Toddler Ear Tube Surgery: What to Expect – Ep. 266

Laura

Welcome to Big Fat Positive with Shanna and Laura. This week, we have our weekly check-ins. We have our special segment, Loose Ends, where we dive back into the topics of picky eating, parenting triggers, and more. And we close with our BFPs and BFNs for the week. Let's get started. Hi, everyone. This is episode 266. Hi, Shanna. Hi, Laura. So tell me, what have you been up to this week?

Shanna

This week I have been up to some softball drama. It's been a bit of an uncomfortable week, but I've got a report on it, right?

Laura

Yeah, you do. I'm here for the drama. Uncomfortable how?

Shanna

Oh, okay. So as you know, Elle joined the All Star team this summer for her 6U League. And it was built to us as being an intense experience, right? And I knew that we signed up for it. And we've been doing tournaments and practices and all that stuff. But I feel like something took a turn recently with the intensity of the experience. And about two weeks ago, the girls won their tournament, like their division. Like they won the whole thing. They got rings and, you know, it was a whole thing. Yeah, it was very exciting. They played really well and everything. We were all proud of them. And we went to practice the next week, which, by the way, we're practicing like three times a week and then playing on weekends. So it is a lot.

Laura

That's a lot. For a six-year-old, seven-year-old, six and up, right?

Shanna

Six and under, technically, but Elle's birthday cutoff, like the way her birthday is cut off, like she's in the 6U division, even though she's- Okay. All right. So it's like five, six, and seven-year-olds is what we're dealing with here. So it's been very intense. But the first practice after they won this tournament, the girls arrived and the first thing they do right off the bat is get running punishment for mistakes they made during that tournament. And I did not know this was coming. I guess I didn't hear the coaches like warning the girls at the tournament that if they hit the ball and look at the ball while they're running, they would have to run like consequence run at practice. Because if you look at the ball while you're running, you're not running fast enough, right? You're kind of like jogging along looking at the play. So they don't want the girls to do that.

Laura

Yeah, mine would happen after like 10 feet.

Shanna

I'm like, oh my side. Yeah, my side. And some girls start crying and Elle, she's so empathetic. She sees them start crying and suddenly she's crying and she's like, my side hurts too. And I'm sure it did. And I'm just like, what is happening here? And then throughout the rest of the practice, suddenly like these one nineties were being instilled for making mistakes on plays, like if they didn't get their glove down or if they like missed a throw or something like that. And I'm just like, wow, this is a level of intensity I wasn't really prepared for. But we'll kind of like go with it. Maybe it's good for her to have some sort of discipline. I don't know. We'll see how she handles it. So the next few practices go on like this. And then last week, we show up for practice right after her camp. We go straight to the softball field. And I'm like, all right, let's hop out and go to practice.

Laura

Wow. She was traumatized. Oh, poor thing. I feel really like, I feel a lot of sympathy for her because I feel like this was my entire experience with sports in school was basically like getting the joy sucked out of it by coaches who thought that they were, you know, Making me have grit and instead what they were doing was just making me dread every moment of every practice and not want to do it at all Which I really hope isn't the ongoing thing with you guys, but I feel that like I can feel it I this is what happened with tennis for me like oh really Yeah. Tennis was the sport that like my mom decided we were going to play. And we went to like a tennis club and they were pretty serious about it. And I was just like a kid who just wanted to hit some balls and run around. And like I wasn't trying to be a competitive tennis player. Right.

Shanna

That's so sad. I'm sorry that happened with you and tennis. And that is exactly what I was worried about in this situation. Yeah. I'm like, she started softball less than a year ago when she was six years old. A lot of the coaches we've had up until this point have emphasized having the girls love the game, like getting them to fall in love with it now so they'll want to stick with it later. And that's really what I wanted for her. I knew it'd be more intense, but this was not going the way that I had hoped. So we got home and Steve talked to her about it more. And she specifically pointed out an exercise they did during practice, like where they were practicing their throwing and they had to throw towards a big net. And if they didn't hit the net, they had to run these 190s. And she's like, I'm trying my hardest. And I'm still being punished. Like she's not trying to miss the net.

Laura

Wow, so okay, what did you say? What personal Shanna touch was there?

Shanna

Well, Steve is an excellent communicator. Like I trusted this task with him implicitly, but you know, I wanted to make sure that I was like, thank you for volunteering. like we really appreciate you, you know, like this is what I feel and what my kid is going through and stuff like that. And I try to be pretty direct, which is uncomfortable for me to deal with another adult that I'm having some conflict with. So it was a little tricky for me, but I was, I said something along the lines of like, To be honest, I feel like the All Star experience took a different turn when the punishment system started being implemented at practices. You know, of course, I told them about how... Elle like broke down crying and she's scared of practice and all that. And I asked them to reconsider even doing the punishment system at all.

Laura

Yeah, and also, I mean, I don't think this is the case with these volunteer softball coaches, but there have been many times in history where people have used sports to shield themselves from accusations of abuse, right? It's a place where there's a huge power dynamic between the coach and the kids and that can get taken advantage of you know so it's good that you are there to watch out and speak up for her. When she really can't herself so thank you when is this practice.

Shanna

It is next week, early next week, and I guess I will have to report on the resolution at that time.

Laura

Okay, well, we'll be cheering you on, and I won't punish you with extra laps if it doesn't go the way you want it to go.

Shanna

Thank you. Thank you, friend. Anyway, that's my saga for the week. What do you have going on in your world?

Laura

Well, we had a medical saga this week.

Shanna

Oh, that scares me. Tell me everything's okay.

Laura

Yes, everything's okay. But on Thursday, little Sebastian finally got to have his ear tube surgery. Okay, tell us everything. So the surgery itself was billed as like a very quick procedure, right? My ENT. He was so nonchalant about it. He's like five minute surgery in out, not a problem. They usually wake up in the recovery room and say, why is it so loud in here? So we were like all prepared for a pretty quick process, right? And I knew it would take time to get admitted and blah, blah, blah. What I didn't know was exactly when the surgery was going to happen until the night before because they literally didn't call me to give me a time to show up till 5 p.m. the night before. Wow. Which was like, ugh. And they said that we had to check in at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles at noon the next day.

Shanna

All right, a little cutie pie with a teeny tiny blood pressure cuff on. Oh my gosh. Oh, Cory holding him in his little scrub, whatever, gown. He's so cute. Did he know why he was there? What'd you tell him?

Laura

We kept telling him that he was going to get his ears fixed, that he was going to hear better afterwards. I'm not sure how much he understood, but I got to tell you, Shanna, he is like the best patient. He is so, yeah, I mean, like patient is really the key word. He was so patient throughout the whole process. He like just lets the doctors do their exams like no fuss. I mean, so towards the end of the day, we ran into one of the surgical assistants in an elevator and she's like, oh, I remember this guy. This guy was such a good patient. He just laid there and let me do whatever I needed to him, no crying or anything. So, you know, that's a bit of a spoiler of the whole thing, which is like, finally, finally, finally, he gets called in and the surgery went totally well and all the doctors and nurses and everyone were just like, he is the best patient.

Shanna

Yes.

Laura

I'm going to send you a picture of him in recovery. Obviously, I'm not going to post this on the internet because you know, he's unconscious, but I want to show you sort of what he looked like. in the recovery room, passed out taking his nap finally. Oh my gosh.

Shanna

Oh, a little sweetie pie with his little oxygen mask strapped on. Probably taking the best nap of his life.

Laura

Yeah. I mean, his heart rate was nice and calm. But anyway, so he starts sort of stirring out of this state. And the nurses really wanted him to wake up because that's part of the whole process of getting him to go home, right? Yeah. And he's stirring, and the nurse, he's like, Hey buddy, do you want a popsicle? And he's still like, his eyes are closed and he's still like, like not really responding. And I say, baby love, it's mama, do you want boo boo time? And he bolts up.

Shanna

They don't know your nursing history.

Laura

I guess not. Yeah. I mean, they could probably guess based on the fact that Sebastian's almost two and a half and I'm still nursing, but I appreciate the privacy concerns, but he did really, really well. I'm going to talk a little bit more about it in my final segment, but I will say here, I'm going to send you a picture of pure bliss.

Shanna

Okay.

Laura

The timestamp on this is 5.43 p.m. So it's basically 23 hours since the last time he ate.

Shanna

Oh, baby. He's got some nuggets, some french fries.

Laura

Is that a little happy meal? It is a little happy meal. He got a happy meal. He destroyed that happy meal. Like usually he'll eat two nuggets and kind of leave the rest like no he ate the whole happy meal and some more of my fries and yeah.

Shanna

Okay so it looks like he recovered pretty well and bounced back from having surgery. Were there any like other kind of downtime or I don't know recovery issues?

Laura

No, Shanna. I had heard from other parents that, like, oh, they're going to be really sleepy that day, but the next day they're going to be back to normal. I'm going to send you a video from bedtime that night, 7.30 p.m. after this child who didn't eat all day, 24 hours almost without food, and was sedated less than three hours before that. All right. Let's see.

Shanna

Oh, my word. Okay. He has got a cape on. He is. running in circles with a Captain America cape. Oh yeah, he's no worse for wear.

Laura

Yeah, I mean, truly you would not be able to tell anything had happened. So I'm happy to report that continued for the rest of the week and he is right as rain.

Shanna

Yay, great. I'm so glad it all went well, and you were able to get in and get that surgery sooner rather than later. Okay, one more question. Is he hearing better yet? Is it an instant thing? Are you able to tell?

Laura

You know what? It's hard to say because he hasn't shown. It's not like he immediately started speaking in super clear sentences or anything or saying he's hearing better. But he still has to get ear drops for the next five days, so maybe it's just something that needs to like the ears need to heal first, so we'll see. Okay, but anyway, yeah, that's it for me this week. Shall we move on to our special segment? Yes, we should.

Shanna

We're back and this week's special segment is Loose Ends where we give some updates on topics we left dangling in previous episodes. Laura, I'm gonna kick it right off with a question for you. In episode 247, you talked about going to a cooking class with Augie and he like mowed down on an avocado or maybe more than one. So I'm dying to know, is he still eating avocados?

Laura

No well not in the few times we've tried he has requested avocados and I've bought like three or four of them at this point cut them open put them in front of him and he's just left them there so. Yeah, I'm not like spending a bunch of money on more avocados for that to happen. If I happen to be like slicing up avocados, I'll tell them about it, I think. It was definitely not like a, you know, slam dunk, I'll say. But I will say he has continued to like randomly request and try new things. That's good.

Shanna

For listeners who might not remember, Augie has a history of some picky eating.

Laura

Yes, he's a very selective eater. I've realized that a lot of it stems from anxiety. Like he really needs to feel in control. And I think he's like, you know, he really needs to know that he can control what's going in his mouth. I think he has a very strong sense of smell. So I think that that's part of his aversion to a lot of foods, you know, it has to be just right for him and a lot of its control. But one thing that happened recently on our trip to Portland actually, is that we went to this Chinese restaurant that's like near my mom and stepdad's house and they're total regulars. And Augie was willing to try new things, especially, so he's had orange chicken before, but it's been a while since he's eaten it. And he absolutely like destroyed the orange chicken at this place, which I've realized they're kind of just like pre-sauced chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce.

Shanna

It's not too far off, but it comes in a different form. It looks and smells different, so kudos to him for branching out. Exactly.

Laura

And he tried a Mushu pork wrap? Like he ate a couple bites of the wrapper and then ate a bite of the inside decided he didn't like it, but that's okay. And he asked for rice, which most people who have kids who eat typically would not be excited that their child asked for white rice at the table. But he has not touched rice for at least a year, maybe longer. But the fact that he asked for some rice, like he asked me if I would move the lazy Susan around and like put it on the plate was huge. Took a bite, decided he didn't like it, but I was like, that's fine. That's fine. He asked for it. You know, like he's actually branching out and trying new things. So, I just feel like only parents of picky eaters will understand the elation of being like, he tried white rice. It should not be that exciting, but it was, it was. Oh, well, that's good.

Shanna

That's great news.

Laura

Yeah. Okay. So I've got a question for you. Okay. Okay. In episode 244, you talked about going to CECE's preschool and going to like the assembly where she's saying all these songs about God. Ah, yes. Is she still singing about God? Is that still happening?

Shanna

Um, she sang about God all the rest of the year, and they did their little chapel performances every month. School is over now, but she is doing summer camp at that school. And I don't know if you remember, but in that episode, I was talking about how, like, when we toured the preschool, I specifically asked, like, will there be religious teachings here, you know, because we're not religious. And they were like, no, no, no, we'll just like sing about kindness and stuff. And so the God songs were like, oh, interesting. OK, unexpected, but whatever. So we're in summer camp now. And I went to pick her up the other day at 12.30, because I pick her up early. All the other kids are staying there. But I pick up CECE. And as we're walking out, I hear the teacher say to the other kids, OK, let's do our prayer before lunch. And I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. interesting.

Laura

God and pirates, yeah, unreliable narrator there.

Shanna

Yeah, yeah, it was like pirate theme week. So they did like some pirate crafts. And so this whole conversation led me to believe that she doesn't even really know what praying is or God really. So I'm continuing to be like, okay, whatever, like we've got a few more weeks there, then she's gonna go start at her public school. And I won't have to think about it anymore, but that's where we are. All righty. All right. Next question. In episode 252, you reported that Augie had successfully weaned from breastfeeding at the ripe old age of four and a few months. So what's the status of that? Is he still weaned or is he still craving the boo boo time?

Laura

Oh yeah, he's definitely weaned like I'm not backtracking on that. That was okay. That was a long time coming. I was more than ready for that. So, and you know, he was too, if you remember, it was like a very slow process and he was like forgetting most days. So it's fine. But there have been so funny. Like, he definitely remembers and he will occasionally say something about being sad, about not doing it anymore. Oh, really? Yeah. Like, every once in a while, he'll come up to me and he'll be like, I'm going to pretend to do boo-boo type. And I'm like, what? And like, before I know it, he's just like sticking his face on my boob and like making like a cartoonish like eating sound for like a second. And, you know, I'm trying to be very neutral about it, because I don't want to give him a complex, right?

Shanna

Good. Do you see weaning Sebastian anytime in the near future? Are you going to kind of let that run its course the same way?

Laura

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I don't know if I'm going to let it run its course the exact same way, but I'm really glad that I was still nursing him up until the surgery, for example, because it really gave him a lot of comfort. It allowed him to have a little bit more nutrition up until like 8am that day, you know, and it just I think was really comforting for him. And it woke him up out of that deep sleep. Exactly. What else was I going to lure him out of his anesthesia fog with? But yeah, I mean, I'm definitely thinking about it now because like I'm kind of done, you know, but I'm also like scared of being done done because it's like, it's been the last four and a half years of my life. So like.

Shanna

Gotcha. That makes sense.

Laura

Yeah. Okay. So speaking of softball drama, you reported a while back on CECE's major meltdown at the end of season softball party that you were throwing for the team. But aside from that one meltdown, how did the rest of the season go for her? Like, I feel like we didn't hear much about it after the first couple practices. And do you think you're going to sign her up for the next season?

Shanna

Ooh, yeah, good question. I kind of glossed over what the actual season of softball with CeCe as a four-year-old was like.

Laura

Yeah, because if I recall, the very beginning was rough, but then you asked her if she wanted to stay in and she said yes, and so you decided to like stick with it, right?

Shanna

Yeah, she wanted to stay with the season. She ended up playing the full second game after we had that conversation with her. I was like, what a great turnaround. Like what a brilliant act of parenting on my part and discussing it with her. And like, wow, that did not stick. Oh no. Yeah. She showed up to most practices and refused to participate most of the time. Wow. At practice. And I let it go. We had an awesome coach, Coach Rick, who was just totally on my side and on board with just being like, let her do what she does. It doesn't matter. So we just kind of let her do nothing, sit on the sideline, eat snacks, whatever. At games, she liked batting. She would almost always go up and bat, would never go in the field. She just refused to play in the field. And that's half the game. It is, yeah. So she would sit in the dugout. I was a team mom, so I was in the dugout too.

Laura

Wow, OK. Did you get that notarized?

Shanna

I should have. How quickly she will forget. But she's very jazzed up by watching Elle play, you know, the All Stars and go into these tournaments. And she wants to be involved. I told her I would get her own cleats and face mask now that, you know, she's a little older and she's excited about that. And we did it. We signed her up. So we will see how it goes this time around.

Laura

Okay. I'm sure you will keep us posted.

Shanna

Yes, I will. All right, next one for you in episode 255. You were talking about Sebastian having big anger outbursts and tantrums and lots of frustration. And I'm wondering if that's still the case or if it's resolved itself or where you are with that.

Laura

You know, he's actually doing better. He isn't having these like really huge mood swings. You know, I feel like he's kind of stabilized. I don't know. You know, with two year olds, it's kind of like an up and down kind of situation. Like they'll go through growth spurts or something and they'll just be like complete wrecks for a week or two. And then there'll be like two weeks of just being like little angel babies. And you're like, I don't even remember when they had tantrums. He's in a, like, kind of a smoother phase. What I will say is that when he gets upset, he goes big, you know? Like, it's not just like, oh, I'm a little upset. I'm going to let you know. I'm going to cry a little. It's like throwing himself around, throwing his head back, trying to scratch you, like trying to, like, lash out at you.

Shanna

That's good. Yeah. Well, that's great that you're allowing him to have his feelings. He'll be better off for it if he can express all that energy and then just move on from it.

Laura

Well, it is also just really useful for me and Corey to realize like, oh, he's he's mad. This is his version of mad. He'll be OK again soon, you know, like not like, oh, my God, what's wrong with this kid? You know, like not catastrophizing it. So yeah, that's where we're at. All right, I will say though that he is doing like proto whining, you know, like he's kind of like learning how to how to whine a little bit and his like his wine face is the funniest thing. He just throws his head back and makes this dramatic.

Shanna

For a while, I forgot that I had even read it. That's just what I do. I consume things like books, movies, TV, and it just exits my brain like it's a sieve. But I recently remembered to use some of the techniques. So two of the things it talks about in the book is one, like how to approach problems that are more like kid centered, like if your kid is having a problem with someone at school, like it's not really my problem, right? If it's their problem. In those instances, the author suggests using active listening, kind of repeating back what your child is saying, really acknowledging the experience and letting them kind of come to their own solution. And the other type of problem that you might encounter with your child is more of like a you problem. Like you need your child to change their behavior in some way. Like how do you talk to your child in that instance?

Laura

That's cool. It sounds like the book might be a little more useful for like a slightly older age group right like L's age group and up then maybe our four year olds.

Shanna

I think it could be helpful with a four-year-old if you have someone who's open to it. Because I remember doing something similar with Elle when she was maybe three or four. We were having trouble with her bedtime or something. This was before I even read the book. It was just, I don't know, an idea I got from somewhere. And we sat down and made a list, and she gave her brainstorm ideas about bedtime. She was, I think they can totally be open to it. It just depends on the temperament of your child, I think.

Laura

Fair enough, fair enough.

Shanna

Okay, last question. I think we could maybe both answer this one. In episode 252, our big topic. was parenting triggers and we identified our individual parenting triggers and how they affect us. So the question now is, Laura, have you changed how you approach parenting now that you've identified your triggers?

Laura

Yeah, I'd say I have. I feel like just naming something as a trigger has been really helpful in like diffusing situations. Like, and also identifying what was a trigger and what wasn't when we were talking, you brought up how being late. was a trigger for you and I was just like, oh my God, yes. And so now I've recognized it. I'm like, okay, I'm being triggered because my anxiety is triggered because I'm anxious about being late and it's not because of anything else. It's just because of that. Take a breath. It's okay. It's okay to be late. It's okay to be late. It's okay to be late, right? Yeah. And also just like the other day, there was a bunch of cross talk happening, like people just talking over each other. And I was just like, hey, guys, I need everyone to stop talking for a second. Mommy's feeling really overwhelmed. And like just identifying it is like, that's the problem.

Shanna

That's so great. I'm glad that that has been the case for you. I think that in some regards, I've had the same experience, like the being late thing, like naming that has been big for me. I still don't love being late, but I try to think about like, okay, this is a trigger, right? This is why my anxiety is spiking. and being a little more aware has been very helpful. And the sound thing, like just lots of noises all at once was very triggering for me. It still is, but I think it's helping me to be aware of it and do what I can to minimize that. I will say I haven't been so great about being aware of my trigger of sibling conflict. That one is still really tricky for me. Just, oh, when they start getting mad at each other, I just, I'm like, ah. So maybe this is a cue for me to start being aware of that one and maybe I can help myself out with that.

Laura

Yeah. That's good. Well, I feel like we wrapped up a bunch of loose ends. We tied them in a nice little bow. Very pretty bow. We did. We could be professional gift wrappers. Not me. Never in a million years. I'm terrible at gift wrapping. I am good with string though, so But shall we take this thread? Snip it take a little break and come back with our BfP's and B events. Oh, I think we should

Shanna

BFP. Yay. Despite all the softball drama going on, one thing has been going very well, and that is Elle's musical theater summer camp. And yeah, so the last three weeks she has been learning the musical Annie and this weekend it was the big performance.

Laura

Did the sun come out tomorrow? It did. It did.

Shanna

Oh my gosh.

Laura

You missed a joke. You could have said bet your bottom dollar.

Shanna

Oh, yeah. Man, I'm so slow. I'm so slow. Such a good cute little musical. So it was very adorable. It was in like this auditorium gymnasium multipurpose room at this School and the kids it's like ages six to maybe 14 I guess and it was just oh my gosh It was just so cute and it's really impressive that they pull this off in three weeks They learned I don't know like eight songs all the lines L had her lines that she said and And she had her little singing solo, which was just the line, but she was so proud of herself and you could see it on stage, right? She just came out and she like saw that we were there and she saw CECE sitting there and was like waving at her. It was just adorable. Super cute. Let me, let me send you some pictures.

Laura

Yes. Oh, look at her little orphan girl with her pigtails looking so proud of being up there. Oh, and she's got some flowers. That is so great. So cute. I'm jealous. I'm like, I'm surprised by the feeling that's coming up inside of me, which is jealousy. Like I want to go to the three week like musical theater camp so badly.

Shanna

Girl, I feel you. I feel you so hard. Like my kids are always doing like all these awesome fun things that I want to do and especially musical theater camp. Oh my gosh. And we've all been singing the songs all around the house. One really cool thing is that we brought CeCe to the performance and I didn't know how she was going to do with that. And as far as I know, she's never sat through an hour long show of anything. And I was like, I'll take her this year. We didn't bring her last year to Shrek. And the director invited all the young kids to come down and sit on the floor up front if they wanted to. All of us parents were just in folding chairs. And I was like, CECE, do you want to go sit up front? And before I could even finish that sentence, she was like, zing.

Laura

She was gone. She was gone.

Shanna

After a few minutes, she came back. She was unsure. And I was like, it's OK. Sit over there. And I can see you. And you'll be close. You'll be able to see everything.

Laura

Yeah.

Shanna

She was the most captive audience. I couldn't believe it. Every time I looked at her, she just was staring at stage. She was waving at Elle a lot.

Laura

Sounds like someone is headed towards musical theater camp next year.

Shanna

Yeah. If she's old enough, I don't know if she will be, but when she is old enough, we'll sign her up. But all in all, it was super fun. They take a week off and then Elle's going to go back to musical theater camp for another three weeks and put on grease. So very excited.

Laura

Ah, Grease Lightning. All right.

Shanna

Yeah. Yeah, Elle already told me that she wants to try out for Sandy, the main lead character in my story.

Laura

I love her confidence.

Shanna

You go for it, girl. Yeah. I know. I know you go for it. So yeah, super fun weekend with that. What about you? Would you have a BFP or a BFN?

Laura

I also have a BFP. Ooh, OK. And mine is that CHLA, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, has made it their like waiting rooms and experience for kids who have to be there like so cute and fun. I was just like blown away by how much detail they put into making it like a like a comforting and fun place for kids to be when they have to come in and have these like scary surgeries and stuff. In my check and I talked about how long we had to wait, right, before he got pulled into his surgery. But what I didn't talk about, because I was saving it for this segment, was all the stuff they had to keep them occupied. We brought the iPad because we were no dummies and we knew that would need some help waiting. But honestly, we barely had to use it because the waiting rooms were so entertaining for for him. What did they have in there?

Shanna

Okay. Oh, look at him on the bed. He's got a bunch of trucks that he's playing with, like a giant, I don't know, trash truck or something in a toy stethoscope, obviously. Oh my gosh, that's so cool, they provide, wait, is that, what is that, a foosball table? It's a foosball table, Shanna. Oh, look at him, he looks so little next to that table. I bet he had so much fun just like playing with that.

Laura

He did, and you know, he was very focused on it. He was really trying to get the ball like underneath the little foosball guy's feet. So that was very cool, yeah.

Shanna

Oh really, I'm amazed he could even see it. He looks like he could barely see over the edge of it.

Laura

Barely. Yeah, barely.

Shanna

Oh my god. A straight up video game. What is that? Like a PlayStation?

Laura

Yeah, I think it's a PlayStation. Honestly, Cory ended up playing the PlayStation for like a good 20 minutes at some point. Oh, okay. So that one's for the dad. So, okay, okay. Well you know like there are teenagers who also have to wait right so that's why there's cruise ball and the video games but honestly Sebastian was living his best life like full-on living his best life in the waiting room and then so.

Shanna

Oh, that is hilarious. I guess they didn't think about giving him a little versed for the separation anxiety of the toys at the end of the visit, huh?

Laura

I guess maybe most kids are not as toy obsessed as my boys are.

Shanna

They are. They are. They love their toys and they love their trucks.

Laura

But they really do. Yeah. From the gift shop, I bought him a monster truck. He picked out the monster truck. And of course, when Augie and Corey rolled up to pick us up, Augie was like, what's that? Can I see it? Can I look at it? And I purposely did not buy him a toy because I'm like, look, he has to understand that sometimes you don't always get a toy when your brother gets a toy. So but he did end up riding home carrying the toy because Sebastian was so bereft about leaving the hospital that he just cried all the way home.

Shanna

He did? Oh, wow.

Laura

I mean, he hadn't eaten in 24 hours, so the poor boy was also maybe contending with that. He definitely perked up. He didn't cry all the way home. He stopped crying when we got through the drive-through and I gave him some french fries.

Shanna

Oh, good. I'm glad that erased the memory of his beloved toys that he had to be behind. Well, that's really awesome about Children's Hospital. We've only gone there like once or twice for little things, but I mean, I just hear amazing things about that hospital. Super support that place for sure.

Laura

Yeah. Oh, and I didn't even, I'm not going to go into it because we don't have time, but like they have all these like Disney, like interactive Disney murals on the wall that you like download an app and point your phone on it and it creates augmented reality Disney stuff in your phone. Like it's super cool. Anyway, they've really got it dialed in. So good job, CHLA.

Shanna

Yay.

Laura

But that's it for me. I think that might be it for our show.

Shanna

Yes, except I have a five-star review to read. Oh, good. This is from Rebecca 424F on Apple Podcasts. The title of the review is, We're Totally Friends, Right? Five Stars. I started listening to this podcast when I was 13 weeks pregnant in mid 2021 and binged until I caught up with my own weeks of pregnancy. I continued to binge listen but still went back and played each of the weeks episodes after my daughter was born to coincide with CeCe and Augie's development. I would be talking to friends in real life and mention something from the podcast, whether it be a piece of advice or an Amazon find, and not realize that I would say, a friend told me this or a friend recommended me that. And I would completely forget that it came from the podcast. I have a long commute to work and listen almost every day.

Laura

And you totally have permission to just tell people you heard it from a friend because, uh, I'd like to think we are friends. Yes! Pod friends. Yes, we are totally friends. But then also make sure you tell them to listen to the Big Fat Positive.

Shanna

Indeed. Listeners, if you haven't had a chance yet to leave us a five-star review, could you please do us a favor and head on over to Apple Podcasts? Leave us a five-star review and say a few things you love about the show, and we might read it on an upcoming episode. If you have any comments or questions about this week's episode or anything else, drop us a line. We'd love to hear from you. Laura, where can they reach us?

Laura

We are on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at BFP Podcast. We have a website, bigfatpositivepodcast.com. If you want to send us an email, you can always throw a voice memo in there. We love those. Just send them to contact at bigfatpositivepodcast.com. And finally, if you want to join the coolest group of people on the internet, search Facebook for Big Fat Positive Community. It's a private group, so you have to request to join and answer the two membership questions so we know you're not a robot. Once you do that, you'll be sent straight through to all the wonderful and insightful conversations we're having in there.

Shanna

Our show's produced by Laura Birek, Shanna Micko, and Steve Yager. Thanks so much for listening, everyone. We love y'all. Have a great week. Bye. Bye.