Rachel has ear tubes, and this summer she has had repeated bouts of gross drainage from her ears. Last night her ear was inflamed so badly that Bryan wanted to take her to the ER. After a phone call to the on-call ENT, Bryan realized that this was not an emergency. Since I am so amazing at being in 10 places at the same time, I took Rachel to her ENT as an end of day “work-in”. While I was grateful for this last minute squeeze, I knew this possibly meant a long wait….
On the way into the building, I saw this very well-groomed and attractive lady pushing (actually running) a kid in a stroller, and she was headed in our direction. Ugh, I knew this had to be another “work-in” for the ENT – CRAP. I hurried toward the door, which lead to major whining from Rachel, but I had to get ahead of this lady. That sounds bad, but why do you think this gal was zooming that stroller down the parking lot?? Well, I was nice and waited for her and held the elevator, but it really didn’t matter. That office was packed, and I mean packed. With. lots. of. screaming. whiny. rambunctious. kids…… Holy cow! I tried to keep Rachel out of the toy area but to no avail. BUT, she sat down quietly and played with – you guessed it – her iPad!!! Thank the stars above!!! How did humans survive without the wonderful iPhone/iPad? Today was one of those days when I really appreciated the entertainment value of the wonder-gadget of our time…
Rachel playing with iPad while waiting at doctor’s office
The lady setting next to me tightly held her toddler. I guess she didn’t want her kid to get plowed down by the little boy running and throwing toys (while his hipster parents marveled at him). On a side note: Not even Rachel was allowed to act like that in a doctor’s office when she was younger, really…
So, I sat there, patiently playing with my iPhone and glancing up occasionally to make sure Rachel hadn’t moved. Checked two e-mail accounts, checked Facebook, checked msnbc.com, boring… OK, done, 45 minutes gone, ugh what now. Then, things started to get funny… Several of the kids had been called back into the exam area, so the waiting room was a little more clear. The lady next to me let go of the death grip on her daughter, and the kid started playing. All of a sudden I heard it – the mother of all bad words – the F WORD! That little kid just said the F-Word. Fortunately, I was still looking at my phone, and I kept my gaze fixed until I could stop chuckling. The mom said “honey, that is a private word”. WOW – a “private word” – this made me want to laugh again…. I know, that makes me a little bit of a bad person. But somehow, the casual slip of a naughty word from another kid softens a few memories from Rachel’s childhood when she said a few words that would make a sailor plush. Definitely not proud moments – especially for a good Baptist mom…
Fortunately, Rachel’s ear will be fine. The ear tube in the infected ear was o longer in place, so the doctor removed it and cleared the messy drainage. She will be fine – if she can survive not going to the pool for several weeks. At least she has an iPad to fill the void.
