Strix is fine! Phone was dead, she was v. busy, computer wonky. All is well.

eta xpost!

And I am going to go walk Calli's cat and pretend like I never worried at all. These are not the droids you're looking for.

Oh, and thank you smonster, as ever.

Crack Twins 4evah.

Aaaand... she just wet the bed. Our big bed. JIMINY CHRISTMAS, UNIVERSE. Stop sending the ducks; I am well and truly nibbled.

Heading back up to urgent care at 10, because the advice nurse thinks they may be able to give her a shot instead of the oral stuff. But first, clearing out our nerdhole, since my mom pointed out that the busted pipe is in a really inaccessible spot and there's no way the maintenance guy will be able to get at it unless the desk and computer are out of the way.

HAI I AM NOT DED DEADLINE MONSTERZ EATEN ME FROM MA BOTTOM.

And I am getting some coffee (PLEASE GOD COFFEE), and will attack my email, amyth, and send you my info. You may spank me and give my wonky computer the stinkeye.

I am a nogood awful communicator who fell into the pool of copyediting for the last 5 days and have promptly drownded between it and the kiddo's last overpacked with happenings week. I will give Matilda her next 20 doses in penance.

JZ I'm sorry you and Matilda have to go through this.

The Urgent Care doctor should have known that the oral version isn't for kids and set you up with another delivery method in the first place.

You're not a bad parent, just getting medicine in your sick kiddo the best you can. I was terrible about taking medicine when I was a little kid and at times my parents had treat it more like pilling a cat than giving medicine to a child.

Spoke with the advice nurse, who agreed that what happened last night is really unworkable for an entire week of 3 times a day, so we're heading back to urgent care when it opens at 10 for an alternative med or dosing method of this one (the nurse said maybe shots, which also sounds nightmarish, but at least then the doctor gets to be the bad guy).

How old do kids have to be before they can start taking meds in pill form? I don't remember when I switched from liquid to pills, and I don't have kids or ongoing access to kids younger than 14, so I don't have even second-hand experience of other people's kids and their medication experiences.

Truthfully, even as an adult, I'd rather get a shot of antibiotics than take a liquid. There has never, ever been a way to make a liquid med taste good.

Also, Matilda has all my dental sympathy. I just finished my 4th round of antibiotics in 2 months, and all my flora from my stomach to my goolie are fucked. Violently upset stomach, ladyparts on fire, mouth is still tender, still trying to not eat hard/crunchy things because even if I chew on the opposite side a small bit might migrate over to the zombie socket and stab me there (OHAI tortilla chip, you fucker).

JZ, gee whiz. That is way too much to deal with, especially with Hec out of town. Is it somehow a related stress thing, do you think?

Someone please tell me to chill the fuck out? I keep feeling like Z isn't that into me, and it doesn't help that I can see he's still on OKC pretty regularly. I mean, we've only been out together a few times - I'm not sure how into him I am, though I am at the point where I don't care to see anyone else until I've given this a good shot. Sometimes it is frustrating/depressing/annoying/scary how much I really want to be partnered. I MUST CHILL.

But you know what? I have always, always been this way. I've been having (mostly unrequited) crushes and such since at least kindergarten. So I guess I need to figure out how to respect that and "honor" it, without getting steamrolled by my emotional rollercoaster. OH HAI DBT AGAIN.

How old do kids have to be before they can start taking meds in pill form?

It depends on the kid. Some kids can swallow pills when they're fairly little. I have a majorly over-active gag reflex and couldn't swallow pills until I was a teenager.