Alan says, "This place has its own pace."
A couple weeks ago, while Alan was in Alaska, I had to take Meggie to a physician, because her eyes were slightly pink. With our girls, allergy-prone like me, there are many reasons for pinkish eyes. But, where day care centers are concerned, you can't panic too much. So, after Meggie rubbed her eyes into a slight blush, I decided to preemt anxious quesitoning from the teachers and nip the rosiness in the bud. I cashed in a day of sick leave and took Meggie to a local physician.
The physician examined Meggie and said, "Well, since you pointed it out, I could, I suppose, talk myself into perhaps perceiving some redness right ... there." If I judge correctly from my past experiences in the States, my American pediatrician would've sent me home with a prescription for antibiotic eyedrops--just to be safe.
But, this being Germany, the German physician handled the problem thus: "I don't believe in jumping straight to antibiotics all the time. Here's a prescription for non-antibiotic drops, and if they don't work, use your judgment and use this second prescription. And I see that she has some slight redness around her mouth, because she's licking her lips. You could, of course, use one of those chap sticks, but I don't believe in making the lips lazy through the application of balms. You don't want the lips to become unaccustomed to creating their own moisture. Just dab a bit of cortisone--here's another prescription--around the area and let the redness go away."
It all sounded sound to me, so I left the examination room and tried to pay at the counter. The receptionists looked at me as I had horns on my head (or worse, slightly bloodshot eyes). "What? Did he give you a bill?" "No," I said, "but don't people usually get bills?" They laughed and said, "Just write your address here, and we'll send you a bill later."
So we left to go to the apothecary. (I'd call it a pharmacy, except that a German apothecary is nothing like a pharmacy. Apothecaries are almost always standalone, which further slows you down. And people seek low-level medical advice from apothecaries. The customer in front of us was being advised on how best to handle a persistent cough. The apothecary was reading the label to the customer and describing how the active ingredient suppresses coughs, while I read packages on the counter--example: organic gummy bears, which the apothecary had formulated and had manufactured by a local company.)
So, when it was our turn, I handed over my try-this-first prescription. What did I get? Visine. To be fair, it was "Visine Yxin," which (although not an antibiotic) has an active prescription-only ingredient that apparently helps to dry up infections. True to the jingle, Visine got the red out.
Since, as the doctor had said, "the day was already gone" (at 9:30 a.m.), Meggie and I decided to finish out her "sick day." She drew a picture of a mother bird and a baby bird on a large easel next to the counter (and gave the picture to apothecary, who thanked her graciously and offered her free candy). Next, we stopped at the bakery around the corner from the house, and Meggie drank a large bottle of cocoa and ate a chocolate-filled croissant. Then we went to the store and bought a comic book. (Germany has a large selection of comic books appropriate for young children. We are reading two series--"Tinkerbell" and "Sissi," based on an empress of Austria, although not on the tragic end of her life. These comic books are great for learning German and other skills--they contain matching and math activities, and puzzles too.)
Later, in the car, Meggie said, "Mom, I'm really only thinking of my friends in staying away from school. I don't want them to get sick like me too. But I am having a nice sick day with you." I had to admit, "I'm having a nice sick day with you too."
Obstacles slow us down, but they sometimes make for a pleasant ride.
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Photos
I have not taken many lately, but here are a few from around the house.
I recently stumbled on Meggie's brochure from the Cologne Cathedral treasury. Meggie marked off artifacts she had seen using a brown crayon.
Meggie writes little notes on any scrap of paper she can find. I found this one around the house. I assume it was intended for me.
The bulk of our household goods still haven't arrived. This is our makeshift playroom. We decided to make what would have been the dining room into the downstairs playroom. It makes everyone happier, and we have an eat-in kitchen anyway, so it seemed silly to make the room into a place we'd only use a few times a year.
Our local building store had these cute decals that I put up in the girls' playroom.
And two little birds above the window.
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