STRIP: ScribbleWHAAAAT?!

Insomnia, Ear Infections, and Boredom

Yes I realize that these three things sound entirely random at first glance. However, upon deeper inspection....hmm....nope still unrelated to each other except that all three have happened today. Well, technically yesterday. This is where the insomnia part makes things a little squirrely.

Let's start from the beginning shall we? A call from the school nurse about your autistic son having an inflamed ear canal is a quick way to get you out of work and on the road. I love the child and all but he can be downright difficult when dealing with pain or unfamiliar sensations. An inflamed ear canal definitely falls under both those categories. I knew that if my deeply seated love for him was not enough to keep me from wanting to dose him with codeine laced cough syrup to stop the whining and crying, I can only imagine how the poor people at the Boys and Girls club were going to feel. Not to mention the other kids. And last but not least in my frenzied race to pick him up was the certain knowledge that clinic waits are always longer in the afternoons. Longer the way that I imagine the waiting room outside Hell would be: germ covered plague ridden strangers (I have some germ issues....), random unrestrained children, uncomfortable chairs, bad television with barely audible sound, too hot OR too cold, and always with a faint unpleasant odor you can't really identify.

I was not only 100% correct about the wait....and the conditions therein, but I had the added pleasure of extremely bored children. Two of them. Right there in the uncomfortable chairs next to me. Hungry, bored children that were so hungry and so bored that not even the barely audible episode of Sponge Bob was solace. I could fix one of their woes. I still had my snacks from work that I had been unable to consume. However, fate decided to pour salt in the tiny little wounds by sending in two slightly older boys carrying smartphones and clearly playing SOMETHING on them. Cue the longing looks at my phone; my phone with the dying battery. Nope. Not gonna happen, my tiny muchachos. 

There really is nothing sadder than a junior gamer nerd who is stuck in medical purgatory with no games. Alas, he was also cursed with a mother who's give a damn was just not working at that juncture. We were all suffering.

Some of us more than others obviously, but still.

Needless to say, by the time we got out of that office, we felt like prison parolees on our way to freedom from the big house. They were even happy to do their homework when we got home! It's the trials and tribulations that make us appreciate the little things in life, right kids?

So, the doctor confirmed that the eldest son has a raging ear infection and he gets to stay home today. He also gets to take the pink antibiotic which hasn't changed one iota since I was a child. I find this oddly comforting. You know the stuff: pink liquid amoxycillin. Has the consistency of a runny milkshake and tastes like the color pink (don't ask, I just have no other way to describe the flavor). It has to be refrigerated and is so damn potent that ingesting any more than two teaspoons every twelve hours is highly forbidden. Still exactly the same as it was 30 years ago when it was me taking it. When I initially filled the syringe with the medicine, eldest son became quite concerned and asked if it was a shot. I found this amusing and fought the urge to make some crack about jello.

He took the first round like a champ. He is not happy that he has to stay home from school today (weird kids, right?). He is excited to see his Nana this weekend (more on that later, but spoiler alert WE'RE GOING TO JACKSON). And he doesn't know it yet but he gets to run errands with mom this morning so not a total loss.

As for me, this will be a coffee fueled day. I have been awake since 2:30 in the morning. It took awhile, but I finally conceded that insomnia was winning the battle and decided to get out of bed. I chose "productivity" over "futility". I made a chore chart for the kids in the hopes that the promise of money in exchange for services rendered will convince them to do certain activities with far less feet dragging and whining.  Feel free to laugh now. It's okay. I am laughing, too. Although, in my case it may be sleep deprivation taking it's toll.

Hope you have a great Wednesday. It is Wednesday, isn't it?

-Nerdy (sleep deprived coffee fueled) Goth

Taking the Kids to Con

After a promising horror film on Netflix touting a red hooded girl snuggling a shotgun on the cover turned out to be in German (and I can't draw or write while also trying to read subtitles), I switched over to Mad Men.  I've admired the fashions in the ads from afar, it was time to dive in and actually watch the show. Five minutes into the show, I am pretty sure I would have gone to jail or been locked in an insane asylum.

"Try not to be overwhelmed by the technology. It looks complicated but the men who designed it made it simple enough for a woman to use." -Joan

What. The. Hell?

::Deep breath::

I don't live in that era. I don't live in that era. I don't live in that era.

Okay. Yep. Aside from the women's fashions, there is nothing that appeals to me as a woman from that era. Okay, the men's fashions were pretty swanky as well.  But despite the gorgeous styles for women and yummy men in suits, the misogyny would have prompted acts of verbal retaliation and potential physical assault. My determined stance of independence has been evidenced since childhood and continues into my adult years.

Some may call me combative, stubborn, or difficult (which can certainly be true). Others call me creative and funny and completely nerdy (absolutely true). These traits have served me well as a mother.  I don't allow the children to rule our house in the belief that time outs will win the day. However, we aren't total bummers as parents. We have introduced them to the wonders of things like Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, and a plethora of other things within the nerd and geek culture. We are entering a new age level with our kids and video games have become a fixture for them to play on their own rather than simply watching us play our games. Their aunt and uncle bought them a Sega integrated game system. Simple old school games to get them ready for the more advanced game systems later on down the road. So, for now, they are toiling away at Sonic the Hedgehog. And when they get too far out of line for too long, they lose that privilege.

We are also hitting the age where the kids really want to go to conventions with us. This is a thrilling and anxiety ridden concept. I have seen the parents with a passel of small ones in attendance at conventions and marveled at both their bravery and their fortitude. I, quite plainly, would have lost my mind if I had chosen to drag both kids with me anywhere more complicated than the grocery store in their younger days. Now, they are aware and interested in many of the same things that we (the adults) are. They want to join us at conventions. And we want to take them. We want to put them in costumes and have people think they are fantastic tiny versions of beloved fictional characters. We are strongly leaning toward a tiny Captain Hammer and a tiny Doctor Horrible (they love that movie). Now, we just have to get those costumes together.

We will probably be taking them to Dallas Fan Days or Dallas Comic Con next year. There is also the Sci Fi Expo next February (sorry no link available yet). These are smaller, fantastic cons within driving distance. Eventually, I am sure we will be taking them to Dragon*Con in Atlanta, GA. But for now we want to start in the shallow end of the pool.  

Even the shallow end is scary for the first time. Our first trip was a learning experience for the adults. We learned that snacks are important. Walk talkies are handy when you know your group is going to get split up. Comfortable shoes are absolutely necessary. A good nights sleep doesn't hurt. Now, we have to take all these things that we have learned to survive and put them into effect for smaller, less patient humans...one of whom is autistic and easily distracted. If it weren't too frowned upon, I would seriously consider leashes on the boys. My greatest fear is not a melt down or a tantrum or anything like that. My biggest fear in taking the kids to con is looking around and seeing that they are gone; distracted by some shiny thing and wandered off to see it without saying a word. This is a valid concern if you have ever taken them to a store. "Ooooh Squirrel!" ::sigh:: All the time. So, yeah. I want to take them. I want them to enjoy the same level of oohs and aahs and OMG that's awesomes as we do when we attend. Now, I just have to figure out how to cope with/ manage the anxiety of taking them and keeping an eye on them.

Yes, I know I started this with Netflix disappointment followed by 1960's era man rage, but if you stayed with me to the end maybe you can offer some advice on how to take small humans to con. Or at least how to deal with the anxiety!

-Nerdy Goth