The Family *roll

Ellie’s daycare is fantastic. The daycare provider is nurturing and almost formidably conscientious and Ellie bursts into a grin whenever she sees her. The house is painted a friendly aqua blue and the basement playroom has Eric Carle murals on the wall.

It is also a teeming cesspool of germs.

Since starting daycare, some combination of Dan, Ellie and I have been sick. She started daycare in January. Ugh. Luckily, Dan and I have not been sick at the same time so we’ve been able to take care of the babe and each other.  Ellie’s 3-week long episode of snotty nose, coughing and off-and-on again fevers finally morphed into an ear infection. My own nearly month-long cold finally went away at 3pm today, 24 hours after starting antibiotics.

But there’s a bright, if academic, side: I learned something! For one of my classes this week, we were asked to research some clinical practice guidelines and evaluate their usefulness. I researched treatment algorithms for pediatric otitis media (ear infections) since I was a little suprised Ellie’s pediatrician put her on antibiotics. Algorithm says…pediatrician was right. Since she attends daycare, Ellie is considered a “high risk” ear infection case and the guidelines suggest antibiotics are needed.

I’m amazed to think that my 9-month-old has achieved high risk status at anything. They grow up so fast.