It's just silly not to try anything new

This is coming from my daughter who isn't necessarily the first one to jump on the bandwagon when it comes to trying something new. However, apparently most of her new classmates at school eat "tray lunch" rather than bringing their own. She said, "That's just silly to bring your own lunch and not try anything new." I assured her that this weekend we could sit down and look at the menu and decide which days she could have the infamous & oh so delicious "tray lunch." Let's just see how quickly she starts asking for ham & cheese sandwiches from Mommy again!

I guess you could guess that her fever is all gone. Now, she has a rash! At first, I freaked out a little (as I tend to do so easily!) However, then I remembered what I thought earlier in the week. Katie had had a rash then Gracie had gotten the fever. I had wondered if perhaps it was Roseola. I even asked the doctor about it when I took Gracie in (showed him Katie's rash.) Remember this was not my regular doctor. He mumbled something about "viral" and didn't think it was Roseola (I think mainly because I told him Katie hadn't run a fever.)

Now that Gracie's fever is gone, she has a rash that looks almost the same. I looked it up on the Internet and it sounds just like what's been going on with her this week. Swollen lymph glands are even some of the symptoms! Soooooo, I sent her to school! I am so hoping we're right about this because from my understanding and from what I'm remembering that my real doctor told me when Katie had it a few months ago, Roseola is no longer contagious once they get the rash. It's contagious when they have the fever and you don't know what it is at that point, but of course she was home from church & school when she had the fever anyway. I think it actually said it was contagious before they even start running fever, but you can't know that at the time!

If the school sees the rash & calls me, I will be mortified! (It's mainly on her back & front torso, so they probably won't even see it.) I will hurriedly rush to explain what I think it is and can even take my trusty Internet literature that indicates it not being contagious once the fever is gone and rash breaks out. If I have to, I'll pay another $20 copay to get the doctor to sign something agreeing with me. *sigh* I hope we did the right thing! Being a former teacher, I feel stuck between a rock & a hard place. As a teacher, I know I would have immediately sent a child with a rash like that to see the nurse. As a parent, I now know that not every rash indicates a serious problem especially after Katie having Roseola a few months ago and having it explained to me by the doc.

I also had to kind of laugh at myself this morning when I walked Gracie to school. I stood at the gate that is right beside her lovely gray portable building. I let her walk into the building by herself. (They lock the gate in the morning & during the day to keep kids from coming late without getting a tardy slip and for safety.) If they get there before 7:20, they're supposed to go into one of the K rooms that's in the inside building and wait until they're sent to their own classroom. I knew we were only about 3 minutes before that time. She went inside and I casually waited. After about 3 minutes, the door to the other room opened and she & 2 other little girls walked out and up the ramp to her classroom. Her teacher & aide were both standing there at the door. I called out to Gracie and waved.

The teacher saw me. I know what she's probably thinking. Oh goodness! There's that Mrs. Shanks again. When is she ever going to let Gracie grow up. She's always hovering! Doesn't she have a life? Those stay-at-home moms don't have anything to do!

I'm getting better. I promise! I just know that if I ever go back to teaching, I will do some things differently now that I'm a parent. Not that I think I was a bad teacher, but I realize I could have done quite a few things better. Hindsight's 20/20, right?

Dear Lord, Please help Gracie to have a good day! She's been so tired lately getting used to the school schedule and being sick on top of that. I hope the 2 hour nap yesterday afternoon and going to bed at 8:!5 last night helps with her energy today! Please let her rash go away and not be anything serious. You know that Chris & I honestly thought it was okay to send her and that we weren't trying to get other children sick. Please don't let that happen. Please protect both Gracie & Katie and all the children at school both emotionally & physically. Thank you for letting Gracie be loving school as much as she does! Please help her to be a positive person in the lives of many! In Jesus' Name, Amen.