Tag: Grandparents

Transient Synovitis…

Posted on by Pints with Pops

Big words, that was my first thought.  Then I thought about what transient meant.  My limited knowledge of the word makes me think of a person down on their luck, Aladdin popped into my mind.  Transient also means temporary, short-term, brief, etc.  So you’re probably wondering why I’ve transitioned from fatherhood stories to dictionary.

This past Friday, July 27th, Layton woke up as usual around 4 am screaming for momma and daddy (usual for the past two weeks anyway, he’s normally an awesome sleeper).  He climbed out of bed and walked to the door and opened it.  I was at his room by this point.  He was consoled, we read a few books, he screamed every time we put him back into his bed, and he was finally back asleep 45 minutes later.

I woke him up for daycare around 7:30 and he was angelically pleasant, clearly he forgot about the 4 am wake up call.  I got him ready and asked him to stand up to pull his shorts up and his left leg immediately collapsed.  My initial reaction was to try again, so we did and he collapsed again.  He never cried, just said it hurt.  So I went through the process of feeling his leg asking him to tell me where it hurt, from the hip down to his toes, nothing.

(Sidebar: Externally, calm dad, let’s work through all the steps to rule things out.  Internally I was freaking out.  My child can’t stand up, his leg is collapsing under him, what if he never walks again, AHHHH, THE WORLD IS ENDING!!!!)

Everything was fine.  So I wiggled his toes, moved his foot, bent his knee, nothing.  So I carried him to the kitchen and got some food for him.  Asked him to stand, he did for a short period holding onto something then his left leg gave out again.  Ok, something is clearly wrong here.  I called my wife, who was at work by this point, about a dozen times.  She gets us in at the doctor at 10 that morning, excellent.  He’s happily moving around his train table holding on using it as a stabilizer.  The kid is in great spirits given he can’t really walk.  He goes to what I’ll call his “pooping corner” and squats down without issue, sitting there not holding onto anything, then stands back up using the train table for assistance.  I’m baffled.  He was able to squat no problem, bent his knee, ankle, hip, filled his diaper, but can’t walk or stand up without assistance.  He’s sitting cross legged no issues.  I’m at a loss.  From everything I understand he should have been fine.  I started thinking about what he did the night before, did he get injured during his 4 am tantrum?  My mom watched him the evening before, did something happen there?  Nothing came to mind.

By the time we got to the doctor he’s able to limp a good 10 feet before going down, must be loosening up as the day goes on.  So the doctor does the full range of motion testing, nothing surprising there.  No wincing, crying, ouches, he’s fine.  But not really.  He still can’t walk.  Ask him to push his foot onto your hand, no big deal.  Then doc throws out the big words, “it’s likely Transient Synovitis”.  Huh?  It’s fairly common in children 3-8 years of age, particularly boys.  It’s the temporary inflammation of the hip joint or in some cases the knee.  The cause is unknown but usually follows a viral infection.  Layton hasn’t been sick (at least not that we’ve known of) for the entire summer.  So I’m still baffled.  Doc said he’s seen it last up to 6 weeks, but it usually clears up in 1-3 weeks.  Now, it’s 2 days later and we’re in pretty good shape.  Layton isn’t running yet but is walking close to without a limp.  Hopefully this progress continues and we have our independent, spirited little boy back in no time.

My initial feeling about this situation was to say suck it up and deal with it, the dad mentality you could say.  Several weeks ago we had a little incident in his inflatable pool where the dog bumped into Layton while Layton was climbing in and he rolled over his wrist.  He cried for a while, wouldn’t let anyone touch or move it; we thought it was broken.  So we got him out of his swimsuit, dried off, and into normal clothes and hopped in the truck.  The emergency room was the destination, but we ended up at my mom’s house.  On the way he started asking for the numerous rubber ducks that occupy a few cup holders in my truck.  As he’s accumulating them he transfers them to the “injured” hand/wrist.  The next thing you know he has full range of motion in his wrist like nothing was ever wrong.  We got to grandma’s and he goes right to the toy box and that was the end of the “injured” wrist.  So I was a bit jaded when the knee “injury” came up.  I’m glad I didn’t just push the issue and send him to daycare.  My gut said “call your wife and talk it through”.  In this situation, I’m glad I trusted my alimentary canal.

What’s in a name?

Posted on by Pints with Pops

Pints with Pops.

It can mean several things.  I initially chose the name because it seemed attractive to the fatherly audience and would have some appeal to get pops to show up once a month to maybe talk about fatherhood stuff.  Backtrack… I chose the name, my wife came up with the name.  She was actually instrumental in Pints with Pops becoming a thing.  She was the first person I talked in detail with this about and was 100% supportive even though it meant another night I would be away for a few hours.  Now that credit has been properly given, back to the name.

Pints with Pops.  Appealing to the target audience, gets the point across that we’d have a pint of something (likely a beer), and the likely attendees would be fathers.  “With”, this is the key word.  I’ve seen “Pints for Pops”.  This is not “for”, it is with.  Why with?  it implies togetherness rather than entitlement.  This is a group where we come together and share experiences; it’s intended to be supportive and encouraging, not come and receive something.  Pops, synonymous with father or dad.  That was the initial thought process that got me to “Pints with Pops”.

I did receive some push back on the name.  It does imply the consumption of alcohol.  Spouses don’t necessarily think of going out for a beer is the proper way to spend a couple hours away from your family even if it is talking about fatherhood stuff.  Another tough sell, we actually talk about fatherhood stuff.  We do, it’s legit.  Nothing preachy, just experiences.  What did your kid do this week?  Mine ate sand…

In the end I decided the name was general enough it could withstand the criticisms.  I gave coupons for free pints of ice cream at our one year anniversary gathering.  Not all pints are beer.  It’s simply a unit of measure.

That leads me to the deeper meaning of the name, which I didn’t really stumble upon until several gatherings in.  “Pints” ends up being a synonym for everything Pints with Pops is.  Think of the British phrase “Let’s grab a pint”.  Yes, it means let’s get a beer; but you’re not just getting a beer, you’re getting a beer and having a conversation.  You don’t say “let’s grab a pint” when your intention is to over-imbibe, you say it when you want to go out and socialize.  Next, the term “half-pint”.  This normally refers to a small person, typically a child.  That fits perfect as the intention is to talk about our children and experiences we have as father.  Lastly, the simple meaning of pint as a unit of measure.  I understand it usually references an amount of liquid; however, a pint of information is just as acceptable.  It’s my interpretation.

That’s really all the depth I have for you.  I explained the importance of “with” earlier.  “Pops” has a better ring to it than “Pints with Dads” or “Pints with Fathers”.  I’m still searching for the deeper meaning in “Pops”.  I am from Wisconsin so it may also refer to a sugary carbonated beverage others call “soda” or those in the south call a “coke”.

Pints with Pops – August 2016

Posted on by Pints with Pops

This is the story I shared in August of 2016, I laughed reading through this one and also remembered that knowing that asking for support is not only ok but occasionally necessary:

“After last month’s blow out fiasco I was wondering what story will I share next month in my invite.  I’m learning very quickly that having a child, I will never be short of stories.  This month’s experience has to do with that same little chair thing mentioned last month.  Unsurprisingly, and some of you may have guessed already, another blow out, again while mom was gone.  I set Layton in his little chair so I could go get something accomplished, what it was I’m not sure, nor does it matter.  I came back not even two minutes later and the dog is sniffing the chair by Layton’s leg.  I got the dog away and saw a color that’s not part of the chair.  So, I go through the process of getting Layton out of the chair and rush him to the tub hoping not to get any on the carpet.  I run back to put the chair up off the floor and the dog is kindly assisting with the cleanup process.  I give him a good stare and he stares back knowing he did something he probably shouldn’t have and licks his lips… Seriously.  I need to write to Fisher Price about their chair‘s ability to cause infants to poop.  Be wary if you own one, you may be in for a messy surprise.  After getting Layton cleaned up the day didn’t get much better in terms of his temperament and Grandma/Grandpa were called for reinforcements.  I always hoped I wouldn’t need to call for help, but sometimes it gets to be very overwhelming not being able to calm a child.  Thankfully for me the grandparents are only a couple minutes away.  It was a good learning experience for me that it is perfectly acceptable to ask for assistance when taking care of my child.  That got deep fast, my apologies; however it is part of fatherhood.”