Alex's sick day

So, Alex WAS sick.
I checked on him before bed and he was still very hot-despite the ibuprofen dose and then Wednesday morning I got home from the gym and he came down all clammy and pale and told me he "frowed up" but he "cleaned up my mess" I asked where his mess was? (With dread as the sight of barf makes me dry heave!) and he told me toilet. We went in and I didn't see anything...whew! I stuck him right back in bed with a barf bowl and a cool wet rag on his forehead. After getting the other children off to school I brought him peppermint tea and toast with instructions to try and eat very slowly. He sat up and ate like a robot. Now, my other children simply refuse to eat when they have the stomach flu but I think Alex thought he HAD to eat. By the time I realized this, he was done with his toast and 1/2 his tea. I explained that he didn't HAVE to eat it but it would help him feel better if he throws up again as it's easier if you have something in your tummy. He promptly put the tea down and went back to sleep for and hour. He didn't throw up anything more but had a temp of about 102 so I gave him another dose of ibuprofen-as he hadn't thrown up the toast and tea and I was hoping the ibuprofen would stay down and put him in the family room to watch a movie. He told me he had never had a fever before, then asked if I had a thermometer that goes under your armpit? No. Just a digital. Then he told me in Ukraine they use the under the armpit thermometer and he told me he would "blow his wind" (breath) on the thermometer so it would look like he had a fever and then he could go to the hospital. (Yes, they go to the hospital for fevers in the orphanage!) He told me he did this to get out of school. We laughed and I told him how I did the same thing with a light bulb to my mom when I was little.
We talked a little about why (maybe) he never had a fever before and with some suggestions from me came up with the fact that when he was in the orphanage there was no one to take care of him so he couldn't get sick, now that he has a mama it's okay to get sick every once in awhile because Heavenly Father knows he has someone to love him and take care of him. He seemed content with this idea.
He asked for tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch so I knew the flu like part had subsided and his fever had gone down so I asked if he felt well enough to go to the appliance store with me? We could stop and buy him a Sprite? Of course he was game. We stopped at Wendy's and a he/she person was working the drive up window. Huge women(?) with a deep voice and lots of makeup-missing 1/2 her/his teeth. I discreetly pointed her out to Alex and he causally glanced-impressive as Rylee would have gawked-and then looked away as if it was nothing. As we drove away I asked if he thought "it" was a woman or a man? He told me he thought a woman and her husband beat her up. Why? Because her teeth are missing? No mom, bruises. Wow. How observant-and sad-for an eleven year old boy to notice those types of things. She did have bruises (that or hickeys?) on her neck and I think maybe her face but since I was fixated on her teeth I'm not really sure. I told him if that were true how sad I was. Why? he asked. I said because women should never get beat up by their husbands. Then he said something that warmed my heart. "That is why boys don't hit girls." That's right I said, if you learn to not hit girls when you are little you won't hit girls when you are big. I think he's getting it!!
We went to the appliances store and he helped me select a new dryer. I am a fan of used appliances and went to a place that reconditions appliances-offering a 90 day warranty and lifetime free labor-you just pay for the parts. When we got back in the car Alex told me "Cool, cool store! I like that store!" Really? The used appliance store??? "Yes I want to work and fix things!" He was seriously elated. Later that night he told me he wished he didn't have to go to school, just go to work and fix things. I don't know what this boy will do in the future but it will defiantly be something along the lines of building or fixing things!
We went to the Russian store on our way home and it was like stepping into Ukraine. It even smelled like Ukraine. He picked out some candy and we bought some of those cabbage stuffed scone's that we use to buy walking the streets of Dniprozerzink. I also bought a big package of Russian cookies for him to share with his class today. His birthday falls in the summer and today is his 1/2 birthday (And Rylee's REAL birthday!! I will blog about her on my next post and cover her party! Wish me luck-we have 12 girls coming tonight for facials, and manicures!) so I thought it would be nice for him to share something with his class to celebrate his summer birthday.
James got home last night. Hurray! Alex gets so excited on James arrival days, asking when he'll be home all day long and checking outside every time he hears a car approach. James was fixing one of our lights last night and Alex was right there with him checking it out and being his right hand man. Can I just say...."I told you so!" When James was struggling after our hosting experience deciding if he could love this boy and accept him as his son I told him something to the effect that he just needs to give him some time. That he and Alex have so much in common and that he is the type of boy that will be under the hood right next to him and helping him with every project and guess what....I was right!!
We did work on English and reading and go over his spelling words. I've started Alex keeping his own dictionary, I made a little book with the letter of the alphabet on each page and every time he asks me how to spell a word or I correct a word, he records it in his dictionary and then he can refer to it when he's writing. I remember a 2nd grade class doing this when I substituted. I think it won't be so overwhelming as a real dictionary and it will be filled with words that he actually uses.
It was a sweet day, unplanned and unexpected but nice to spend time with my Alex.