March 28, 2024

years and counting

Happy Anniversary to us! That is what I thought after working all day, going to a meeting in the evening and then taking our first trip to the emergency room at 10:30 p.m. that night. We didn’t have any special plans for the day to begin with, but seeing my husband would have been nice.

Between the two of us, we have pretty busy schedules. Adding the kids in and it only gets crazier, with no end in sight as the girls get older. To begin, we usually don’t celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, etc. with big events or extravagant gifts. Flowers are nice, but with student loans and car payments, I like to put my money towards debt reduction not wants.

Now don’t get me wrong, we like to buy “things” and as practical as we try to be, we’re both classified as “spenders” not “savers.” We usually work toward a vacation or large purchase, like a new television or furniture. This anniversary was no different.

My husband usually works until 5:30 or 6 p.m. and as happens on some Mondays I had a meeting at 6 p.m. After arriving at the meeting I asked how long it might last, with a response of three to four hours. My stomach twisted a little knowing my husband wouldn’t be too excited if we didn’t see each other at all.

Luck had it that I was able to leave the meeting early and make it home for a late dinner with my family. My parents had fixed my favorite, meatloaf and cheesy potatoes with pumpkin bars for dessert.

Since it was Monday, my oldest had preschool, and she was pretty tired after her big day with no nap. My youngest also did not take a nap, so an early night was in store for the girls, or at least that is what we thought. After getting both the girls in bed and asleep, I was set to start working on some sewing projects for an upcoming craft show. Not more than 15 minutes later, my youngest started crying and wouldn’t go back to sleep. After sitting up a while, she started tugging on her right ear.

My mom is a former nurse so I defer to her judgment a lot when the girls get sick. Since it seemed to be a persistent pain and we didn’t have any medicine at home, she said we should head to the emergency room. We always thought our youngest might be the first to make the visit, but maybe for a broken bone because of her fearlessness.

Since it was a Monday night and we were headed to a small town hospital we got in and out fairly quickly. She slept through about half the visit, until the doctor started checking her ears, which led to a crying fit and a change of clothes for baby and mommy. A nifty machine dispensed our medicine so we could give her the first dose that night and we were on our way home.

After a dose of medicine and some pain meds to help her sleep, it was a pretty uneventful night and she has since made a full recovery. Having two kids 3 and under, I know that quality time with my husband will be few and far between, but even just having the drive home from the hospital was a nice, uninterrupted chance to catch up on the day and say happy anniversary.

Contact Staff Writer Jamee A. Pierson at (641) 792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com.