Pink-Eyed Boy

It's never a good sign when Princeton comes up on my caller ID during the day.  School doesn't call just to tell you that your kid is being especially good today.  Or even the opposite, like maybe he was serving his 4th time-out by noon.  Nope.  School calls mean two things:  sick or injured.  And I'd be lying if I said my heart didn't race a little every time they call.

Yesterday's call came at 2:55 pm.

"Hi Heidi, it's Caitlyn at Princeton.  Jackson is showing signs of pink eye.  He's been complaining that his eye hurts and hasn't gotten off his mat since nap time.  I think someone should come and get him."

Whew.  Just pink eye.

So I packed up my laptop, headed to school and called Drew on the way.  We agreed that since it was likely pink eye, which requires prescription eye drops, a quick trip to the pediatrician was in order.  If I hurried, I'd make it to Kansas City by the time the walk-in hours ended at 5:00 pm and Jack wouldn't have to wait until the morning for some relief.

It's a bit inconvenient that our pediatrician is about 45 minutes away, but we love Pediatric Partners so much it is totally worth it.  Yesterday was no exception.  Even without an appointment we waited less than 5 minutes.  Pink eye was diagnosed almost immediately and along with the prescription we got a coupon making it FREE.  We were out of there in under 20 minutes.

Jack & I decided a special treat was in order and picked up our absolute favorite Imo's Pizza on the way home, which happens to be too conveniently close to the doctor's office to pass up.

Aside from the slight debacle at Walgreen's when it came time to pick up the eye drops, the entire process was quite painless.  (Walgreen's, by the way, sucks.  I've complained for the last time.  We're switching to CVS!)

As for Jackson, he feels totally fine.  He was a real trooper when it came to the eye drops and tolerates them even better than I would.  Drew demonstrated on himself with his own prescription first and since everything Drew does is cool in Jack's eyes, he didn't hesitate when his turn came.  "Just like you, Dad!" 

Of course, his eye was matted shut and totally nasty this morning but Jack doesn't seem a bit phased by it.   In fact, we joked that he is probably going to think pink eye is pretty cool.  After all, he got to stay home from school (24-hours of antibiotics before going back since it's so contagious) and spend the entire day with Daddy.

Yeah.  A pink-eyed boy, but definitely not a sad or sick little boy.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go itch my eyes.