No Internal Editor

Remember yesterday when I said I felt bad leaving Wonder Boy home by himself to battle the shingles?I’m over that.  I know, didn’t take long.

The whole notion of staying home, getting better, not infecting anyone else….seems lost on a teenage boy. And not just Wonder Boy – his friends too.  Or should I say loyal gaggle of idiots?

Came home last night to 6 teenage boys sprawled across my living room, music and TV blaring, 2 pizza boxes on the coffee table.  And my child?  Right in the middle of it. 

When I asked the idiots boys if they had made sure their parents were ok with them being near WB, I got a bunch of “Huh’s?”, “Don’t matter.” and “It’s cool Josie.”

I just know one of these poster children for birth control kids is going to get sick and I’m going to have a pissed off parent on the other end of the phone.

Glass of wine anyone?

Five hours and 46 minutes.

That’s how long it took for 4 different DR’s to poke, stare and scare Wonder Boy last night before finally telling us what we already knew – Shingles.

Apparently his age and the fact its his second round of the virus, makes him an anomaly.  So, while I do believe the first DR knew it was shingles, she wanted others to see it and so on.  So a circus freak WB became.

And I must say, from yesterday morning to last night – huge growth in the rash and blisters.  Very similar to the picture that came up when I googled it last night.

But after valiantly surviving 2 needles – he usually faints – Wonder Boy and I left the ER at 11:09 pm last night with enough medication for a small village.

He’s home for at least this week and hopefully the drugs kick in – both the anti viral and the pain meds – as he tossed and turned last night.

He may be over 6 ft and almost an adult, but he’s still my little boy and it kills me that I have to be at work today while he’s home fending for himself.

His biggest concern – what about Rugby practice?  Priorities of a teenager.

Can you get shingles twice? 

Wonder Boy had them about 4 years ago and if my memory is correct – he has them again.  His chest and stomach look like they did before and he’s dragging – has no energy whatsoever – and a minor fever.

We’re on our way to the walk in clinic because his Dr is on Holidays and he won’t see mine because she’s a she.

Please don’t be shingles…..

A couple weeks ago I had ranted about the Principal at my son’s school who was trying to charge me over $800 for the “extra” assignments he had requested.  Background:  last semester, Wonder Boy was bored with his classes, which anyone with teenagers knows is never a good place to be.  I am here to tell you that I am responsible for every gray hair on my parent’s heads because of boredom in high school.During a parent/teacher conference, his teachers had offered to give him additional assignments to maintain his interests.  Easy peasy, right?  Not so much.

Apparently the Principal got wind of this and saw fit to charge me for the additional services from the faculty.  Now, we’re a public school board.  The enormous property taxes I pay quarterly subsidize the board.  As do the taxes I pay bi weekly on my pay cheque and at tax time.When I attempted to make an appointment to see the Principal, I outlined exactly what the reason for the appt was – in an email – and I was unbelievably polite and un-sarcastic, which is unusual for me in situations like this.  Below is an excerpt from her reply email: 

“While I respect your initiative towards your child’s education, at the same time Mrs. C please understand that we are under funded and can only accommodate those children we feel are in jeopardy.  Further, it is very presumptuous of you to assume that as a single mother you would be able to request special treatment for your child.” 

Yes folks, apparently they don’t teach you to cover your ass in Teacher’s College.  Not only that, I’m Ms T – not Mrs. C – never have been Mrs. C.  Check your records darling or better yet, actually notice who the email your reading is from.  Also, “your child”??  Are we sending mass emails like this and don’t have time to type the 5 letters that make up my son’s name??  Why not just insert his student # and make it that little bit more impersonal.  As for the “in jeopardy” – we have an honour student who is bored with a curriculum that should be taxing – Bio, Chem, Grade 12 Math (he’s in Gr 11), French and German.  It hurts my brain just thinking about half those courses.  I refuse to touch the “single” parent comment because it just makes my brain want to explode. 

So, just before leaving for Dallas I attended my first trustees meeting.  Fun times internet, fun times.  Besides wanting to shove flaming bamboo sticks up my fingernails, I managed to stay awake till my name was called.  After much back and forth between myself and the Stepford wife that was running the ego fest meeting, I was told their decision would be “conveyed” to me within a couple of weeks.  Well, that decision arrived in my mailbox last night.  And the envelope contained…..an apology from the board stating that I was to ignore the “invoice” and promises of an apology from the Principal.  Am I holding my breath for that one?  No. 

To make the situation all that more interesting, I discovered Wonder Boy has been skipping classes of late.  Why?  Boredom.  Again.  This semester is another one that taxes my neurons – Physics, English, Calculus, Trig and Drama.  I think the last course perfectly describes what’s going to occur at parent / teacher conferences next week.