tommy was still sick on wednesday, so i took him to the doctor (i am not cheesed off about this). the doctor determined that it is not a cold, since he doesn't have a fever (or any other symptom for that matter. why is it when you are sick to your stomach--or have the big D--doctors here think you have a cold? this is not something we're taught in the US, and makes the doctor look like a quack! once, many years ago, i went to the doctor because i gave myself food poisoning (thank goodness i was cooking for just myself!). after being 'examined', minimally questioned and about to get some stomach medicine, i coughed. a little cough, almost an 'ahem'. the doctor looked at me and said, 'you have a cold?!' uh, yeah, like two weeks ago, i was over it except for a bit of a cough, but he declared that i had a cold and gave me cold medicine. boy, was i ever pissed off! oops, went on a tangent there and got a bit miffed. ahem.) so we got some meds for his tummy troubles. he still had some D yesterday, but i think it's improving. he's drinking lots of aquarius and running around being two, so i don't think he's seriously ill, though he did sleep for most of yesterday afternoon.

speaking of yesterday, i finally got sasha to the cattle call three year check. i forgot to go in september, forgot or didn't have time to go in october, had something else to do in november and then forgot/kids napped through the one in december. seriously, i don't have time for this shit. it's a waste of time and they do it at 2 in the afternoon, PRIME nap time! now, not all children (esp. three year olds) take naps, but my children do. (you may recall that i missed one of tommy's 18-month checks and complained about it then.) my problem is the community people who run this thing call yoshi and pester him. so, he says we'll go to the next one ('we' being me and the child in question, plus any sibling(s)), then he comes home and tells me we have to go. sheesh. i know that these sorts of things can be good for some people who don't really know anything about their kids, or about illnesses or whatever, but i think that if there was something wrong with my child, i would know about it and take him or her to the doctor! just because we missed this thingy doesn't mean it's the end of the world. *sigh*

so, we're supposed to bring some urine (not going to happen), give them an eye and an ear test. uh, ok. didn't do that either. after we got there someone checked her (laughable. but she is 'normal', whatever.) then we talked to some volunteer health person and did a little check (mostly for vocab and recognition. and i have an aside here, my kids don't understand the word 'shape'. they know circle, square, etc., but they don't know how to answer the question, what shape is this? (hm, i may be too general, i'm pretty sure *hiro* can answer that question now, but not when he was three.) so when we asked sasha what shape is this, she didn't understand. and when i said, 'what's this?', she said the color. when i asked her, 'where is the circle?', she pointed to the circle....anyway, just seemed like a weird way to ask about shapes.) the health volunteer person asked about sasha panicking in new situations. it was kind of...odd...yoshi had filled out the at-home questionnaire and had put in a few notes, so i don't know if he mentioned how attached sasha is to me and shy around strangers, but the way the woman kept pushing the question was weird.

then, it was off to the weight, height, pediatrician and dentist room. i watched while sasha was weighed, and she was nearly 15 kilos. no surprises there. i didn't catch the height, but i think she's nearly 95cm. then perfectly normal at the pedi (even though we didn't have urine, but the doctor says, should be fine, i think.) then to the dentist where we find sasha has two cavities! wha-! great, this means a mini lecture from another health volunteer, where i nod and uh-uh, whatever. i am not happy, though, because we took the kids to the dentist last september and even though we asked about the strange brownish spots on her teeth (one between her front two teeth, where the cavities are, and another on a canine, which is probably mostly scaling) we were told she was fine, everything fine...ugh. guess i won't be going back to that dentist. *sigh* poor sasha.

then, lastly a final sit-down with a health volunteer who could speak some english. some idiot had marked sasha's weight as 18.6 kilos, so was lectured a bit about that. i just looked on in a bit of shock, WTF ever, i do not want to be there any longer. this young lady insisted in english that they just want to help, please let them help, we want to help you. wut? yes yes, nod the head, can i have the boshi-techo back and avoid the food booth at the front door (with recipe hand-outs i DO NOT WANT). had to phone the school and say we wouldn't be home so please keep hiro on the bus and i will pick him up there. screaming match between sasha and tommy until they finally fall asleep, get to the school before hiro. *deep breath* make sense, illahee. finally get hiro and drive home and immediately weigh sasha who is merely 14 kilos. am pissed.

i check her boshi-techo and yes, they got her weight wrong. also, put her age down as three years, one month. uh, don't know math much? i know this is a little thing but we certainly don't want to start on weigh issues now, esp. since i think she's of average weight and hiro is under weight. but what truly pisses me off is they kept after yoshi for months about going to this stupid thing AND THEY CAN'T EVEN FUCKING DO IT RIGHT!!! ahem. yes, quite cheesed off for a colossal waste of time.

i'm also a bit cheesed about the, 'we want to help you.' part. i don't need help now that she's three. i needed help when she was a newborn (or any of my children, for that matter.) i was alone and had no help when they were babies. now that they can walk and talk i don't need so much help. more free time, maybe, but not help. it may seem weird to get pissed of about someone wanting to help you, but it felt like, too little, too late. phew.