Homeopath

Oh, what was I thinking.

M has a case of "water warts" a type of herpes virus that looks like a localized case of chicken pox.  It's evidently very common for swimmers, and absolutely rampant here in Amsterdam.  As such, it's not really any big deal.  An already hands-off medical establishment can't get itself worked up over a virus that doesn't cause any discomfort or have any side effects even if some huge percentage of the population gets it.  Did I mention it lasts for months, sometimes years?  My friend's doctor told her that her daughter, "might have it for a few months, or it might never go away."  Great.

In the build up to our summer vacation I really wanted these gone.  My family was justifiably a little unnerved by this highly contagious virus that routinely lasts for months. They were concerned about cleaning the tub after M used it and if his laundry had to be washed separately (neither is necessary). Clearly this was causing them some stress.  So I decided to take M to the homeopath.

Stock photo, not my actual kid's actual armpit,
but his infection looks a lot like this.

My decision was based on an acquaintance's experience with her toddler son, whose water warts were cleared up in a couple of weeks by the practitioner I decided to see.  I figured if I could knock this out before we hit the beach this summer everyone would be a bit happier.  What I had forgotten was the time commitment involved in complimentary medicine.  the appointment was at 9 a.m., right around the corner from us, and I didn't get M to school until after 10:30.

She asked us all about M's behavior, his fears, what he dreams about, what stresses him and on and on and on.  In the end she decided to focus on treating his emotional self regulation--something he does struggle with--because she felt his case of water warts (5 spots) was really minor.  So much for knocking this out before summer vacation.

M sees an occupational therapist in part to address his struggles with self regulation.  While I can't say the problem is licked, we do have a "treatment plan" in place and he is improving every day.  I didn't feel we really needed to add a tincture to that.  And what really irked me was that the appointment ran so long he missed his weekly OT session! (although this was really my fault--since he sees the OT at school it's on neither my radar screen nor my calendar).  But I surely saw the irony in missing the treatment we see works for the one that might.

But, when the tiny little pills arrived in the post a couple of days later, and I looked them up on Dangerous Dr. Internet, I was really surprised to learn that this medicine is used to treat all types of things that really sound like M.  Things like, disobedience, sudden crying, and early waking, as well as some things which didn't come up in the examination, like growing pains and a very frustrating scalp sensitivity.

So, he's now had his second dose.  He still wakes up early but seems to have an increased interest in sleep independence.  No growing pains reported since he received his first dose (although they were on the wane before that).  He actually seems to have a few more water warts, and a couple look really red and inflamed, which may be a sign that his body is fighting them off.  With any luck, they'll be gone before we hit the beach this summer.

Good-byes

Today M is at a play date.  I can't say this kid is any super-close friend, but they have now been in school together for two years.  I was sad to learn a couple of months ago that his family is relocating to Hong Kong.  I was sadder to learn last night that they move on Friday.

A good friend is returning to her home country in the Southern hemisphere this week, maybe for the summer, maybe permanently.  Her child is one of three that M selected as the kids he'd like to have in his class next year.   Another friend is waiting to hear if her husband's company will extend their stay past August.  Yet another may return in January.

I guess I knew what I was getting into when we moved here.  No, correction, I didn't know.  I thought we'd be the ones moving back after a year. Sayonara.  It's much easier being the one leaving than the one staying.  At least if we were leaving we would be going on to a new adventure and back closer to family.

We do genuinely love it here, but after not even two years I feel like I have said goodbye to a lot of very special people.  Just to make myself more miserable, the song M used to sing at the end of the day in Nursery is playing through my head,

Goodbye, Goodbye, it's time to go now

I must say, you made my day

Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye

But, there are still lots of adventures to have here and lots of new friends to make.  That's one of the great things about being part of an expat community; people are interested in connecting with one another.

Winkelier

M had his Dutch assembly today, a little show to highlight everything the kids had learned this year in Dutch class.  He was the Winkelier, the shopkeeper, and demonstrated a shopping transaction in which he sold a banana and an apple for 20 Euro.  At the end of the performance when the head teacher remarked that it was a very pricey shop he ran, he said he wanted to charge 30 Euro but he didn't know how to say that in Dutch!

The show was pretty impressive.  This year in Dutch class the kids learned their colors and numbers, how to have a shop transaction, names for foods, and about celebrations like Sinterklass and Queen's Day.  And they told us all about it in Dutch!

Bike Repair

Our beloved tandem has been acting up lately.  I have been putting off bringing it into the shop because basically, it's a pain in the neck.  The bike shop near us is too expensive and has too long a wait these days, and the bike shop where I bought it is kind of far away.  So, I decided to try out the Bike-Repair-Guy-Who-Makes-Housecalls.

There is something about seeing a bike tune-up happen that is a little unnerving--no one wants to know how they make the sausages.  A few minutes ago I looked out the front window and the front wheel was off.  I didn't know they removed the front wheel when tuning up a bike.

But, he's highly recommended and priced very reasonably.  And with any luck my bike will now stay in gear.

Taken from really far away so I don't freak out the Bike-Repair-Guy-Who-Makes-Housecalls.  And, yes, those are giant raindrops on my window.  I guess when you are a bike repair guy in Amsterdam and don't work out of a shop, you get used to getting rained on.

We're baaaaack!

Hmmm, what's been happening since March?  Let's see, we went to Barcelona (nice), we went to Antwerp (bit of a dump), We went to Dublin (always great), we moved to an awesome new apartment, M continues to love and do well at school, M took 10 weeks of art classes, Grandma and Papa came to visit, M earned his ballet rosette, I survived half term break and learned the valuable lesson of planning, and we planned our summer holidays.  Oh, and I made a new commitment to not let the blog updates go so long between.

M's group after taking their "ballet rosette" qualification test.

M on the adventure course at Amsterdamse Bos.

M in the kinderbad at Amsterdamse Bos.
 It was a nice day, but not as warm as it looks in this photo!

M was a great help cleaning up our old apartment.
So glad I took a page from my mother's book and put him to work!

M realized a love of climbing walls when we found
this pop-up activity at the Antwerp train station.

Fun field trip to Oud Valkeveen, an amusement park for kids.

Detox

This morning I embarked on the Dr. Oz 48 hour cleanse.  Why?  I'm not exactly sure.  A friend was doing it and wanted some moral support.  I looked at what was involved and it seemed like a personal challenge I could do.  Once I read reviews indicating it could help to reduce or eliminate junk food cravings I was sold.

We decided to cleanse during two week days instead of a weekend as it would have less of an impact on our families.  Yesterday I bought the supplies, spending about 39 Euro.  I'll chalk this all up to experience since by noon I started feeling crummy and by 2:00 I decided to eat a more substantial snack because I was feeling so ill.

Why did I feel ill? Here are my theories:

Theory #1:  It doesn't say this on the Dr. Oz website, but when the cleanse is discussed on Oprah.com they note that you should drink enough caffeine to avoid withdrawal symptoms.  I certainly don't over indulge on coffee, but I do have a couple of cups of strong English tea every morning.  Maybe the hot water with lemon didn't cut it?

Theory #2:  I'm just not a fasting kind of person.  I haven't fasted a lot in my life, but occasional Lenten observances have shown me that it DOES NOT agree with me.  Strictly speaking this wasn't a fast so I thought I'd be ok, but it was calorically reduced.  Perhaps it didn't include enough calories to keep me going?  I don't have  a lot of fat stored up so I think fasting stresses my body sooner than it stresses most.

Theory #3:  There was something in what I ate that triggered a headache.  This has happened in the past, especially when my daily caloric needs aren't met.  I don't know what food I ate that would have been the trigger.  Maybe stevia?  It was in the almond milk.  Flax seed?  Maybe, I can't say I eat that very often.

In any event, I was in bed by 3:30 with a cluster headache.  Poor M missed swimming lessons.  Thankfully Peter got home early so he could feed M and get him ready for bed.  At midnight I woke up feeling a bit better and ate some banana and toast.

The next morning I felt a lot better. Interestingly, I wasn't interested in the bacon I cooked for M.  Nor have I been eating as much junk food.  The leftover vegetable stock became chicken soup last night and beef stew tonight.  I have been enjoying the detox drink and all the fresh vegetables in my fridge.

So, I don't think it was a total bust. On the contrary, despite how awful I felt I really did feel some benefits of the cleanse.  But if I were to do this again I wouldn't restrict my consumption.  Rather, I'd add some of these cleansing foods to my normal diet.

Work Wednesday?

Wasn't I meant to be posting about work issues on Wednesdays?  Well, here we are, and I have had some interesting work lately.  Although M has transferred schools, a move that continues to go well, I am still working in the library at his former school.  Mainly I do basic stuff, checking books out and in, but it has helped me to get to know a K-12 collection.  Recently I have made some acquisitions recommendations in media studies and I'm also working on a project to create research guides for students working on their International Baccalaureate extended essay, a kind of senior thesis required for graduation.  Today I also began leading the weekly library program for M's class.  I really enjoy my work with K-12 libraries.  Some aspects are completely different from anything I've done, and some are quite similar.

Over the past couple of weeks I have also found myself looking at employment ads with increasing frequency.  I haven't quite determined what this means--will I apply for something?  I suppose if the right thing came along, maybe 20 hours per week at a school library.  Meantime, I'm pretty content to volunteer in exchange for learning so much about a different type of library.