Some Days the Dragon Wins...

Growing up I had a picture in my room with a fire breathing dragon, (even though he was pink and outfitted in lace) with the caption "Sometimes the dragon wins."  Today... the dragon defeated me.
Where to begin?  Blake is battling an ear infection. Yesterday he ran a low grade fever and we started him on an antibiotic.  However the medicine didn't help the fact that unless he was attached to my hip, he would scream his blood blond head off.  His fever broke last night and I went to bed completely hopeful for that today would be a good day.  I was WRONG.
Chris got up for work early, and as always, checked on the boys before he left.  He walked back into our bedroom and said, "Beckett feels really hot."  Hmmmm.....
He was right.  Beckett was a little furnace.  And a very irritable furnace.  So I give him some Motrin and put him back to bed.  He sleeps for another hour, while Blake scoots all around the house.  Relishing being an "only child" for the moment.  When Beckett wakes back up...he feels cooler.  His fever has broken and he's even smiling.  Great.  Maybe this day will still be good.  I shower and we all go downstairs to play outside.  Blake is standing at the dining room door.  I open the door...abruptly.  And slam his pinky finger in the door.  And he screams.  LOUD.  And I fall to the floor, scoop him up and curse myself.  I am crying now too.  Oh...and so is Beckett.  I calm down enough to look at his finger.  Ouch!  It's red and swollen.  And he won't let me touch it.  In fact if I try to look at it he screams and begins to flail his arms wildly.  I call Chris, thinking that he will put me at ease and say no big deal.  He tells me to bring him in.  What?!  So we head downtown to Chris' office.  He takes one look at his finger and says we need to go to Kosair for an Xray.  At this point, I am crying.  Sobbing really.  Blake has cried himself to sleep and Beckett is in a Motrin induced coma.
Thirty minutes later we are registered and waiting in radiology.  When it's Blake's turn, Chris goes in with him, to keep him calm.  Clearly if I couldn't calm myself down, I wouldn't be able to calm Blakey.  Blake was a rock star...and his finger was not broken!!  However it has extensive soft tissue swelling.  I'm supposed to ice it.  Really?  Keep ice on a 14 month old?
So we get home and we all take a nap.  As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out.  Until Beckett screams woke me up.  His fever was now at 101.  And we're out of Motrin.  And my husband called and said one of his patients was coming by to pick up some clothes.  So after I put cool washcloths on Beckett's head, the doorbell rang.  Zoey, the dog, darted out and scared the crap out of a little girl.  Beckett began screaming and just for giggles and grins Blake puked.

After a dinner of Little Debbies, Oreos, and applesauce, (it's the only thing he would eat) we are all in bed.  I am exhausted. Mentally drained.  Emotionally spent.  And so while I acknowledge that the dragon won today, I'm still blessed to be able to fight her.  Parenting ain't for the faint of heart.

sweet Blake 

(notice the ID band on his right ankle)