Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all my readers! I hope you are having a fun (and safe!) time with your family and/or friends! We didn't have any festivities tonight, but we went to a party last Saturday with Bobble. He went as Charlie Brown, just as I mentioned a while back. I will upload a picture when I have the opportunity, likely over the weekend.

Also, if anyone was curious, this Kick-it Immune stuff seems to work really well. It could be sheer coincidence.... but Bobble is 100% better already. That was pretty darn fast. He also surprised me by signing for "more" of it after a full dropper (it suggests 2 droppers for kids over the age of 1, but I only gave him 1 the first day to watch for a reaction). He takes a dropper, shakes his head with squinty eyes and a crinkled face, then signs for more. I love it. Again, I have no clue if it was sheer coincidence or not, but if it really is this stuff being that awesome, I'm buying some.

If anyone can, I would also appreciate it if you went and voted for Bobble on Thirsties Facebook Contest Page. He's the one with the little leaf in his hand that is captioned "autumn leaves are falling". There seems to be a glitch, however, and it has duplicated my picture. Please vote on the one with the higher number!

Surprisingly Hard

It's been surprisingly hard trying to write here these last two months.... and not for a lack of things to say! Everyone that reads is aware (by now, anyway) that Bobble was sick for pretty much seven straight weeks. We were able to finally get over the illnesses, and we had a fantastic week last week! He was doing great at Montessori, he was sleeping beautifully, he was eating really well..... it was all just awesome. I missed having a happy little boy. I also thoroughly enjoyed having good sleep again!

Every Friday our local library offers a program for little kids (under age 5) to play for a couple hours. It's free, it allows for social interaction (for me and him!), and they have lots of toys that he just doesn't get exposed to anywhere else (like those really expensive playmats and structures made out of that material). My husband suggested I take him, and I thought that it would be a brilliant idea because he simply hasn't been in two months.

Guess who was exhibiting signs of a cold the very next day? *headdesk* Now, I haven't caught anything, so I'm holding on to that sliver of hope that it really is the fact his bottom two canines are visibly coming through.... but man. Talk about FRUSTRATING.

I'm very excited that we signed up to get a sample from www.wishgardenherbs.com a bit ago, and we actually got it in the mail yesterday. I heard about that company from a coworker (who uses namely holistic 'medicines'), and then saw that they had a FREE SAMPLE offer going on. It's hard to turn down a chance to try something for free when you wanted to try it anyway, so I signed up for a free sample of Kick-it Immune (For Kids), and we got it in the mail yesterday. I gave Bobble a half dose of it (simply to see if he had any reactions), and he didn't seem to mind it, though it smells like a shot of some random adult beverage. I let him taste a droplet first, and he signed 'more', so I gave him the whole dropper.... to which he signed 'all done' after. It was probably pretty strong. It did say it could be mixed with water for taste or simply placed under the tongue. I went the direct route. Anywho, here's to hoping that this stuff works. It's meant to boost the natural immune system and response, so I'm crossing my fingers. Obviously taking him to the doctor over and over (and over and over) didn't do diddly squat.

The company also has a bunch of other products, though not everything is available for a free sample. They do have things for Ear aches, calming/soothing, upset tummies, colic, cold season, coughs.... many other things. Oh, did I mention for helping you sleep? The above are also for children or infants, though they do have adult things, too. I decided to try this out since these are made with organic and wild-harvested botanicals, and they are herbal remedies. Again, we all saw how much the medicines from the doctor did for Bobble. *cough* nothing *cough*

So, here's to hoping he gets better (and stays better!) soon.... so I can write more here! I have plans for this blog, big plans... I just need my little guy to not be sick all the time so I can do something about them!

Disclosure: I receive a sample from the company through a promotion they were doing, and have not had any contact with the company in regards to a review on their product. Any opinions or statements above are my own and are not influenced by the company in any way, shape, or form.

Keurig Holiday Event Sign Up

 

Have A Keurig Holiday Event

Hosted by Mom Powered Media and Iowa Mom

Prizes: Keurig Platinum Series Quiet Brewer + K-Cups {4 prize packages = 1 a week}

Event dates: 11/2-11/9 and 11/9-11/16 and 11/16-11/23 and 11/23-11/30

It's A Free Blog Event! Sign-up here, BLOGGERS WANTED

 Don't forget to say that Christine at Thoughts Of Fluff referred you if you sign up!

Holiday Mohawk Home $399 Rug FREE Blogger Giveaway Event

Children Teaching Mama and Happenings of the Harper Household are hosting the $399 Mohawk Rug Event sponsored by Mohawk Home. The giveaway will begin on November 1st at 12:01am and will end on November 26th at 11:59pm.
Event Dates: Thursday, November 1st at 12:01am - Monday, November 26th at 11:49pm

Giveaway Prizes: Any 8x10 Mohawk Rug equal to or less than $399! (Winner's choice!)

Details: This is a FREE blogger event, open to US and Canada Residents and accepting sign-ups now (but Canadian residents cannot enter the giveaway, unfortunately).

Event Details

• Each blogger signed up will receive 1 FREE Link to either Facebook or Twitter (blogger's choice). You have the option of purchasing an additional link for $3 via Paypal to childrenteachingmama@gmail.com 
• To sign-up, you have the choice of posting an announcement on your blog about the event with links to both the sponsor (http://www.mohawkhome.com), (http://www.childrenteachingmama.com/) & (http://happeningsoftheharperhousehold.net)and my OR Send $3 via PayPal to childrenteachingmama@gmail.com with your email address and "Mohawk Rug Event" in the message. The money collected will go towards event fees and referral prizes.
• Adding the event button to your blog is optional, though recommended. The html is provided above, so just cut and paste. The more advertisement, the bigger the event!
• Once you have posted the announcement OR sent the PayPal payment, Fill Out This Form to reserve your spot!
• You will receive the HTML code for publishing the giveaway at least 4 days before the event, so expect an email around November 27-28th. The HTML sent should be a template used for the event, though you can change the words around to make it your own.
• They will verify that the posts are live on November 3rd at noon. If you have not posted the giveaway, you will be contacted and your link(s) will be deleted from Rafflecopter.

Christmas Cash Giveaway Blogger Opp!

 

 

Christmas Cash Event hosted by Mom Powered Media

Prize: $500 Visa Gift Card OR $500 Paypal Cash OR $500 Amazon Gift Card {winner’s choice}

Event dates: 11/7 – 12/5

Please mention Thoughts Of Fluff referred you

This is a FREE Blogger Event!! Sign-up here

Earth's Best Organic Yummy Tummy Instant Oatmeal Giveaway!

Enter to win some delicious breakfast for your little one (or yourself!) here:

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Earth's Best Organic Yummy Tummy Instant Oatmeal

Everyone knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so why not make that meal something that is good for your little one, too? Earth's Best offers many breakfast items that will help get your child's day started off on the right foot!

Earth's Best Organic Yummy Tummy Instant Oatmeal is one of our favorites, and comes in both Maple & Brown Sugar or Apples & Cinnamon flavours. There are no artificial flavours, colours, or preservatives in them, and each serving contains 30 grams of whole grain. What's not to love about that?

Bobble likes the Yummy Tummy oatmeals, but we like to blend them up a bit more to where there aren't really any clumps of oats in it. Don't get me wrong, it tastes great as it is! Both of us (yes, me too!) just are weird with textures of any food. Soooo, that being said, if your little one is a bit finicky of an eater, try to blend this up a wee bit with a hand blender. Odds are, they'll take to it and you'll know they are getting the wholesome foods you want them to have!

Just in case you don't remember why breakfast is important, here are a few tidbits for you as well. :)

A typical person will spend about eight hours asleep each night with no food or water. When they wake up in the morning, their body is dehydrated and they have little energy to start out the day with. This is for EVERYONE, not just munchkins! So, skipping a meal in the morning will mean you likely will eat more throughout the day (and generally those foods end up being unhealthy and high in calories). Academically speaking, children (or anyone, really!) who eat a well-balanced, complete breakfast will perform better than those who skip breakfast regularly.

For more breakfast tips and ideas, check out the Bring on Breakfast article on Earth's Best website. You can also keep an eye out on my blog for a giveaway for your own box of oatmeal from Earth's Best!

Disclosure: I receive sample(s) for the purpose of testing and review. These opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts Of Fluff is not responsible for shipment of the prize(s).

I guess I had it coming

Anyone that's followed this blog for a while knows that I wrote about pinkeye, and how I had unintentionally been judging those parents way back when. I just thought it was so gross how they didn't wash their hands, and didn't think anything of it. Obviously, from the entry linked above, you can see I realized that might be inaccurate, and it was unfair of me to assume they don't wash their hands.

Then there's today. I have pinkeye. My son has pinkeye. My husband has pinkeye. The only household members without pinkeye? My 3 cats. So I knew that pinkeye was highly contagious, and I knew that you could get it from not washing your hands after bathroom usage/diaper changes. When I got a letter from Bobble's school (Montessori -- he goes to childcare there) stating that they had a child with a confirmed case of pinkeye, I wasn't too concerned. That child was actually in preschool, Bobble is in the Toddler Program.

Unfortunately, Bobble has been sick since September started, much less October. Teething, Stomach Bug, Cold, Staph (rash), Ear Infection, Pinkeye, Thrush, Yeast..... it's been one battle after another. Two weeks ago was the Upper Respiratory Infection and Pinkeye diagnosis. Drats. I thought I got away without the pinkeye issue. Three days ago I woke up with a less-than-happy eye, but I didn't think it was pinkeye for a few reasons:

• Bobble has no visible signs of Pinkeye anymore
• I had no crusties or drainage of any type
• My eye was only bloodshot near the tear duct, nowhere else

Well, the following morning, I woke up with crusties and my entire eye unhappy. Shoot. On the bright side, I have the ability to just use my breastmilk to take care of it, though I wasn't certain how much or how often to use it. I called my doctor's office and they told me 2-3 drops 4-5x a day. Yes, they actually gave me a dosage for my own breastmilk. At least that means they know it will work, right?

I went to work anyway, as I had a deadline that only I could work on, and they needed it. When I was done working, they "strongly encouraged" me to go home. I was promised I wouldn't be in trouble for missing work (since I had missed a lot with Bobble lately... namely just leaving early for appointments), and then gave me the okay to take off today as well to get "less contagious". I argued a wee bit with them, saying I didn't see how it was that big of a deal. I was using germ-x at my PERSONAL computer if I touched my face (before touching my desk/mouse/keyboard again), the couple of times I used a public computer I lysoled the mouse/keyboard, and I didn't use my hands to open doors at all. I told them that it wasn't like I was going to rub my eye on people. A co-worker chimed in that you can get it without touching the person.... and that she knew this from working at a daycare way-back-when.

This intrigued me, so I Googled it. First things first, I didn't realize there was a bacterial form and a viral form of pinkeye. Here's what I learned:

Viral pinkeye

Viral pinkeye is often caused by an adenovirus, which is a common respiratory virus that can also cause a sore throat or upper respiratory infection. The herpes virus can also cause viral pinkeye.
From: http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/tc/pinkeye-topic-overview

Bacterial pinkeye

An infection may develop when bacteria enter the eye or the area around the eye. Some common infections that cause pinkeye include:

• Staph infection.
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib).
• Cat-scratch disease.
• Gonorrhea.
  From: http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/tc/pinkeye-topic-overview

 Soooo, as you can see, it wasn't just from "bathroom" related things! I honestly had no idea. So we all have had some sort of virus that has caused throat pain and coughing for the last 1-3 weeks (depending on which one of us it is), and my little Bobble also was being treated for a (staph) rash. I guess we were just doomed for this one.

I also thought we were in the clear when I caught pinkeye. Bobble had no symptoms anymore, as I said. He has, however, been poking me in the eye (learning body parts, and eyes/nose are his current favorites), and I'm assuming that's how I got it.

Yesterday I administered breastmilk drops to my eye. My husband insisted upon buying the eyedrop medicine. By the end of the day yesterday, my eye looked 2x better than it had (still bad though). It also was instant relief when milk was dropped into my eye. Today, my eye looks barely bloodshot at all. Nobody would think it was anything more than maybe an eyelash snuck into my eye. That's it. I love it! Still using milk, but it's always on hand, so not a big deal. My husband, however, put in eye drops last night. Instantly started going "owwwwwww, this STINGS!!!!!". He still insists that he must use those drops as he doesn't think the milk will help. I guess he likes the pain. I'm just thankful that I'm still breastfeeding!

BentoBoxes -- Keep It Separated!

If you've been looking for a lunch box for your child, have you checked out Laptop Lunches Bento Boxes yet? The bento boxes are a fantastic way to pack healthy, well-portioned lunches for you or your children. They are stylish, eco-friendly lunch boxes that are reusable, recyclable, long lasting, and dishwasher safe. Better yet, they contain NO phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), PVC, or lead. They are great for traveling, going to work, or going to school.

Laptop Lunches sent me one of their awesome Bento boxes to try out:




I was thrilled to find out that they were (top rack) dishwasher safe, as this would make it a lot easier to clean on those days where Bobble just won't stay in one place long enough for me to collect my thoughts before he makes another mess!

As you will be able to see from the pictures that will follow, Bobble wanted to make certain that he helped with showing off the Bento Box. I was thrilled that he was so excited about it, because it was for him to take to daycare, after all!

The box is easy to open, but not so easy that Bobble could do it himself. I find this a HUGE plus, personally, as he is in a "throw everything that you can" phase when it comes to food.

Of course, once it's open, he has no issues what-so-ever!

It was very difficult for me to get a shot without Bobble running in the way or grabbing items and moving them around, so this was the best I could do once it was open:

The compartments are separated and easily moved around inside the box to be however you like it set up best. You can see there is a compartment on the right hand side of the box for eating utensils, and three of the five containers have lids.

The lids have different pictures on them to show what's inside (assuming you want to follow the suggestion on the lids!) like fruits and veggies. The tiny container doesn't have a picture, but it's obviously for something like dressing, sauce, etc.

I love how well these containers seal, because nothing can spill from them, but they aren't difficult to open up. I also love the pictures on the lids because it makes it a bit exciting for Bobble. While this can hold much more food than the can eat in a day at childcare, this will be perfect for him when he gets a bit older!

Okay, I admit it. I've totally stolen this for myself until that point in time.... but at that rate I might as well just get him a new one! That doesn't mean he doesn't get to enjoy this while we are out and about, though! I can put some broccoli in one container, some ranch dressing (his favourite!) in the tiny container, and a few pieces of fruit (like sliced grapes) to enjoy while we're out running errands for an extended period of time.

While I don't have a carrier for the BentoBox, you can find them on the Laptop Lunches store page under Carriers, Totes & Sleeves.

The BentoBox is also the perfect companion to MOMables lunches (my review seen here), and are featured in many of the recipes they send out. (Such as the Philly steak sandwich that can be seen on their Sample Menu page.)

Laptop Lunches has offered to give one of my readers a $25.00 gift certificate to their store! You can enter below for your chance to win! If you don't win, don't be discouraged! These containers are durable and will definitely save you money by ensuring you don't need to keep purchasing a new lunch box (or containers for inside it!) year after year. Check out their store to see all the great items you can purchase, including their Bento Buddies (extra containers, all with lids!).


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I receive sample(s) for the purpose of testing and review. These opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts Of Fluff is not responsible for shipment of the prize(s).

Healthier Lunches In a Snap!

Getting our children to eat healthy is not as easy as it sounds. Fastfood chains advertise everywhere imaginable, school lunches are not that good for them (nor are they usually good tasting, either), and pre-packaged lunches are stuffed full of preservatives (among other things). Many places also are implementing a "no peanutbutter" policy due to the high number of allergies people have. Even then, pb&j gets old after a while, doesn't it?

There is a solution! MOMables!

Wait, you haven't heard of MOMables yet? Let's take a peek at a few things from their About MOMables page to get a bit more insight!

What is MOMables™?
MOMables shows busy parents how to make fresh school lunches in 10 minutes or less.

MOMables = ˈmɑm·á·[bles]. Mom made, simple and nutritious. We’ve worked with dozens of moms, a chef and a nutritionist to create healthy lunches kids will actually eat.

Every parent I know, wants to pack a wholesome school lunch for their kids, but packing them daily, and oftentimes year-round, can be time consuming and boring. As a mom of 3 kids myself, I know this process very well.  I personally pack over 540 lunches in one school calendar year. Without a plan, I run out of ideas fast.

Yes, you read that correctly... fresh lunches in TEN minutes or less! What could be better than a homemade lunch that is healthy, fresh, the kids will eat, and will save you on average of $1-2 per day, per child. Oh, also the impact on the environment! You're eliminating all that garbage generated by pre-packaged lunches, too. MOMables fit great inside many types of lunchboxes such as the EcoLunches Boxes (see one of my reviews here for their sandwich box and ecodipper), the Laptop Lunches Bento Box, and more. These will eliminate your need for ANY disposable products in your little one's lunch, and you can find them in the MOMables store!

So how does this MOMables meal plan solution work? Each week a new file is available for you, full of different meal solutions for that week. You have enough 'menus' for the school week. There are separate sections for "cook ahead items", some kitchen notes, the recipe/directions for each menu item (along with awesome pictures of the meals ready to go), and even a shopping list to make it easy on you. One of my favorite things was the dinner recipes that would get sent out (I saw those in the summer) that double for an easy leftovers lunch! There are also little snack/dessert ideas to accompany the lunch menu, though they (thankfully) aren't always something really sweet. (I'm not a huge fan of high-sugar items).

Let's take a look at an example of one of the recipes! (Nothing like a sneak-peek, eh?)

BBQ Chicken Salad Sandwiches Lunch!



So the above is one of the lunch recipes for BBQ Chicken Salad Sandwiches. There are also MOM tips that are really helpful/handy with these recipes (as you can see below the directions).

And below, you can see a fully assembled lunch, ready to go!


Don't forget the shopping list!!!




What could be any easier? Well, aside from them coming to your house and making it, too! Healthy, fast lunches for your children, tips to help accommodate pickier eaters, and a shopping list ready to go.

You have the opportunity to win an awesome THREE-MONTH subscription to MOMables here on my blog! If you are wondering if it's really worth it, just remember that the subscription fee evens out to be about 25 cents per day. That's not very much! Still wondering if this is really something you could us? Why not check out the sample menu available on their page? You can also get access to one of their weekly menus for free by signing up HERE. If you are questioning a subscription


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Disclosure: I receive sample(s) of the product for the purpose of testing and review. These opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts Of Fluff is not responsible for shipment of the prize(s).

Bunzi Balance Trainer Giveaway!

Enter below to win a Bunzi Balance Trainer Bike! Teach your kids confidence and balance from the very beginning with a balance bike! Giveaway starts at 12:01am on Monday October 8th, and ends at 11:59pm on October 22nd.

Welcome to the Bunzi Balance Trainer Giveaway!

I have teamed up with Kate n' Kaboodle to share with you the hottest new toy to hit the U.S., the Bunzi from Chillafish!

The Bunzi gradual balance trainer bike from Chillafish is a unique 2-in-1 balance bike that can be switched between 3-wheel mode and 2-wheel mode in just a few seconds without tools!

The Bunzi gradual balance trainer takes it step-by-step to learn balance. Smaller children can start off on 3 wheels until they get comfortable and then switch to two wheels when they are older. If your child isn't quite ready, it's easy to switch back for a while to 3 wheels to gain some more confidence. Bunzi has two seat positions, a seat position in 3-wheel mode that is low to the ground for comfort and a seat position in 2-wheel mode that is higher for making more speed. It features a cute bunny design and even a little storage container in the seat. Bunzi is the perfect balance bike to allow your child to learn balance at their own pace and comfort level!

Connect

ChillaFish Online

ChillaFish Facebook

ChillaFish Twitter

Buy It

Bunzi is available at select Toys R' Us store for $49-59.

Win It

Bunzi Gradual Balance Trainer in choice of color!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Medicinal Scare

Some of my readers are aware that Bobble has been sick for pretty much the last month now. Here's a brief run-down of what the poor boy has been through:

It started with teething, drainage from that, and coughing from the drainage. That weekend he got a stomach bug. Then he was getting better, but the next weekend he got a cold. That got better, but his rash on his bottom (which he had since the week before) was worse. Doctors treated it like staph and gave topical and oral medicines. 

His cough and temperature worsened. We went to urgent care a few days later. He had an upper respiratory infection as well. Another antibiotic added on. Oh, and the doctor confirmed that not only is Bobble cutting his 4 canines, but his 4 two-year molars as well. Joy!

Tuesday he went back to the doctor. He wasn't eating for the past month, pretty much. He had let us give him yogurt still, but since he started the antibiotics the week before, he wouldn't eat and refused liquids from anyone but mom. Difference is, my liquids are 'on tap' for him. We go back in and find out that his ear infection is cleared up, so we need to stop giving him that medicine. His bottom now looks like it's yeast infection (from the antibiotics he was on), and he has thrush from those antibiotics. Okay, stop all antibiotics and switch to this new medicine .... DIFLUCAN.

That was Tuesday. That night we got the Rx. It was thick. It was supposed to be oral suspension, but it was THICKER than glue. Not kidding. I looked in the bottle (not even 1/4 full) and wondered how the hell that was supposed to last 14 days. (well, 7.... we had two bottles made up). The dosage was 6.5ml the first day, 3 ml each day after that for 14 days. My husband complained about it and it took about 3 minutes for him to even DRAW UP THE MEDICINE. I said that it didn't look right. It just didn't. We administered the medicine anyway, but while trying to administer it, and Bobble fought and fought. I was able to see a closer view of how the consistency was (since I didn't draw it, only peeked at it in the dropper) and he was BAWLING. Gagging. Throwing his head side to side as that disgusting looking paste was in his mouth. He would sob and then silence for a minute because the stuff was so thick that it blocked air passage. 

I told hubby to call the pharmacy, this is definitely not right. He did. They said to bring the medicine in and they would gladly look at it. I took both bottles in. Not one, but TWO pharmacists looked at the medicine. Not Cashiers. Not Pharmacy Technicians. PHARMACISTS. CHEMISTS. Whatever the heck you call them... the people that make about $90k a year because people's lives depend on them. Those people. Yeah, them.

They looked at the medicine I brought in, then tried to shake it. It wouldn't shake because it was so thick.

They grabbed a new (unmixed) package of the medicine and evaluated.

They discussed.

After all this, they came back to me and said this is definitely correct.

Fine.

I went home and that was that. The next day my poor little pumpkin, again, fought and fought the medicine. I still swore this was not right. He got the last little bit of his dose and vomited everything up. He had FINALLY eaten. Up came the beverages. Up came the yogurt. Up came the segment of donut he decided he had to eat. Up came all the medicine. It bubbled out his mouth and nose, and it was so thick that the bubbles took eons to pop. After cleaning it all up, I called the doctors office. If this was correctly mixed, then we need a different medicine. Him losing what he ate is NOT progress for us.

It was after 5... heck, it was after 7pm, so we got the nurse-on-call. That's fine by me, she'd do what I needed. I explained. She called the doctor on call. Called back and told us to NOT administer any more to make up for what he just lost, and that the dr's office that prescribed the medicine will call me the next day (thursday).

Thursday is the day I got hit hard by the bug going around my house. All my joints ached. My glands/lymphnodes were swollen. It hurt a wee bit to swallow. My boss strongly encouraged me to go home from work and I finally did. I got a call from the nurse in the pediatrician's office. She said that there is no substitute for this medicine, and that he has to have it. She said to mix it with applesauce. I told her it couldn't be mixed with anything, it was too thick. She said they prescribe this to children much younger than mine and they have no issues. I said there was no way he could take this, described it as being thicker than paste, any thicker and it would be DOUGH... she kept saying I needed to try to administer it. I kept complaining until she put me on hold and went to speak to the doctor again.

I wait and wait.... then she comes back on the phone. She said the doctor does NOT think that sounds right and he wants me to go back to the pharmacy and have them remix the medicine. I call the pharmacy and a pharmacist that actually looked at the meds 2 days before was the one that answered. He offered to remix the medicine for me without me even getting that far. 

I took the bottles and went. 

BOTH pharmacists that were there the other day (and evaluated his meds) were there. They got out a new bottle of the meds (powder), administered the 24ml it calls for to be mixed in, and started shaking the bottle. They shook, and shook, and shook. After a few minutes one talks to the other. They seem to do some bottle-looking (new and old, maybe? I couldn't see from where I was), and more conversing. After a few minutes, they grab another bottle and add water like they did a few minutes earlier. 

Shake shake shake.

I wander down an aisle, up another, and back. Killing time and all. Finally, the pharmacist comes up to the counter. I head over and he is leaning over it to be very close to me to talk. My experience with that is usually a secret..... or simply anything they don't want others hearing.

He shows me the bottle of newly mixed medicine. It's full to the top, and very much a liquid. The previous bottle was not even 1/4 full, and very much a sludge.

He apologizes profusely for the mixup, and says he will look into who mixed it the first time. Even more so, he is sorry that they didn't investigate it further when I brought the medicine in the first time. He said it seemed odd to them it was such a thick medicine, but when they looked at the unmixed bottle, it was nearly full to the top with powder, so they assumed it was just a dense medicine. He went on to say they never really saw it mixed before, yada yada yada. He said that he doesn't know how it happened, but maybe they only mixed it with 14ml of water. Actually, considering how much was in that bottle, it was likely only mixed with 10ml. Yes, that 4 ml makes a difference... that's an entire dose for him after day 1.

Alright... Back up.

YOUR JOB is to make sure the medicine is made properly. Yes, I understand a pharmacy technician is probably who mixed it up, but YOU SHOULD HAVE REALIZED that what I brought back in to you was NOT 24ml of fluid at all... and if YOU thought that it seemed odd, MAYBE IT WAS!

First off, I'm thankful that it was not a super dangerous medicine. My son received (and held down) 6.5ml of a SUPER CONCENTRATED dose of that stuff.... over 2x what he should have had. 

MY SON COULD HAVE DIED if it were more dangerous, and even now he could have suffered damage from that strong of a dose. 

I was surprisingly polite, thanked him for the new medicine, and left. I called my doctor's office to let them know what happened, and didn't get a call back until I was napping.... but my phone should have woken me up (it was next to me). What I didn't know was hubby moved it so I wouldn't get woken up from my nap, so I noticed I missed a call after the office closed. Had I gotten the call, I would have heard they didn't want me to administer his medicine last night, but wait until tonight to do so. They didn't leave a detailed message, just who they were and to call them... so I had no clue. I gave him the meds last night. He started to fight, but eventually took a bit. After he realized it was not paste, he happily took the rest. No fight.

I spoke with them today and learned of the whole medicine hold-off thing. They said to just skip tonight's dose and then resume the low doses tomorrow (just to make sure it's all spaced out enough to make up for that one big dose). The nurse I spoke with happened to be the same nurse I chatted with the day before. She was in disbelief at the pharmacists. 

 

I am too. That's ALL their job is. Seriously. They couldn't get that right. Even with it brought to their attention, the dismissed it. What if that HAD been a more dangerous drug? Even though it was administered to my child, I went STRAIGHT THERE after that with the meds, and they could have said "oh, this is wrong.... do this for your child" or "take your child to ER" or "give him this to help break down the medicine" or something. The way this played out, had it been more dangerous, they would have had a second chance to prevent disaster, and still would have failed.

Moral of the story? TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. I knew something was not right with that. Also, don't trust the pharmacists at (MY) Discount Drug Mart. Sure, they have a drive-through. Sure, they are open until 10pm. Sure, they are not even a mile from my house. All that convenience wouldn't have brought my son back if something had happened to him.

I am 100% not impressed.

Secret Garden Playhouse!

Good luck, everyone!

The Little Tikes Secret Garden Playhouse is creatively charming and will provide fun for hours for both boys and girls. This adorable playhouse can be kept indoors or outdoors. Well-designed and every side offers a different dimension of fun at every turn. The built-in table with stool within the Secret Garden playhouse allows the kids to pretend play as servers of cakes, buns, and other eatables. A child pretending to be a customer can sit on the outside stool and make the purchase. A canopy over the table offers shade and another built in table for the pretend play customers. The re is even a battery-operated doorbell on the side to alert the server.

The Little Tikes Secret Garden Playhouse features a working "dutch" door for easy entry for servers and crawl-through garden gate provides added fun. There is even a play sink with faucet for cleanup time. With all these features, the Secret Garden playhouse not only offers lots of fun to the kids, but also sparks their imagination and helps develop interactive skills while learning good manners.
Little Tikes Secret Garden Playhouse Features:

• Built-in table with stool
• Awning over the table for shade
• Working "dutch" door and doorbell
• Crawl-through garden gate
• Built-in role play features
• Play sink with faucet
• Assembly required
• Dimensions: 36"L x 84"W x 65"H

One lucky reader will receive the Little Tikes Secret Garden Playhouse!

Hosted by Mom to Bed by 8 and Mom At 40

Giveaway ends October 22nd at 11:59pm, open US and Canadian Residents, ages 18+. To enter please use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

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