Mother Knows Best

It's been like a MASH unit here the last couple of weeks. Sarah had surgery to repair a torn meniscus and was hobbling around on crutches for a couple of days followed by limping with a cane. Amazingly she didn't miss a day of work, even taking an electric cooler, filled with ice and with hoses that wrapped around her knee, with her to her office. As she tried to put more weight on her leg, she would leave a crutch or her cane leaning against the wall making our house seem like the final scene in either A Christmas Carol or Miracle on 34th Street. Elijah has had horrible allergies causing puffy eyes, constant sneezing and red splotches on his cheeks. I have been taking care of the both of them and, to quote Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, "I'm to old for this shit." (Full disclosure: Waiting on Sarah hand and foot for a couple of days was nothing compared to when I had my back surgery years ago. Sarah did an incredible job of helping me recuperate with all the TLC one could hope to get.)

Unfortunately, as a by-product of his allergies, Elijah was also getting bloody noses every day. No, that isn't right; it was every night, mostly between two and four in the morning. With Sarah somewhat disabled, I would have to clean up the little guy, change his pajamas and sheets, start a load of laundry and calm him back to sleep. (For awhile only Lizzie Borden went through more bloody sheets than we did.)

When I spoke with my mom and told her what was occurring she suggested a swab of Vaseline inside Elijah's nose each night would help. Sure enough the blood spigot has been turned off and all three of us are now sleeping peaceably through the night. I guess mom proved again she must have gained some knowledge from raising the three of us.

Which reminds me of the famous Mark Twain quote: "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years." Thanks again mom for not only your love, but wisdom as well.