Parenting Bingo: Toddler Edition

Thank goodness for Doctor Google, or Dr. G as I like to call him. On Friday, Jack came down with a 103 degree fever, which of course sent me to google and Facebook to see if I should start sounding the mommy alarm. Apparently 103 degrees isn’t quite as horrifying as I had thought, so I calmed down a bit and kept a close eye on the little guy. His fever didn’t return on Sunday, so I figured we were in the clear…

Until I noticed on Tuesday that Jack had some little red spots around his mouth. Initially, I suspected the strawberry jelly from his lunchtime PB&J (he had an issue with strawberry flavored stuff when he was very little), so I checked his breathing, spread a little lotion on it and sent him on his way.

Oh, did I mention that he also never returned to his good sleeping pattern and has been waking us up a few times every night? And he’s been SUPER grumpy and whiny for the past couple days.

So quicker than a bunny, I logged on and asked Dr. G.

Fever + red bumps around the mouth + toddler + irritability = hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD).

After reading the list of symptoms, seeing how incredibly common it is in toddlers and looking at some images that look EXACTLY like Jack’s bumps… I’m pretty convinced. So, thanks Dr. G for saving me a co-pay and the time it takes to go to the pediatrician. There’s nothing the pediatrician would even do for HFMD since the virus just has to run its course, so now I’m just hoping that the irritability part passes as soon as possible.

I just love how google and asking friends on Facebook tends to answer most of my toddler questions, which brings me to the title of this post. I made a comment on my Pocketful of Joules Facebook page that with all of Jack’s “fun” issues we’ve had over the past couple years I should have totally won Parenting Bingo by now. One of my friends* said that I needed to create an actual Parenting Bingo card and immediately I began scribbling down ideas.

I mean, we all feel like our toddlers are special little creatures – especially when they’re in one of those odd phases where they like to randomly lick walls… or people – but all of them are pretty darn alike.

So play Parenting Bingo along with me! You get to mark a spot off for everything you’ve experienced with your toddler:

How many times would you have jumped up and waved your hands in the air (like you just don’t care) while screaming BINGO? Would you have won fill-the-card bingo with your kid?

*Thank you to Rachel Reagan for the idea for today’s blog post!

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