'Cause I'm in CSI mode.
You will all remember that Anna Marie has been coughing of late. And that we've tried several different medications to treat said cough.
And that she went to the doctor on Monday, who suggested that we continue with the Delsym because it was pretty effective. It does, after all, have six times the concentration of cough medicine that the Dimetapp did.
What you don't know is that she has been acting absolutely terribly the past two days. In fact, I got a call from the teacher today.
The teacher, y'all. This is some serious stuff.
Yesterday she got in trouble for talking to herself at naptime. That wasn't a big deal with me - I've been known to do the same thing. But when I got her from choir practice after school, she was just awful.
Her "listener" was broken.
She got in trouble at the office, and then again when she got home because she still wouldn't listen. She wouldn't sit still, and she was climbing on everything.
We had a long talk last night, and a "reminder" before school today. And then when I got back from lunch, I had a voicemail saying she was on "yellow #2" and that I needed to call the school.
Uh oh.
Seems she wouldn't sit still at lunch. She kept getting up out of her seat, even after being told to sit down. And on the way back, there was a puddle the teacher told them to avoid. You can guess what happened next - Anna Marie looked straight at the teacher and stepped in it anyway.
Her teacher even put her on the phone with me when I called back. She offered no explination for her actions. I did ask her if she needed to go to the bathroom, and she said yes. So I told the teacher that she'd been sick, and what kind of medication she was on, and that could be the problem. I also told her that AM had been drinking more since she'd been sick, and that maybe she was needing a potty break.
Oh, and also that her dad and I would deal with her when she got home, because that behavior was unacceptable.
I felt like I sounded like I was trying to excuse her bad behavior. Honest, I wasn't. The teacher called to see if I knew why she might be acting up all of a sudden, and I was trying to help. By the way, the teacher doesn't normally call the parent until the problem gets to "red" but she felt like this was unusual, even for AM.
So, after school Jason brought her to my office so I could get her ready for dance. And she was still in the same not-listening frame of mind.
We started to really think about the possibility the medication was causing the problem. I know that antihistamine/decongestants can cause either sleepiness or excitability, but she didn't get that prescription filled until yesterday. She didn't have any until bed time. And the other medication is amoxicillin, and seriously, who's ever heard of that kind of effect from an antibiotic?
Not I.
So, after some dilligent research, I've come to this conclusion: it's the cough medicine. I've left a message with the nurse to ask if she thinks this is a possibility, but really, I think I'm right. I know she's had a problem with this behavior in the past, but I don't know if it's ever been this bad.
We're quickly running out of consequences, so I think I'm going to skip that particular cough medicine tonight. Because really, I'm at my wit's end with this situation.
And besides…
Today is Jason's birthday. I was going to enumerate all the wonderful things about him, but, of course, that was all overshadowed by the recent unpleasantness. I'll have to wait for another day - I'm all exhausted now.
(Slightly off topic - did y'all know that's how many people in the South during the Civil War referred to the hostilities? "The recent unpleasantness." Also popular was "The War of Northern Agression.")
(Do I know a lot of useless information or what?)
7 comments:
As a teacher, it is nice to know that you support the teacher. I've had a child get off the phone with a parent and tell me that her mom said she wasn't in trouble no matter what I said. As a teacher, it is hard to enforce punishment if the parents don't support it.
As for the parenting part, well I have an opinion but it probably isn't valid since I'm not a parent and it is always easier to say than do right?
I would suspect the medicine too. its not her normal behavior you know it, even the teacher noticed. I would call the doctor and make him aware of the situation too. Trust your intuition, its usually right on the money.
Good luck!
Steff, I taught at a daycare for two years, and I encountered the same problem. It was so frustrating to know that the kids wouldn't be punished at home to back up what we'd done at school!
(And just because you aren't a parent, you are a teacher, and therefore have some insight into a child's behavior!)
I called the nurse, and she said that it could be the cough medicine. So she called in a prescription, and we're going to see if her behavior improves.
In the meantime, we had a talk tonight about how that disobeying at school keeps her, as well as her classmates, from learning. And she was not for that at all!
Let's cross our fingers and our toes, shall we, that tomorrow will be a better day.
Oh crap! Tonight is a night I would've gone to Spaghetti Warehouse to eat birthday dinner - we should'v done something!
i know nothing about cough medicine in kids.
but i do recognize the "recent unplesantness" about the *ahem* Great War.
at least that's how it was referred to when i was growing up.
benedryl has this affect on MY daughter.... so it's possible...
although at the jacobson household, we heart delsyn.... ;D
Oh it MUST be the meds as my precious Anna Marie IS perfect otherwise! But then, I am just a little partial to that face aren't I?
I hope she is feeling better now...poor baby.
And I too know about that unpleasantness-es many names OTHER than the Civil War which my grandpa down South warned me NEVAH to call it!
Hugs,
Sue
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