It was very evident that some strange stuff was coming out of Lydia’s eyes. This was diagnosed to be the dreaded “pink eye”, likely caused by a sinus ailment or allergy in her case. However, her eyes weren’t all that pink.
One of the things some new parents don’t know are nuanced ways to accomplish certain goals in a manner less stressful for all concerned. For instance, we were told to put eye drops in her eyes four times a day, two drops in each side. Insanely, we took this to mean actually trying to get drops IN her open eyes, which involved sometimes 10 minutes and two of us holding down a 30-pound baby – she is VERY strong – before mentioning this difficulty to a couple people, who suggested putting drops in the CORNER of the eyes and working in the drops. This I can do myself in less than a minute, and it’s much less onerous for all concerned.
Truth is, in terms of available sick time, I should take off all of the occasions that Lydia is ill. Because I’ve been in the job so long, my sick days number something like 140, no exaggeration. But in terms of the effect of trying to keep up with our respective jobs, we try to be more equitable. So Monday and Tuesday, I was at home with Lydia, Wednesday, Carol was, and Lydia was back in day care on Thursday.
When we were in the doctor’s office, Lydia was playing with the toys in the waiting room. A white girl, about seven, went over to play in the same area. Her father whispered across the room, “Come here!” He told his child, “You shouldn’t play over there! Over there they have,” and a slight pause. So what’s the punch line? “Sick children play over there.” Well, yes, they do. So maybe I was being paranoid.
It was fairly cold out much of last week, but Lydia needs to get some air, lest she go stir-crazy. So on Tuesday, I took her in her carriage to the local grocery store. I saw this older couple. The woman was picking up eggs. The man, who was at the cart, said, “Make sure you get good ones!” Presumably, he meant getting ones that were unbroken. He couldn’t see her face, but I could, and her look suggested this monologue in her head: “Shut up, old man! I’ve been buying groceries for decades without your stupid help!” I’m guessing that he’s a retired guy, maybe a former middle manager, with way too much time on his hands.
