I coincidentally lifted Zoe's hair as I was brushing it last night, only to reveal a large patch of eczema behind the top part of her ear. "Aaauuuuuch" she proclaimed as I tried to touch it. "We have to go to the doctor tomorrow", I concluded because as much as I probably could dap some hydrocortisone on it, I wasn't sure if that was the best/only thing to do. I wished my best friend who happens to be a doctor was here, but she lives in Denmark.
Hence, the week started with me getting out of bed just a bit too late, waking up a drowsy Zoe who luckily was so excited about going to the doctor that I could convince her breakfast would be a glass of milk and four crackers that we brought in a bag for the bus. Because the doctor is over by her dad's place, four bus stops away. The doctor turned out to speak only accented Swedish, which meant that Zoe didn't understand a word; the doctor gave me a piece of paper with instructions to apply hydrocortisone on the ear morning and evening. Zoe was so unimpressed that she tried to escape before I had gotten the prescription. Plus for Swedish healthcare: they have drop-in for small issues and it is free for kids. Minus for Swedish healthcare: the healthcare terminology is very weird so we first ended up in the drug abuse unit, me being slightly confused about the tattooed people in the waiting room; doctor communication quality, a bit random.
Luckily daycare texted us to which park they had gone in the morning because by now it was closer to ten in the morning and the day had been going for a while. Taking the bus back to where they were, we quickly found them and Zoe ran off with Alicia, her Irish friend. I was stressed by now and to get some peace and quite I decided to hide in a coffee shop with a flat white and write on my paper. I partly succeed although two guys from my unit came over and said hi but left quickly.
By lunch time I managed to get going on my tax issues and ended up spending two hours trying to deduct all the travel expenses I had on research travel, which had not been paid by my employer (or anyone else). I rand out the door at 3:30 to get to daycare before 4:30 where Zoe was excited to see me. "Can I have an ice cream" she asked and I agreed because it would be her treat for going with me to the gym. We walked to long way to the gym with the nicer play room and she laughed when I left her: "Mommy, this is like daycare!". I agreed and didn't say out loud what I thought: Yes, but here you don't cry when I leave. When I returned an hour later, she was doing an alphabet puzzle and the girl who looked after her was very impressed: "She speaks so many languages!". I just laughed and waited for Zoe to finish.
We went to the grocery store on the way back because we were out of milk but in the freezer we found the most wonderful thing: Macaroons. They were small and frozen but there were 12 in a pack and Zoe hugged them all the way home. "Can I have one now", she asked but I managed to keep her away from them until after dinner. At this point, it was 8pm and past her 'getting ready for bed' time. I tried desperately to get her in her pajamas but even though I only read three short books, she tossed and turned in bed, clearly not that tired. At 9pm we had been singing 7 songs, talked about how many days before we go to see grandma and Zoe had told me that she doesn't like it when I travel without her. She then sat up and looked at me. "Mom, you are the *best* there is", she said very seriously and looked me straight in the eyes. I teared up and gave her a hug. It might have taken an hour and a half to get her to sleep and I might not have time to write anything more on any papers this evening, but it was worth it just so see her little face with the sincere look exclaim something as simple as that. When I get older, these are the moments I will remember and cherish, not the moments of paper writing and email reading. She finally fell asleep ten past ten with her legs sticking out of the bed and two dolls in her arms.
Hence, the week started with me getting out of bed just a bit too late, waking up a drowsy Zoe who luckily was so excited about going to the doctor that I could convince her breakfast would be a glass of milk and four crackers that we brought in a bag for the bus. Because the doctor is over by her dad's place, four bus stops away. The doctor turned out to speak only accented Swedish, which meant that Zoe didn't understand a word; the doctor gave me a piece of paper with instructions to apply hydrocortisone on the ear morning and evening. Zoe was so unimpressed that she tried to escape before I had gotten the prescription. Plus for Swedish healthcare: they have drop-in for small issues and it is free for kids. Minus for Swedish healthcare: the healthcare terminology is very weird so we first ended up in the drug abuse unit, me being slightly confused about the tattooed people in the waiting room; doctor communication quality, a bit random.
Luckily daycare texted us to which park they had gone in the morning because by now it was closer to ten in the morning and the day had been going for a while. Taking the bus back to where they were, we quickly found them and Zoe ran off with Alicia, her Irish friend. I was stressed by now and to get some peace and quite I decided to hide in a coffee shop with a flat white and write on my paper. I partly succeed although two guys from my unit came over and said hi but left quickly.
By lunch time I managed to get going on my tax issues and ended up spending two hours trying to deduct all the travel expenses I had on research travel, which had not been paid by my employer (or anyone else). I rand out the door at 3:30 to get to daycare before 4:30 where Zoe was excited to see me. "Can I have an ice cream" she asked and I agreed because it would be her treat for going with me to the gym. We walked to long way to the gym with the nicer play room and she laughed when I left her: "Mommy, this is like daycare!". I agreed and didn't say out loud what I thought: Yes, but here you don't cry when I leave. When I returned an hour later, she was doing an alphabet puzzle and the girl who looked after her was very impressed: "She speaks so many languages!". I just laughed and waited for Zoe to finish.
 |
| Zoe and her Macaroons |
No comments:
Post a Comment