Things are definitely not simple...

We have had a lot of various seasonal sickness and such at our house lately. First my son had a throat and ear infection that resulted in a round of oral and ear drop antibiotics. I'm not keen on antibiotics so this was a challenge for me. I'm pretty leery of medication in general so the next episodes have been stretching my tolerance even further. Next my son had a fever and was kinda down and out with no other real symptoms for four days. A few days after this I managed to get strep throat and was out with that for several days. At the beginning of this week my son seemed to be experiencing some allergy symptoms; pollen levels where we live are VERY high. At first I brushed it off thinking he'd just weather it. However, he ended up being awake a lot in the night and was very congested in his sinuses and his chest by the morning. I started him on some over the counter allergy medications...but by evening he had a fever. In the night it became obvious that the fever was due to an ear infection. He's recently become rather susceptible to ear infections if he gets any nasal congestion. So this morning we pack ourselves off to the doctor fortunately she was was very attentive and seemed to know what she's doing ;) In the end we were prescribed to continue with the antibiotic drops we had leftover from his last infection as well as a prescription for a nasal spray to use twice daily as well as an inhaler with a special mask and chamber attachment to make it easier to administer the inhaler the 4-6 times a day we need to be doing that. If things are not noticeably better by Friday afternoon (our next appointment) we'll have to consider oral antibiotics again.

The reason I'm writing this all down...is that this does not amount to simplicity for me in any way, shape or form. Not only do I have to keep track of his schedule to make sure that he's getting all of these things regularly and at the appropriate times but I also worry about what I'm giving him. As I stated before I'm leery of medications. I don't like pumping my delicate precious boy with all of these foreign things.

How do I find peace in this place? Any ideas out there?

Pinterest...

So I know that Pinterest is all the rage...but there's something about it that has made me a little resistant to it. It's probably just all the obsessive hype I hear...and the wanna-be hipster in me. Regardless I had not made an account. It's not really like me to be a late comer to this sort of thing. So...this afternoon, after having a conversation with a friend about some of the useful house cleaning tips she's learned on Pinterest, I decided to give it a go. So I go gleefully click their button at the top of their page requesting an invite. I already see a few neato things that i'd like to "repin." So, I somewhat excitedly go to my email looking for my shiny new invite...to find this:

Hi!

Thanks for joining the Pinterest waiting list. We'll be sure to send you an invite soon.

In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter. You can also explore a few pins.

We're excited to get you pinning soon!

- Ben and the Pinterest Team

WHAT?!?! I am not fond of being part of the outside circle...the funny thing is that it immediately took me back to that high school sort of panic loop. Some of the following ran through my head...

-Will my account always show my join date so I'll look like a *gasp* late adopter?

-Will I have to continue listening to the "cool" people talk about all the awesome "pinning" they're doing and all I can do is sadly bookmark?

-I don't like being left out.

That last one is the real crux of it isn't it? No one likes to feel truly alone. Don't get me wrong we all need our alone time, some more than others. But BEING alone is different. Feeling like you're missing out or not able to relate is never a fun place to be. So...I guess if there's a lesson in my experience today it's that I should always be aware of this...in maintaining my own connectivity, but also in being there for someone else who needs it. Life is simpler when you aren't alone.