More Than a Little Oops

On Thursday I had to take Rory to the local Urgent Care for yet another sinus infection. The doctor prescribed something called Duratan, and since I haven't had much luck with my regular pharmacy carrying liquid medications for infants, I asked the doctor to recommend a different pharmacy. He told me that The Medicine Shoppe usually has these types on medicines in stock, and it was conveniently located across the street, so Rory and I headed over there.

Okay, so the place smelled a bit like old cigarette smoke and cheap air freshener, and the woman at the counter barely spoke English, but hey, who am I to judge? I picked up Rory's prescription, went over the dosage details with the pharmacy assistant, verified that Rory should take 1 teaspoon every 12 hours, and left.

Since I've never given Rory this type of medication before, I decided to read the bottle for possible side effects to look out for and happened to glance at the dosage directions. And here's what I saw, "Adults- 1 Tsp every 12 hours". Um, wait a second, isn't that what Rory is supposed to be taking? Why would Rory need to take the adult dosage? Something wasn't right.

So I called the pharmacy back and said "I'm a little concerned over the fact that my son's medication says that the adult dosage is 1 teaspoon, and that's how much I'm supposed to be giving my son - AND HE'S NOT EVEN TWO YET. What's up with that?" So the person put me on hold and got the pharmacist on who says to me in broken English, "Oooooh, so sorry, Miss. Make mistake. Supposed to be 1/4 a teaspoon, not 1 teaspoon." WHAT!!!! You're so sorry? I almost gave my son FOUR TIMES the dose he was supposed to get. I could have KILLED him. And you're just "sorry"? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

Needless to say, we won't be going back to the Medicine Shoppe in Camarillo. Ever. And neither should you.

Top Five Things That Annoy Your Coffee Barista: Part 2

Back by popular demand...

1) People who spend ten minutes holding up my line complaining to me that Starbucks doesn't offer enough low calorie items for people who are watching their weight, and then they finally go on to order a venti caramel mocha Frappuccino with whipped cream and extra chocolate and caramel drizzle both on top and in the cup. I'm getting a sugar headache just thinking about it.

2) Fellow Starbucks employees who come into the store on their time off and order the most obnoxious, time-consuming beverages they can think of, especially when it's BUSY. One girl actually asked specifically for ten ice cubes in her drink, and when I handed it to her, she asked, "Did you count them?" I looked her straight in the eye while trying to keep up with a rush of drink orders and said, "NOPE. Have a nice day!" You Starbucks people know what it's like behind the counter - give your fellow partners a friggin' break and save the complicated drink orders for when you are on shift and can make them your damn self.

3) People who leave their trash on the tables. There are garbage cans EVERYWHERE - not to mention the ones right next to the doors on your way out. There is NO excuse for leaving your garbage laying around and it's insulting to those of us who have to pick it up. Do you really have so little respect for people in the food service industry? What you people need is to walk a day in our shoes...

4) People who bring their little dogs into our store. I hate to break it to you folks, but they are DOGS, not people, no matter how many cute tiny sweaters you may dress them in. Dogs have FUR, and fur SHEDS. Enough said. So don't give me grief when I tell you that we don't allow dogs in the store - because I, like most people, prefer my lattes fur-less.

and last but not least...

5) I thought that people just talking on their cell phones while ordering was bad, but I've actually found something that's WORSE - people who ANSWER their cell phone while ordering! Let's face it, in this age of technology, we ALL have voice mail. Is it going to kill you to let the phone ring for a second while you finish ordering so we can get to the next person in line? As as I've said before, just HANG UP YOUR DAMN PHONES people!

Sighhh. Yeah, it's just been one of those weeks...

The Alphabet Song

Yeah. My kid is DAMN CUTE.

Pucker Up!

Oops...

The other evening, we were walking home from the grocery store with Rory in his stroller. We stopped at the corner, where there was a car waiting to turn right who was blocking the cross walk. The driver looked over in our direction and saw that we were waiting to cross the street, so without looking, he threw his car in reverse to make way for us in the cross walk - and totally smashed into a car that was also waiting to turn right behind him. Ugh! We felt TERRIBLE. Luckily, no one was hurt, but I don't think that mattered much to the two people involved in the accident. All we could hear were cuss words flying as we continued home feeling awful... with Rory repeating "Cars go CRASH!!" over and over again.

What a bummer...

Month 21 and Month 22 Newsletter PLUS A Mariposa Christmas 2006

Dear Rory -

Okay, so I'm running a little behind on your monthly newsletters, but since you've been the one keeping me so busy, I'm hoping that you'll let it slide. These last few months have been a whirlwind of holiday activity in our festive interfaith household - and it's only made it more crazy having a Mama that works in retail during the biggest shopping season of the year. But although it's been a bit exhausting, it's been wonderful watching you take it all in with that enormous sponge brain of yours. You have loved reading about the 8 nights of Hanukkah, especially pretending to spin the dreidal and eat latkes (you like pretending to feed all of your stuffed animals some latkes, too!) You also became OBSESSED with your very first DVD, The Polar Express, which taught you about the North Pole and Santa Claus, as well as one of your new favorite sayings "Watch the MOOOOOVIE!".

The holidays also meant our annual Christmas trip up to Mariposa to visit with your grandparents on the Pearce side, which is ALWAYS an adventure. (For those of you who are not familiar with Mariposa, a tiny, rural town just outside of Yosemite, you should check out a more descriptive post here.) It's the kind of place where people have wood burning stoves that they actually chop their own wood for (see your Papa Stan below) and people have bumper stickers on their cars that read "Man + Woman = Marriage."



As always, you had your fair share of soda pop from Grandma Judy and watched your five year old cousin Joaquin play with pocket knives, but this year, instead of being given a BB gun as a gift, you and your cousin were actually given your very own machetes. REAL ONES. But yours came with a leather carrying case that could be strapped onto your little leg because as your Uncle Dubby said, you "might be a bit too young to just carry it around on your own". Thanks, Uncle Dubby...

Actually, aside from the machete, you got some pretty terrific, more, um, age-appropriate gifts, including your own little vacuum cleaner and a little motor bike from your grandparents that is sure to make you the envy of all the other boys on our block. I think your face would have split in half if you had smiled any bigger:



You also got to spend some quality time with your cousins and grandparents, and that, in itself, is priceless.





Speaking of priceless, now that you are practically speaking in sentences, some of the things that come out of your mouth are definitely noteworthy enough to be mentioned here:

- "BATCHIPOSA" - your way of saying "Mariposa"
- "CARRY YOU" - which means, carry me
- "ELMO-ZOE-ROCCO!" - your demand for a specific episode of Sesame Street
- "MORE BOOTY PLEEEZ" - Now, now, it's not what you think! This is your way of asking for more Pirates Booty from Trader Joes aka crack for toddlers.
- "MAMA ALL DONE!" - The new way you ask to get out of your high chair since I always say that you can't get down until I'm done eating. (You sneaky devil, you!)
- "WAITING...CHANGE!!!" - The endless demand that we hear in the car for your favorite song by John Mayor, "Waiting for the World to Change".
- "STARBUCKS - VANILLA MILK! - Well, this one is pretty self explanatory, and I guess a hazard of your Mama's job, eh?

I'm sure I'll think of more, but these are the gems for now. You amaze us everyday with the new words that you're picking up - it's one of the highlights of my day to see what's going to come out of your mouth next.

I have to say that in these last two months, I really feel like we are beginning to find our rhythm as mother and son. As other kids your age start heading towards their "terrible twos", and scaring their parents with sudden personality changes, it seems to me like you are just getting better and better. Yes, you have your melt downs and your tantrums, but we're able to communicate so much more now and usually we are able to resolve things fairly quickly and get back to having fun. And I love that. I love playing "boo" with you and watching your eyes light up when you help me vacuum the house or we read your favorite book. I am SO PROUD of you, Rory - you are unbelievably smart (sometimes almost TOO smart for your own good!), and I wonder if you know how much I beam when people tell me how impressed they are with your ever growing vocabulary. "He's not even TWO?!" they always say and I think to myself, "I KNOW! Isn't he AMAZING?" And you are. You REALLY are. In EVERY way.

Happy 22 Months, little man.

Love,
Mama