Mama Writing So I Don't Go Crazy

Drugs.com and Mednotes= Information at Your Fingertips

Our home is full of medications.

Between my husband's health issues, and my health issues, and an occasional illness requiring medication for our son, we are our own pharmacy.

It's tricky, keeping track of everything.

And I hate having to read all of the leaflets that come with the medications.

Not to mention the worry of drug interactions when we take more than one type of medication.

So when I was contacted by Mom Central to participate in this blog tour, I jumped at the opportunity.

According to their website, Drugs.com  is the most popular, comprehensive and up-to-date source of drug information online. Providing free, accurate and independent advice on more than 24,000 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines & natural products.

I used to have one of those pill books that shows you the pill and describes what it's used for, etc. But since new medications are always coming out, you have to buy a new book all the time to keep up.

That's one of the things that makes drugs.com so great. It's all there online. And they do all the updating.

(and it's FREE!)

I took a look around the site and was really impressed with what they offer:

•  A-Z drug list
• Veterinary drug list
• Medical Dictionary
• Clinical trial results
• Medical Encyclopedia
• Interactions Checker

As a mother of a small child who picks things up off the ground, the pill identifier is an awesome tool.
Even more helpful when they are older and might be around drugs that can harm them. Let's say you're doing your son or daughter's laundry one day and you find a pill you've never seen in the pocket of their jeans.

Go to drugs.com to the pill identifier, and type in the code on the pill, color and shape, and it will bring up not only a picture to match against what you have, but it will list the name, what it's used for, and other consumer information you might need to know.

One of drugs.com's offerings is the link to Mednotes. This is another free service. Just sign up, and you can create numerous profiles for every member of your family. Use it to track:

• What medications each person it taking
• What they are being taken for
• Contraindications for those medications
• Interactions with other medications that are being taken

You can even request flags on medications for pregnant or nursing family members. Another cool feature is a flag that will let you know of FDA warnings, or if a new drug has been developed for the conditions you have listed.

I went ahead and signed up, and it was easy. I can now track all the medications that each family member is taking at any given time, add new medications as they are prescribed, and can even keep track of medications of extended family members if need be.

I encourage you to check out Drugs.com and Mednotes for yourself. You'll be glad you did.

Cold Weather Wondering

I've been stuck inside for the last few days with a four year old who has redefined the word "squirrely."

Since I haven't been to work since Monday, and it's making me crazy, I have nothing better to do (besides dishes, laundry, and cleaning up after the previously mentioned 4yo) than knit, read, watch tv and think.

I've been thinking a lot.

Feel free to answer any of these questions for me.

1.Why to small children refer to themselves in the third person?

2.Why do small children insist on getting up at 5 am when there is no school?

3.Why can't they just hang in mom and dad's bed and cuddle for awhile? Why MUST they hit the ground running before my eyes are fully functioning?

4.Why do small children (maybe bigger ones do this as well, I have no one to compare) insist on becoming other entities? Mine is a kitty. All kitty, ALL DAY.

5.Add #1 with #4 and you get PURE HELL. "Mommy, the kitty would like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." "Mommy, the kitty does NOT like taking naps." (the kitties I know DO). "Mommy, the kitty would like to go visiting today." (the Mommy of the kitty would like to go visit a bottle of wine in solitary confinement)   

6. When is this winter going to END?

Talk amongst yourselves.

If I Didn't Know My Own Son, I Wouldn't Believe It.

Right before Christmas, DH picked the kiddo up from daycare. He was met at the door by the teacher who said:

"We had some attitude today. He didn't want to participate in the activity, and was being disruptive to those who were wanting to participate. I told him he could either do the activity without harassing others, or go sit in time out. He looked me straight in the eye and said:

 "No, I choose to have a fit."

He proceeded to throw himself onto the floor, kicking and screaming. This lasted about 15 seconds, when he abruptly turned the attitude off, got up and said:

"Okay, I'm done now."

He went to the table, sat down, and worked on the project."

Alrighty then.

Happy Birthday Bug.

That's right.

I call my son bug.

Remember the episode of Dora where the Mama Bugga Bugga is looking for her Baby Bugga Bugga?

He loved that one.

So I call him bug.

He turned four on Friday.

At school, his dad and I were invited to participate in the Montessori Birth Day celebration.

Bug was sent home with a book we were to fill out with photos of him at birth, 1, 2, 3, and 4, plus miscellaneous information and tidbits of his personality at these different ages.

When we arrived in the classroom, 24 rambunctious 3-4 and 5 year olds were sitting in a circle. The teacher read a copy of On the Day You Were Born by Debra Frasier.

Then he was placed in the middle of the circle where a candle on a wooden sun, and a globe sat. Bug picked up the globe and walked around the circle for the number of years he was celebrating while his classmates sang a song about the Earth moving around the Sun. They then sang Happy Birthday, we read the book that we brought in, and snacks were shared.

Later that night, the three of us went to Hacienda for dinner. The birthday boy had a strawberry smoothie with his dinner, and we surprised him by doing the Hacienda birthday celebration. A line of noisy servers came clapping through the restaurant and stopped at our table with a sombrero and cake for the bug.

Evidently, four is the age of embarrassment. Here is what he did:

(Psst, he's UNDER the table)

We finally coaxed him back out from under there.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!