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Category: Caleb

When Mama Bear Comes Out

Some days it really is a struggle. I try to keep it contained as much as possible, but some days the Mama Bear within me just comes out. Let’s just say Monday was not really a good day.

It started out great. Everyone got up on time and got off to our various places for the day. I’m at work going on about my day and things are good. About 9:30 or so I got a call from the high school nurse. It is only the 4th day of the school year, so I definitely was not expecting that quite yet. The nurse tells me that Zach has fainted in the locker room after gym class. Oh.

I’m a worrier when it comes to my oldest son. He has his share of difficulties and school has not always been easy for him. And gym class is one of his least favorite classes. He chose weight training for his Freshman PE credit because it keeps him from having to do group sports activities in the traditional PE class. When I heard during curriculum night that they would be doing quite a bit of running I was already a little worried. Then he told me Friday that he felt sick Friday when they had to run outside so I was already a bit stressed about the whole thing.

And now he has passed out. The nurse assured me he was ok, but that he had hit his head on the floor when he went down. She was making sure he had something to eat and was making him drink juice. She was going to keep him there for a bit and then send him back to class if he was feeling ok. No need to come pick him up.

So. There I sit at work worried like crazy. I chatted with a co-worker about it and about how I am really struggling to between taking care of him and letting him be independent and take care of himself now that he is in high school. It is a skill he needs to develop, but he’s still my baby.

A little bit later, my phone rings again. It is the school nurse. Zach has now thrown up in class, so they are concerned that he could potentially have a concussion. Now it is time to pick him up and yes, I should probably take him to the doctor to get checked out.

As I rush to get to his school, which is now about a 30-minute drive from where I work, I’m calling the doctor’s office to see if I need to bring him there, go to urgent care, or to emergency room. I haven’t done the whole concussion thing before. They said to bring him in to their office and they would check him over.

When I got to school, he was looking so frail and weak. It broke my heart. There’s that thing where no matter how big they are, you just want to wrap them in your arms and protect them. That’s where I was in that moment. But, I’m sure he’d had enough embarrassment for the day so I refrained.

We got to the doctor and had him checked out. The doctor did not see signs of a concussion. Whew. She did tell him to take it easy the rest of the night, drink lots of fluids, and no screens. She also gave him a 48 hour pass for gym class. She pretty much determined the whole episode was caused by over exertion and getting over heated, which is not unusual for him.

He pretty much slept the rest of the day (on the couch ’cause I wasn’t letting him out of my sight) and most of the evening. I made him get up to eat and then he went right back to sleeping.

During all of this, Evie and Caleb got home from school and Caleb’s bus dropped him off at the wrong bus stop. It is down the block at the other corner. It wouldn’t have been a huge deal, except for the fact that this was the third time (out of 4 days) that it had happened. I thought it was fixed after a call to the bus company, but then it happened again. And the heat index was 106 degrees at the time. My poor kiddo came in the door dripping with sweat and bright red cheeks. Mama was not ok with this. I certainly didn’t need a second kid passing out or throwing up because of the heat. Another call was made to the bus company and well, I can’t say that I was very nice on the phone. However, on day five, he was dropped off at the right stop.

Also in the mix of all of this, I had to leave to go to a meeting at work. Oh, and did I mention that Hubby was out of town too? I gave Evie strict instructions to keep an eye on her older brother and keep the noise level down. She did her job, and also texted me photos of him sleeping while I was in my meeting.

When I got home from my meeting, the house was a mess, the dog needed walked, the trash needed gathered and the bins put out for trash pickup, I needed to update the school nurse on Zach, contact his gym teacher, and I was just mentally exhausted.

I sent out a quick email to the nurse to let her know Zach’s doctor does not think he has a concussion. Then I decided to email the Coach. That may not have been the best idea. I should have let me head clear a bit, but at that point I wasn’t sure if Zach would be going back to school the next day or not so I wanted to make sure he knew about the 48 hour pass for gym class, plus fill him in a little on Zach and his physical ability. I tried really hard to be tactful, but the mama bear may have been showing a bit.

I may have yelled a little too much getting the kids in bed. Then I still had to walk the dog and do all the cleaning up before I could go to bed. While I was walking the dog I called Hubby to fill him in on everything and I pretty much just spent all that time griping and complaining about everything that had happened that day. Not my finest moment, but I guess I just needed someone to listen.

Things are better today. Zach is feeling better and is back to school today. The bus situation was fixed yesterday and hopefully continues to be fixed this time. I wish I could go back and fix my attitude, but sadly it doesn’t work that way. I obviously still need to work on better stress management.

Here’s to the rest of the week being as uneventful as possible!

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Tomorrow Caleb turns seven. It’s not one of those big monumental birthdays, just a regular middle-of-the-road kind of birthday, yet it still feels very significant. This morning I pulled up Facebook and was greeted with a photo memory the two of us, taken just before his first birthday. Oh how life has changed since then.

caleb reading bey blade paper
Checking out new bey blades

As I scrolled through the memories that Facebook so graciously pulls together, I clicked over to one of my Tuesdays With Caleb posts. That sent me through a wormhole here on this site as I read and reminisced over the photos taken during that time with him. What I wouldn’t give to have those days back. I was definitely thankful then for that time, but even more so now. Being able to work from home a couple days a week and spend time with him was such a gift.

caleb on ipad
a little iPad time

So much has changed since then and I’m a little sad that I’ve failed to document it. I’m really sad that I was not able to continue the photo project I started with him. I’ve taken snapshots on my phone and posted little tidbits to Facebook and Instagram, but the early years of his life were not documented in the same way that his siblings were. I can blame it on life being more busy with three little ones, or the fact that life with Caleb has been a little bit more of a difficult adventure than we expected, or even the fact that I just can’t calm my brain down enough most days to focus on writing, but regardless, I am sad that I don’t have that time to look back on. I have memories, but the details are lost.

caleb with bey blades
Let ’em rip! Bey Blade time!

Today is President’s Day, so the kids and I all have a day off of school and work. We’re preparing to celebrate Caleb’s birthday tonight with the family as tomorrow will be busy with back to school/work/activities. I pulled out my camera this morning and decided I’m going to document just a little. I can’t promise that I’ll continue to write, or even keep up with the photos – but for today, I’ll have those photos and this post to document this time in his life.

cat playing with paper
Bonus kitty photo!

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Tuesdays With Caleb – Week 11

This week’s post is a little bittersweet. I’m not sure what is going to happen with my Tuesdays With Caleb photo project at this point. I’m debating whether to continue or not.

Last week I accepted a new position at work. It is a bit of a promotion and I’m excited about it, but it also requires me to give up my two days of working at home. I’ll be in the office 5 days a week again and back in the world of accounting. I’m sad to be giving up my time with Caleb, but it also leaves the future of this project a little unknown. Without our quiet one-on-one time, I’m not sure when I will have a chance to just take photos of him. Maybe I can carve out a little time on the weekends, but those are pretty hectic most weeks. So, I’m a bit undecided. I don’t want to give it up, I’m just not sure logistically how it will work out. Besides, “Saturdays With Caleb” just doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. I’ve also enjoyed doing a little blogging again, even if it is mostly just photos.

With that said, this week we have a special appearance from Miss Evie. It is Spring Break week so Evie has been helping entertain Caleb a bit. For the photos I decided to concentrate on their arts and crafts time, which is one of the many things they love to do together.

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Tuesdays With Caleb – Week 9

Apparently 7 weeks is about how long I can actually sustain a scheduled project. This week’s post is excruciatingly late. It was going to be come a Fridays with Caleb post, but then I also failed to post on Friday, so now we’re back to Tuesday and I’m just now getting around to it. Better later than never, right?

Caleb started out the day trying to impersonate mommy. First he jacked my Diet Coke, then my phone. Yep, that’s the look of a kid who knows he’s doing something wrong and thinks it is hilarious. And there you have Caleb, in a nutshell.

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Fortunately, Grandpa paid us a visit and brought Caleb a late birthday gift. He was super excited to get his awesome remote control truck. He has been playing with it pretty much non-stop and gets a little mad when mommy wants to share it. I guess if mommy won’t share her Diet Coke, he won’t share his truck.2015-03-10_0002 2015-03-10_0003 2015-03-10_0004

Next up, Caleb decided to put on a concert. He wowed his audience with an amazing rendition of his latest original song and even got his rock ‘n’ roll face on for a bit.2015-03-10_0005 2015-03-10_0006 2015-03-10_0007

I am so truly blessed to call this boy mine.

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Tuesdays With Caleb – Week 8

I’m a little late posting this week. It was one of those weeks where things were just a little crazy. Caleb turned three last week. I debated whether to turn this week’s post into my traditional birthday post, but couldn’t decide whether to or not and then I just didn’t write anything. So, here it is Saturday and I’m finally getting around to it.

So the little man is three. It is hard to believe that we have already had three incredible years with this guy. It has been an amazing ride so far and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here. Oh, and apparently three-year-olds don’t wear shirts, or shoes, or socks, or…pants most of the time. Or so it seems anyway. Who needs clothes when it is only 7 degrees and snowing outside anyway? Fortunately, clothes are only optional at home (so far).

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