Croup

Last night Jack fell asleep and within two hours started barking. He sounded like the baby in "Terms of Endearment." You know- the scene where Debra Winger's character is up with the baby in the bathroom while her husband (can't remember the actor's name) tells her they need to move to a new town for his job. What an odd coincidence. Anyway, we knew Jack wasn't feeling good because the other night he sat on Ed's lap for about twenty minutes (unprecedented) and just sucked on his blanket. Poor little guy. Poor me. I'm grading SAT essays online this week and next trying to earn a lot of extra money for next month, plus finish grading essays and final grades for my online class. The nurse suggested sleeping in Jack's room for a few nights just be sure he could breathe. I can't imagine. Thank goodness the monitor is a viable option. I keep trying to remember all that is good- and so much is. Our stress derives purely from choices WE'VE made in life-- not seemingly random events that would allow us to soak in victimhood. And our stress is what "they" call good stress: balancing a loving family with available work, planning for a move that will help Ed fulfill his dreams, feeling both exhausted and invigorated by my renewed trips to the Y for spin and pilates classes, oh yeah- and helping a croupy Jack through the days (grump!) and nights. I would hate to see how we'd react if something happened that made us see that we really have no control over life's events.