We’re also all going to see Moana 2 on Friday! If S1 bought the tickets as he was planning to do.
I took care of GS (3 y.o.) all day today. I need to be 40 years younger, and even that wouldn’t do it. I never enjoyed being at home with the kids. I went back to work right away, and that was essential. Maybe my son is getting back at me for that. 
I never planned to be a SAHM but circumstances dictated it as DH ended up traveling nationally and internationally at the drop of a hat, and we had no family in our area – and we made the finances work. Now I want to be near DD1/SIL/family to assist, as DD is expecting her 5th child and is the primary breadwinner (SIL is on a good career track, but it will take time for him to potentially overtake her salary). DDs were in a lot of music and also some sports, which takes someone managing time from end of school until bedtime - along with parent involvement/participation. It turns out when DDs were in 8th and 10th grades, I had aggressive stage IIIa cancer, and I was fortunate to survive - and just stopped seeing the oncologist this year. I had a miraculous turn-around unexpected by the MDs (no cancer at primary tumor site) after 16 rounds of chemo (the last four were ‘old’ cancer meds that were brutal, but meant to kill off what first line did not). Both DDs are doing super in their jobs/careers, and DD1 is a ‘baby factory’ with baby due March 2025; GD1 age 6, GS1 age 5 (14 months apart), GS2 age 3, GD2 age 1 1/2. DD1/family arrive this afternoon - and the cousin’s boys are young (GS2 and GD2 ages) and other cousin’s girls are age 8 and 11. Last year GD2 was carried around so much by the younger cousin’s DD like a baby doll. GD1 is super excited to be with her cousins!
We went to see Moana 2 this morning. I thought it wasn’t as engaging as the first movie and the music/songs weren’t nearly as memorable. Also there were parts that were too intense/scary for younger or sensitive children. (Our 2 year old was overwhelmed by parts of the movie and needed mommy to hold and reassure him.)
But the twins (who just turned 4) were thrilled by their first movie experience. Twin B was grinning ear-to-ear on the way out of theater. Twin A took her new Moana 2 book to bed with her at nap/afternoon rest time and again at bedtime.
But now the bad news–GS now has pneumonia. The quality of his coughing changed today and mom listened to his lungs when he got up from his nap. She said his lungs sounded really junky/congested even if he seemed to be in good spirits and fever-free. She called in a prescription for antibiotics and it was a good call, by dinner time he was wheezing and his breathing rate had ticked up… He got his first dose of antibiotics before bed.
D thinks we all–kids and adults–probably have been infected with mycoplasma and some of use are fighting it off better than others. But we’ve all been sick with cold-like symptoms to one degree or another for the last 3 weeks.
Tomorrow is a 5 miles fun run for the adults (though not this senior-with-bad-knees!) with the kids riding along in jogging strollers in the morning. Dinner and guests in the afternoon.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! 
Completely agree on your assessment of Moana 2. Only compelling reason to see is to enjoy the reactions of the grandkids who love the characters. Middle GD spent the last 1/3 or so of the movie in my lap, but D says she is scared of everything. 
Happy Thanksgiving to all the grandparents here!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!
I am relaxing this morning after thirteen hours with GS and GD (and the dog!) yesterday. Kids were great - kept busy playing, building forts, reading, creating, and a small amount of screen/TV time.
D is currently sleeping after working twenty-four hours yesterday. We’ll celebrate Thanksgiving later today with our little family and SIL’s parents, here for the week/weekend.
D,SIL,GD (accompanied by a few baby dolls and stuffies), 3 friends and Granddog will be joining us this year. GD was running a fever and stayed home from daycare yesterday, but is raring to go this morning. She is enjoying the Macy’s parade on TV and playing.
Happy Thanksgiving to all and hope everyone feels better soon!
All 3 GChilders behaved surprisingly well at family thanksgiving lunch today. DGD, 2 3/4, insisted on wearing her cheetah costume and having her lion stuffy nearby the table, but they all ate nicely and played together well with no major meltdowns. This is highly unusual, but I think we might be heading into some calmer times now that DGS is 5, and the two DGDs are approaching 3. 
GD will be 4 next month. She loves having everyone around a table to eat, and she told us all where to sit (Grandpa and Dad got to sit next to her). She was patient and polite, and she had lots to tell us during dinner. After dinner, she told Alexa to play Taylor Swift Love Story & she performed a lyrical dance to it. It was pretty impressive, especially since she doesn’t take dance lessons. I guess that all the prancing around in tutus the kids in her preschool class (yup, boys, too) do is paying off! We knew when she was getting tired, so H, S & I left. Soon afterwards, we got a picture of GD in the bathtub, in her bathing suit, “making potions.” Guess she had a good day - and do did we. She’s spending the night tonight, and we’re looking forward to it.
Older GD just can’t catch a break. About a week ago, we noticed that her fingernails were peeling. It turns out it’s a less common late stage symptom of the nasty case of HF&M disease she had. Her dad blamed it on her, saying she must have been picking at them or sucking on her fingers, neither of which have I seen her do. I sent him a link about HF&M and let him know it was not her fault, after telling her the same.
GD and her family spent Thanksgiving with SiL’s relatives. There were a lot of people, including kids, in a small space. All of his extended family are virulently anti-vax. (SiL insists that the one time he got a flu shot it gave him the flu.) Both GD’s are now coughing, and older GD threw up just as her dad picked her up early from school for an appointment. He took her to the pediatrician this afternoon while H babysits little GD. I had to stay home thanks to minor surgery this morning.
Tomorrow is a special Advent program at school, which GD will now have to miss. She’s had to miss previous special events and field trips over the last four months due to illness. This first year of exposure to a large group of kids has been rough. I know she’ll be especially sad about tomorrow as she was excited to share with us the songs her class has been practicing.
I hope both GDs get better soon and remain healthy over Christmas break. This hasn’t been a great autumn for them.
3 YO grandson is oblivious to stereotype boy and girl items - he was wearing pink ears headband and playing with his girl cousin’s toys. He had a grand time.
Our S loved having “tea parties” with his stuffed animals and wanted his nails painted. We put on clear polish for everyone and that was fine with all of us. D loved swords & capes—still does love the deal of capes and cloaks and likes drawing them—the drape of the fabric—shadows and textures intrigue her.
Replying to my own post to update - it turned out that the GDs had RSV, and later ear infections. H and I were both exposed, and have spent over a week getting little sleep due to frequent coughing and chest congestion that’s been a bit painful at times. I’ve been sleeping in a recliner since it’s less problematic than bed after the surgery. It seems better for the congestion, too.
The last time we caught a respiratory bug, I had sharp stomach pain a week or so after the cough started. This time, the stomach pain began the second day. I checked Dr. Google and learned that Robitussin can cause stomach problems, particularly in people with a history of ulcers and other GI issues. Lovely. Some other cold meds can cause similar trouble. Now I’m counting on soup and other warm liquids, honey, lots of water, and a few hard candies. I can’t tell much difference vs. OTC meds.
Please tell me that your older grandchildren developed enough immunity that they didn’t get sick every fall after their first year of school. I also hope any younger siblings who caught bugs from the older ones had an easier time in Kindergarten. We are clinging to that hope right now.
IDK if this soup would help, but it sounds delicious:
Italian antibiotic soup … cures all roasted garlic olive oil butter sauté fill large pot half way with bone chicken broth add thyme basil rosemary paprika ginger parsley salt and pepper boil add chicken bouillon paste until proper … roast 2lbs carrots 2 lbs celery 3 large onions with olive oil salt pepper and garlic salt… then add to pot … purify … add chopped up cooked chicken or turkey… make rice or pasta on the side to add to bowl … you’re cured
It sounds delicious, thank you. I’m not sure we have the energy to cook much at the moment, but maybe in a few more days. I’ve been microwaving instant ramen with chicken bone broth instead of the flavor packet and tossing in a few frozen chopped vegetables and garlic. That and quick cooking oatmeal is all I’ve felt up to preparing.
We’re still babysitting the cute little petri dishes and that takes 99% of our energy.
Our cute little Petri dishes eat like birdies and have different tastes in food! Older eat noodles with cheese which the littlest one won’t eat. She loves steak and all sorts of protein which the older ones don’t like. So when they all are here for a visit, I serve cheese pizza and cut up bell peppers! At least they all will nibble. 
No gourmet cooking here. And of course they all scream for ice cream. The littlest one had her first taste of ice cream recently when the big cousins were eating their dessert. She was puzzled at first… then grabbed the spoon out of my hand and very skillfully started shoveling the ice cream into her mouth! I noticed that every one of them doesn’t make any mess when eating chocolate cake or ice cream! Nothing gets wasted. Everything goes into the mouth!
Ha. Maybe not exactly on topic, but on my tiny phone, this displays as
The
Grandpa
Rent
Topic
so I’m always expecting much different situations.
We needed to go to a bank(atm to get cash for an outing but later realized they took credit cards). GD age 5 asked ‘what’s a bank?’
One of my great nieces only eats chicken when it’s shredded to resemble noodles. The others aren’t as particular.
H had some nausea and hopefully he got rid of whatever was the irritant so he doesn’t share whatever it was. I used 2 packets (a bit over 2#) of frozen chicken breasts, dried mushrooms, garlic, ginger and a few gogi berries to make chicken soup. He was only able to handle the broth and a piece of bread, plus a small glass of water. So far so good—no new nausea. We’re hoping it was something he ate so he doesn’t share it with me—I feel fine but didn’t eat the food he left out overnight which he insisted on eating.
This was true for GS. He missed about 20 days of Kindergarten, mostly with upper respiratory problems. This was in the 2022-2023 school year, so D tested him for COVID, influenza, and RSV several times. Always negative, but those coughs and low grade temps hung on for long periods of time. GD was in preschool that year and he shared most of his illnesses with her. GS missed only a handful of days as a first grader and I think he’s only missed one day as a second grader. GD is now in Kindergarten and has missed only two days. Fingers crossed. Also, she did have her tonsils removed after many cases of strep during her last two years of preschool.
I am sending all good thoughts your way, Silpat. I hope you feel better SOON.
My kids were backwards. Missed only a handful of days total in 2 years of preschool and then very few days in grade school until they were about 10 and 12, then they had frequent and prolonged absences but didn’t share their maladies.
Keeping fingers crossed your grandkids get healthier as they get older.