Grace's story reads: "I think he should not squish the ant. He might give a signal to his town to attack the kid. They might be fires ants. It might hurt like fire. He (the ant) should be able to enjoy the Spring."

Poor Grace. Yesterday we were at her softball practice. She didn’t seem to want to participate – and this hadn’t been a problem prior, but with a dramatic girl like Grace it could happen and mean nothing. So I went over to sit with her, encourage her to go to bat, and generally help her get busy practicing softball. She goes up to bat and makes a hit. The coach is saying, “Run to first base Grace! Good job. Drop the bat and run!”

And Grace drags her toes, head down, and arms not even moving. S-l-o-w-l-y she makes it to the base. By this time the little girl playing first base has figured out the job of a first baseman and she beats Grace to it.

The coach looks over at me and says, “Do you think it’ll upset her if I call it like it really is?”

I gave a shrug and say, “Go ahead. i’d rather her learn the right way.” (Tough Mommy, right?)

So at practice, Grace is called “Out” and sent back to the bench. She s-l-o-w-l-y makes it back to sit beside me. And then she leans over and throws up between her cleats.

And we leave. Practice over. Let the Mommy guilt ensue. I feel bad that I didn’t believe her when she said she didn’t feel like playing softball. The girl was not lying!

She stays sick through the night with a fever. She says her throat hurts around her glands. We saw the doctor this morning after the big kids go to school for their standardized tests. Grace has strep. She is now my buddy for the next few days. I hate she feels bad and is lethargic. But we have medicine and she just finished a banana. She’s gathering strength.

While I had the doctor’s ear I told her our Six Flags story. And she was upset about the incident

  • upset that the little girl’s wound was not covered with bandages,
  • furious that not even 24 hours had passed since the diagnosis and beginning of medication,
  • and completely frustrated that the parents did not recognize the risk to others.

But the doctor was also very encouraging. She looked Grace over from head to toe and then explained that if there was a transfer it had to happen from sore to sore. And since Grace did not have an opening on her skin the likelyhood of her getting MRSA was minimal. I found a fact sheet on the Center for Disease Control’s website which explains some of the frequently asked questions. It’s good-to-know information, take a look so you’ll know what to look for the next time you run into a clueless parent in a crowd.

In honor of Grace and all she’s been through in the last 24 hours I wanted to show you some of her original artwork. Above is a story she wrote in March. The ant’s expression and the feet of the boy really crack me up. And below is her image of herself right now. Gotta love kids. They are never boring and sometimes their creativity will blow you away.

This is a recent self-portrait by Grace. The words above it say "Super Artist" in her creative kindergarten spelling. She has a dog - supposedly our dog, even though our dog weighs 50 more pounds and is a foot taller than that dog. I like the fact that she has a cape and the dog also has a cape. I really love the artist's palette on her dress in this drawing.