer the scary ladder at the park yesterday and I can see that there will be those times where we have to sit down and talk man to man.