Is That a Tick?

I hate bugs. When I see one I get itchy all over. I get jumpy just thinking about them. Recently, I had a slumber party with one. Last weekend, my husband, my toddler and I went to Freedom, New Hampshire, to help our friends cut up firewood for the winter. The following Monday morning I was taking a shower when I heard my husband say, “You have to look at this, now!” The shower door flew open and my husband showed me his neck. “Is that a tic,” he asked? It looked like a big black pimple, but it wasn’t. It was a tick. I rushed to finish my shower as I tried to remember how to remove a tick.

“Vaseline,” I said. “That will suffocate it.” My husband applied Vaseline onto his tick and he pulled at it with a little pair of tweezers. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get it all out in one piece. I tried to get the head out with bigger tweezers, but it wouldn’t release. It was so difficult that I started to think it was one of his neck hairs. We eventually gave up.

I finally checked myself, and I found a black bump in front of my armpit. “I just slept and showered with a tick,” I wailed. My husband—now the calm one—dabbed Vaseline onto the bug. It eased out a little and my husband removed the whole tick.

My husband started researching tick bites on the Internet. He was concerned about the redness around his bite. “You should see the doctor,” I said. He agreed, and he made an appointment later that morning. My arm was hurting, so I made an appointment as well.

We drove to the clinic carrying our ticks in baggies. My bag contained a little deer tick on a cotton swab; my husband’s bag was full of tissues and tick parts. My doctor looked at my tick and my bite, and she told me the recommendation was to take doxycycline: a special antibiotic that can prevent Lyme disease. She also wanted to test me in six weeks.

When I saw my husband in the lobby, I asked him where his prescription was. “I didn’t get one,” he said. He was told to keep an eye on his bite, and the head should work its way out in time. I was upset that my husband’s doctor didn’t offer him antibiotics. I thought he was at a higher risk of contracting Lyme disease than I was.

Later that day I did more research on tick bites on the Internet, and I became more concerned. We covered our ticks with Vaseline, and I learned that irritating the tick can cause it to inject bodily fluids into the bite—bodily fluids that could contain Lyme disease. I called our doctor’s office and asked, “Why didn’t my husband get a prescription for doxycycline when my doctor said it was the recommendation?” Later that day my husband talked to his doctor again and he finally got his prescription.

Now that we both have taken doxycycline, we can only wait and see what happens. We check our son and ourselves every day, because the best way to prevent Lyme disease is to remove the tick as soon as possible. I will do my best to never take a tick to bed again.

My Baby Won't Wake Up!

One icy February morning, my nine-month-old son would not wake up. He had slept two hours past his usual waking time. He was recovering from a stomach virus he got from daycare, so I thought he needed the extra sleep to heal. When he did awake, he started crying and he arched his back violently. I called the doctor, but my son had stopped crying by the time he returned my call. I described to the doctor what had happened, and he assumed that the issue had resolved itself since he was awake and he had stopped crying.

I tried to feed my baby, but he wouldn't nurse. He started crying again, and then he fell asleep. I let him sleep for another hour and then I tried to wake him. Again, he wouldn't nurse. He would arch his back and cry, and then he would stop crying and fall asleep. After a while, I called the doctor's office again and the receptionist told me to bring my baby in.

The fresh air woke my little guy, and he was happy on the way to the doctor's office. The receptionist saw his smiling face and she said, "You've been worrying your parents today." As we waited in the exam room, my son began to cry again, and he had diarrhea that looked bloody. The doctor came in, and he sent us to the Emergency Room.

After a battery of grueling tests, an ultrasound showed that my baby had a medical condition called intussusception. This is when a part of the intestine folds in on itself causing severe pain and obstruction. An ambulance drove my baby and me to a Boston children's hospital to undergo a procedure to fix the problem.

When we arrived, my son was more alert. Seeing that, the ER doctor ordered another ultrasound, which showed the intussusception had resolved on its own. My son stayed in the hospital for two more days under observation until there was no more blood in his stool.

Intussusception is most common in male babies from five to ten months old. It can be life-threatening, so if you think your baby has these symptoms, contact your doctor immediately.

Join us for a musical reading of "My Shadow Is My Friend"

Writer and illustrator Tanya Darling has recently published her first children’s book. She will do a reading of My Shadow Is My Friend at the Manchester Barnes & Noble bookstore on Saturday, October 25th, at 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM. Meet the author of this frolicking new book.

My Shadow Is My Friend is a 32-page picture book about a little boy who has fun playing with his shadow. He giggles and wiggles and chases the cat. He is also sad when his shadow disappears but he knows it will always return.

Children can sing and dance to the song included in the book. Tanya Darling will demonstrate the shadow dance. Afterwards, there will be a dance contest for the children. The top five dancers will win a free copy of My Shadow Is My Friend.

Children and parents can meet the author/illustrator after the reading, singing, dancing, and contest. Additional books will be available in board book and in paperback for signing.

The Manchester Barnes & Noble is located at 1741 South Willow Street, Manchester, NH 03103.

Costumes are encouraged. Come celebrate with us!

Waking Dream

“Waking Dream” by Artist Lisa Rae Winant
Image used by permission of the Artist
22 x 24 / oil on panel

“No! Please don’t go. If you do, I’ll jump out of this tree, and I will surely die,” cried Katherine’s lover as he clenched the tree limbs of the lush lemon tree in which he had perched himself. Gray feathers from his bird costume floated down around her as he inched downward, getting ready to leap.

“Please don’t jump,” Katherine pleaded. “Don’t you dare hurt yourself!” The endless flow of wine at the summer festival had intoxicated her, making it difficult to form clear thoughts. “Our time tonight in the tent meant the world to me. I will treasure it always. You made me so happy, darling. Aren’t you happy that we had this time together?”

“I was happy, but now I feel horrible,” he shouted. “When you leave me, I want to die. I only live for the next time I can hold you again. I love you! I love you,” he wailed into the still night air.

“I want you to love yourself, too. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” Katherine was beginning to feel angry at his irrational behavior. Her lover saw this, so he retreated into the tree limbs. With his right hand, he grasped the long beak on his bird mask and removed it. He changed his tone and spoke gently, “Then stay.” He tenderly urged, “Pick a lemon from my father’s tree and stay with me forever. We would be so happy.”

Her lover's warm gaze melted Katherine's anger. She thought about his soft kisses, his strong arms, and his powerful words. It felt magical when they intertwined. Was he enchanting her? As she reached up for the gleaming yellow fruit, she was not sure if she was really in control over her arm. She went on her toes to touch the closest lemon. The moment she felt its cool rubbery texture, a sense of dread washed over her as clarity returned. This choice would destroy Katherine’s life. She would be with her lover, but how long would she be happy with him. If she tired of him, she would never be able to return to her home.

Katherine slowly withdrew her arm. She looked down and quickly turned around to avoid her lover’s teary eyes. She folded up her little red chair and whispered, “I love you.” She walked away in her bare feet that were wet from the dew on the green grass. In the distance, her lover’s sobs seemed to have faded as hers grew louder the farther she walked.

Corporate Daycares Don’t Care—About Children

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that there was no waiting list at the most expensive daycare in our town. Logically, I assumed my baby would get the best care there. Unfortunately, the highest price does not always mean the best. If you take a tour of a corporate daycare, you will see classrooms filled with new books and toys, but what they hide is that they take the “care” out of childcare. Headquarters is not concerned about children. Their priority is making a profit. In order to do that, the centre director moves children and teachers around whenever the numbers get low—numbers as in children.

Let me tell you how it all works. In New Hampshire, the ratio in a toddler room is 5 to 1—five children and one teacher. There are usually ten toddlers in a room with two teachers. If you ever sit and watch, it is usually chaos. The teachers are up to their elbows in dirty diapers and calming the child who is crying the loudest. When the numbers get low, they put two classes together. Therefore, the teachers never get a chance to spend quality time with their tiny students. The other ramification of this process is that the teachers are always moving around, so the children don’t get to be with a constant teacher for very long.

When I pick up my toddler, I usually take a minute to look through the one-sided mirror to watch him in his environment. The other day, I saw my one-year-old sitting at the little lunch table. I wondered why he was there with no snack or project in front of him. Then I saw a strange teacher approach him with a shirt. She yanked off his wet one without unbuttoning it, and then shoved on a new one. Later on, I saw that Michael’s nose was all red and scraped. I assume the buttons from his shirt caused it. Yesterday, I got a call at work that a “friend” bit my son. The director told me that the teacher didn’t see it happen, she just saw his arm. “He didn’t cry,” was the explanation. She also said that it was unacceptable, but normal. I was not comforted.

You may ask, “If you are so dissatisfied with your corporate daycare so much, why don’t you put him in a non-profit, or get a nanny?” As for a nanny, it is hard to trust a stranger alone in your house in the first place, but to trust her with your child all day is very hard. My son is on a waiting list for a non-profit, but there are no official openings until June 2009. I put a non-refundable deposit on a possible number two as well—just in case!

The First Tanya Darling Blog

The dust is collecting on the big red piano again, but this time for a good reason. I'm back at school again pursuing the 20-year long bachelors degree. I've switched majors from music to communication. This fall, I'm taking Media Writing with professional screenwriter Dana Biscotti-Myskowski. I'm looking forward to this semester. The class is interesting and fun so far. Now I just have to get Michael to play with his toys instead of the stairs so I can get some writing done! :)
Tanya