Rough Night.....

When's nap time?

I'm struggling this morning because of a rough night. First off was the issue that there is a desperate criminal on the loose here in our small town. So hubby and I got into bed and then he got up to go close and lock the kitchen window that we had slightly open. Gets back in bed.

Then he gets up to go double check all the windows and doors.

Then after he gets back in bed he starts realizing that there are house keys in the van in case we ever need a spare. So, knowing that the criminal is very likely to come over to our house and go hunting through our van and come across these keys and know which door to use them on, he gets worried. Except of course he's too tired and not dressed for going outside. So after he tosses and turns and worries about that I suggest he could just lock the screen/plexiglass door and then nobody could easily get to the front door locks. Good idea! So he hops up to go do that.

Then after a long while he thinks better of it and decides that he's got to go get the keys out of the van. You never know if the criminal with our keys might also know some tricky silent way to break open that outer door as well..... So he gets up again, gets dressed, and goes and gets the keys.

Then about an hour later a fire tone goes off for a structure fire, so off he goes to fight fire.

About an hour or so later he comes back.

Shortly thereafter our 18 month old starts with bronchial spasm coughing (which means he has a hard cough about every 45 seconds) so this wakes me up and I realize he needs breathing treatments. So I get out the inhaler and give him several treatments of that about every 5 minutes for the next who knows how long. He hates the inhaler and gets very upset when I put the mask on his face. So, imagine the coughing, the forcing the inhaler mask onto his face while he is rudely awakened and starts to scream, struggle, and cry. Then calm him down and let him fall back to sleep, and repeat it in about 5 minutes.

Eventually I decide that he needs the nebulizer for a longer, stress-free breathing treatment. So I get up and start trying to assemble the nebulizer. It's been so long since we needed it that I am surprised to find that it is missing the essential parts, and I don’t know where they are. As I am hunting through the meds cabinet I notice the mullein (herb) that I have had on hand. It is supposed to help with all sort of respiratory stuff but since I got it we haven't needed it. So I got some of that out and got set up to use it. What you're supposed to do is put some of it on a plate or in a bowl, get in a small room (the bathroom), and burn it. The inhaled smoke from the mullein is supposed to be just as good as the albuterol. Well, guess what--it was BETTER! After sucking up smoke, we went back to bed and I didn't get another cough out of the baby all night long. wow! Very cool. (Never mind that both he and I and the whole bathroom now smell like we've been at a campfire. It's worth it!)

So as you can imagine, 6:20am (get up and get kids ready for school) arrived far too quickly for me today. I had plans to go do some errands and visits today, but I can barely keep my eyes open and it is raining and dark out, so I'm staying home and shooting for a De-Luxe nap. Wish me luck!