We find out Joshua has an allergy

When Joshua was a little over two years old, he got his first ear infection.  When he was nearly finished with his dose of penicillin, I (Rachel) noticed he had a light rash all over his body.  Unusually, I took him back into doctor, who said that he just had a minor reaction to one of the inactive ingredients.

Six months later, Joshua was sick again and was given another prescription for penicillin (well, amoxicillin, but not too different).  Again, when the infection was cleared up, his body got a rash.  This time it was a bold and bright pattern all over his skin, he was puffy, and itched.  Since it was the weekend (and we had a brand new baby in the house), I took him into the Urgent Care facility.  The doctor there (who, I think was more competent than our regular pediatrician) said he had a classic allergic reaction and gave him some medicine to help with the itch.

Throughout, Joshua was cheerful and aside from scratching a bit and telling us it hurt, gave no indication that he was at all uncomfortable.  Since there was no problem, we decided to take him to nursery the next day.  What an uproar he caused.  He looked awful, and the teachers and parents were understandably concerned that the nasty rash was contagious.  After a few days, the rash cleared up and we've been careful to make sure he doesn't have penicillin since then, on the one occasion he's had an infection.  Given the rapid escalation of his reaction, I don't want to see what more exposures would do!

Daniel and the Evans' (former) Swingset

One evening, soon after Bobby and Susan bought their house, we went over for a BBQ.  The previous owners (The Fillmores) had left their swing set as part of the deal and 2 year old Daniel was really enjoying it.  As he sat to go down the slide, he started screaming.  What was wrong, we wondered as we ran toward him.  A wasp!  As Mommy grabbed for Daniel to get him off the slide, Daddy swatted at the offending insect.  Not a wise choice by Daddy; both Mommy and Daniel were stung.  A popsicle helped Daniel feel better, but ever since then he's been terrified of flying insects.  It took a long time to convince him that flies were just dirty, not out to get him.  We discovered that the swing set had a wasp nest in the end of the overhead beam, right next to the slide.  Obviously, Daniel's playing disturbed them.  But, in the end it was the wasps who lost as the swing set got recycled not too long thereafter.

The First Post

Sometimes at night, the boys want to skip the story from a book.  In the car, they request a "special" story.  What do they want?  They want to hear a real-life story, a narrated- if slightly exaggerated- event, and not about someone famous or far-removed.  The heroes of the stories they want to hear are their aunts and uncles, mom and dad, grandmas and grandpas, and the greats even further back.  So, help us out!  If you have lots of stories to tell on these erst-while heroes, leave a comment requesting to be added as an author.  If you only have a moment or two you want to share, email me at rachelgarner.familystories@blogger.com  When writing, please use full name tags.  If you'd like to add further detail, clarify your role in the event, or defend your reputation, feel free to leave comments.  Thanks for your help!