Little Things

June 25, 2009 by Rieshy

Our oldest child was 14 years old when our 6th child was born. Suddenly having a child with a chronic illness changed a lot of "big" things in our lives but it also changed a lot of the "little" things. For instance; the size of my purse.

I had always carried tiny clutches. I mentally scoffed at women who had to take suitcase sized diaper bags to the grocery store. Obviously, they or their children were wimps. Who could need more than a disposable diaper, a wallet and the one true necessity- a tube of lipstick?

After each of the first few runs to the hospital, experience slowly filled my purse:

The first time we rushed Jack to the E.R. I was wearing sandals. Brrr, cold feet, so I added non-slip socks. I also added our own glucometer because I learned that blood sugar checks were faster and less painful for Jack if I did them.
Second trip: pull-ups and medicine droppers. Jack is potty trained, but after a few days of D-10 it's hard for a little guy to make it to the potty, especially with tubes sticking out everywhere. Medicine droppers, because the hospital gives oral medications in oral syringes that are identical to I.V. syringes. Jack's not about to let one of those things near his mouth. Picture a two year old levitating out of a hospital crib!
Third trip: empty sippy cups and my Bible. Generally our hospital stays are over once Jack can eat and drink normally, having his own sippy cups seems to facilitate this. The Bible for obvious reasons.

After the third trip I ditched the clutch and just added items willy-nilly. Started brainstorming up all the things I'd always like to have on hand. Now see my "purse", a little thing grown big indeed.