My Secret Identity

I wish my secret identity could be "Super Mom", but alas this is not to be so. So many days I wish I could just balance it all and keep it together. I wake up each morning thinking maybe this will be the day that the house is magically clean (from my super powers, of course!), that Kestrel won't oppose me at every turn, Hannah will walk out of the door in jeans and a t-shirt and not some strange concoction that she thinks looks nice and Hayden will not stalk me to the bathroom. Oh, and maybe hubby will bring me flowers for being such a super mom! But in the meantime, I have to settle for being "mediocre mom". The one who waits for hubby to get home and cook dinner because it is just way too overwhelming to think about doing while keeping two small people entertained. The one who rather than automatically picking up that 25 piece foam puzzle, steps over it for the one millionth time. The one who thinks that "today is not a makeup day" for the twentieth day in a row. And the one who wishes she could drop that extra 20 or 30 pounds by osmosis without having to put out any effort.

Anyhoo...

Hamster Boy is limping on his right foot/leg and hubby and I are quite perplexed about it. It started yesterday when we picked him up from daycare and the mom there told us he was complaining about his right shoe. I put it on him without fuss and carried him to the car. Once inside the house, we set him down and right away he started going "whoa! whoa! whoa!" and limping badly. I checked him all over for any sign of fracture, bruising, cuts, marks of any kind and there is nothing. I grilled Kestrel about anything that might have happened at daycare and that all checked out. If there in anyone more honest than Kes, I'd be surprised. She's the Tattle Queen.

Since he wasn't really crying about it, we did not assume it was a break or even a sprain. He just kept saying "whoa!" and limping around. We decided to give him Motrin and let him rest it and see what happened.

This morning he started to say "whoa" when I put him on his feet, but he seemed otherwise fine. Hubby and discussed the possibility of a shin splint or maybe plantar faciitis. These are two things that don't necessarily hurt when you touch them, but hurt like the dickens once you put weight on them. And there was no end of poking and prodding on my part, with no results. Oh, if he only had more language!

Anyway, it appeared that shoes made it more difficult for him to walk and I am considering booking an appointment with his ortho to check it out. I have noticed that his right foot is now very over-corrected and seems to trip him up a lot. I am thinking that I need to adjust the abduction (outward rotation) of his brace from 70 degrees to maybe 50 or 60 to alleviate that. but once again, I am in that position of second-guessing myself. He did end up still limping for the day and I got the impression that he is just "putting up with it". Sigh. Poor baby.

Lord, it's just one thing after the next with this kid! Any thoughts I had of an easy ride with the third kid have been dissolved. He is my "bootcamp baby" - unlike my girls and much to my surprise, it is he who is truly training me to be a mother. Maybe not a Super Mom, but darned close.