Seriously! One day I think I'm cruising along, having all the answers, making all the right moves, and the next . . . BAM! Something new! Some new challenge. Some new problem. Oh no . . . they can't just give us a moment to bask in our wonderfulness . . . no siree, let's keep those big people thoroughly confused and out of sorts. Ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating just a tiny bit.
So, now that we've got that straight, let's move along to the problem. My four year old, Maddy, has allergies. She's allergic to peanuts, eggs, milk, cats, dust mites and probably several other things that we just haven't figured out yet. She's on several medications daily and has been for most of her life. We've got inhalers, decongestants, nebulizers, allergy medication and nose stuff . . . you name, she's on it. In the beginning, it was like pulling teeth to get the child to take her medicine. Multiply that experience by about five medications a day, twice a day and it became the most daunting task. She dreaded, I dreaded . . . heck, the whole family dreaded it.
Now, fast forward, change subjects -- just hang in there, I'm going somewhere with this. . .my three year old, Lacy (from the moment that she was born) witnessed this daily routine of calling Maddy into the kitchen so that we could pump her full of medication (which I'm totally against but just can't seem to get her breathing and allergies under control long enough to try and get her off of some of the meds).
In an effort to make this evolution less painful for everyone, we began telling Maddy that she had allergies and that these medications were essential to her well being. Besides that, they taste REALLYgood. So, she'd open her mouth, swallow it down and then let out a big "hhhmmmm, this is good Mama." It eventually got to the point where we'd find her in the kitchen waiting on us for her medicines.
Now Lacy, not to be outdone by anyone, thinks that she is somehow missing out on something because she is not on some daily medication. For a while, we tried fooling her by putting water into a small medicine cup (hat tip to Daddy - he's good at fooling the girls) . . . and it worked. But then, she got smart. And she realized that her medicine tasted just.like.water! And she was NOT happy about that one. Recently, she has even started to cry and whine and pitch a fit because she's not getting medicine. I've tried explaining to both of them that the whole goal is to NOT be on medicine. But they just don't seem to understand.
Ok --- so here is where you all come in . . . I need help from other parents out there. How oh how do I teach both of the girls that although medication is necessary when people are sick, it should not be used all of the time. Oh and while you're in the advice giving mood, maybe you can also suggest a way of explaining to the girls that Maddy is not sick, but that she has allergies that may or may not go away one day. And try to be creative, would you? I've tried the straight talk and it doesn't work!
That.is.all . . . as you were!
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