Scatterbrain

No surprise, that's me I'm talking about. Jared left for San Diego last night, and Audrey always has a really hard time when he has to go (not that he travels all that often - this is probably his 3rd or 4th business trip this year). We were talking about some of the fun things we could do while he's gone to make the time go faster. One of the highlights was Polar Express Day at school, where they get to wear their jammies, have a special treat, do a craft, and I think even watch part of the movie. She was really excited, and this morning picked out her favorite nightgown to change into for Polar Express Day. We got her all dressed, and when we got to school, I noticed the other kids were in regular clothes. Sure enough, Polar Express Day is FRIDAY. Poor Audrey almost started crying, so I asked her if she wanted to go home and change clothes. She said no, she'd wear her nightgown - she was just sad because she missed her dad. I feel bad for getting her all geared up for something fun, and then letting her down like that. Oh well, I guess we get to do it all over again on Friday!

That aside, I did have a rather productive morning. I took Adam in to the doctor, and he does have an ear infection, as I suspected, in fact he has two ear infections. He's just been complaining about his right ear, but the doctor first looked in Adam's left ear and said, "Oh, is this the sore ear? It looks pretty swollen and red." I told him, no, it was actually the right ear that Adam had been pulling on and pointing to. He looked in the left ear and said, "Whoa, I'll say that's infected! On a scale of 1-10, the right was a 6 or 7, and the left is definitely a 10!" So, we left with a prescription for amoxicillin and an admonition to give that boy some Tylenol or Motrin. Of course, I haven't filled the prescription OR given him any painkillers yet, and he's acting like everything's fine (aside from a 3+ hour nap). He's a pretty tough kid. After the doctor (complete with a lollipop bribe and a few minutes spent "riding the bus" - the doctor's office has this bus toy Adam absolutely LOVES), we headed over to Target where I got the last couple of things I needed to be DONE Christmas shopping for Audrey! Jared and I decided to cut back a little this year, so each child is just getting a big toy, a smaller toy, a movie, and a book or a game, and then their stocking. I LOVE it!! It's made shopping so much simpler. At first I was kind of sad because I really love spoiling the kids at Christmas, and the little list of gifts seemed so paltry, but I realized a couple of things. First of all, Christmas isn't about the presents, and I don't want to teach my kids that it is. Secondly, most Christmas mornings, after they've opened the first couple of things, they just want to play with those, rather than spending all morning opening. I know Audrey's going to be thrilled with the things we've gotten for her, and she won't even miss the other things we ended up not getting this year. Now, onto Adam. I don't know why, but I find it so much harder to shop for him! I've got his movie and his small toy, but I still need a big toy and a book or a game. Any suggestions?