Mommy Needs a Time-Out!

  Today is one of the first days I can remember when I found myself just about to loose it. E is not feeling well today. He has a cold. We took him to the pediatrician and got clearance to continue on to our audiology appointment. We made sure to keep hands cleaned and sanitized and contain coughs, but we didn't want to cancel our CI appointment because it is going to become very difficult for me to get off work (that's right...new job starting very soon). The appointment didn't go well because E was just in blah mode. He wasn't cranky, he just didn't feel like cooperating.
  On the way back home, E slept a bit, but woke up just in time for the sun to be in the perfect location to blind everyone in the car for the rest of the ride home. That's the really bad thing about our appointments...we live in the Western part of the state and so we are always heading home with the sun blaring in our face. E acts like he is a vampire in danger of disintegration whenever the sun shines in his face in the car. Because of the angles and the curves in the road, I cannot keep the sun out of his face unless I just put a tent around him. I hang blankets from the sun roof, tie coats to hooks, etc. to try to block it all, but it never works completely. He screams like he's going to die every time a ray touches his face. He yelled at ear-piercing levels for a complete half hour on the last leg of our drive. Since he had been asleep, he wasn't wearing his CI or hearing aid and so he couldn't hear himself, but Mommy and Daddy sure could! Our nerves were shot and there wasn't a thing we could do about it. E is not even two years old and when you rely so much on your sight, it makes sense that anything that interferes with your sight would be a major problem. We understand, but it doesn't make it any easier. By the time we got home, my husband and I were both in need of our own time-outs. I'm thinking about starting to carry my ear protection from the gun range in the car on all trips.