GASP!

I'm not one to blame my parents for all the things wrong in my life. They did a pretty good job, I think, and the bad decisions I've made....yeah, they were pretty much all my fault. But, there is one thing I've always blamed on my parents: my asthma. Both of my parents are smokers. They would always smoke around us kids. No one in my close or extended family has asthma, just me, and I wasn't diagnosed until I was in high school. It's not bad, and it's gotten better since I moved out of my parent's house. Well, except when I lived in Atlanta. Reason 412 why I hated living in Atlanta: crap air quality. But I digress. Back to my point...I've always assumed that my asthma was caused by my exposure to second-hand smoke. So, I wasn't that worried about passing asthma along to my kids. Bad eyesight, sure, but breathing problems? Not from me!

Now I have to reevaluate where my asthma came from because it's official: B-man has asthma. Last winter, he had a lot of upper respiratory infections: colds, croup, even two cases of pneumonia. They'd linger, he'd need nebulizer treatments, but his pediatrician was always careful to clarify that he had reactive airway disease, not asthma as asthma cannot be diagnosed in children this young.

Well, B-man got a cold, and all of a sudden on day two of the cold, he was gasping and wheezing and coughing non-stop. I took him right in to the doctor's office, pretty sure we'd be sent to the hospital. It was THAT BAD. But, he was given a few breathing treatments, and we were sent home with steroids and antibiotics and albuterol.

It's been rough for the past few days as he's been coughing near constantly, and was obviously tired and sick. He hasn't slept in days, and therefore I haven't slept in days. I think the breathing treatments are finally starting to work, though, and I hope to get at least a few hours of sleep tonight in my own bed. We'll see.

So, I give an official "I'm sorry" to B-man if it was my junky genes I passed along to him, and to my parents for blaming them all these years for my asthma. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm going to believe it's just a coincidence B-man has asthma and still hold my asthma over my parents' heads as proof of how stupid they are to smoke.

Random unrelated thought: I got to escape from the house for twenty minutes today when I went to go buy some bagels for everyone. Well, like a total idiot, I left the boys' Laurie Berkner CD playing in the car. I'm finally by myself for a minute, and I waste it by listening to kids' music?? I could have been listening to Regina Spektor or Ani DiFranco, and not even skipping over the songs with swear words. I'm such a dope. Laurie Berkner is surprisingly catchy, though...