Last week my youngest started the week with a fever that progressively got worse as the week went on dispite my repeated visits to the pediatrician. By Friday her temp was over 105 and by Saturday we found ourselves in a hospital emergency room waiting for results from a small battery of tests. Sitting in the small, quiet, scary looking room with nothing but ourselves and a tv, I found myself digging through my purse multiple times to come up with activities that would ease the stress of the day. It’s amazing how many activities we have in there… we wished I had more snacks instead.

We counted fingers and toes and all the different medical devices and their fun accessories. We explored the hospital bed and its ability to move up and down. We sat on the swirly chairs and pushed them across the room. Eventually my daughter ended up with an IV so our time was then spent stuck in one place. trying to convince a grumpy 2 year old that sitting still is fun… is not an easy task.

One time passer was a fun little game for my iphone that she loves to play. I think it’s simply named “Bugs!”. Different types of bugs run across the screen and the object is squish them with your finger. There is no winning or losing… just unlimited bug squashing time. However, after about 15 minutes the attention span wants another direction.

However, the favorite activity turned out to be mom doodling on a paper towel. The room had a small wallpaper border of happy green frogs… so there the conversation began. We talked about flowers, more bugs and butterflies…  This kept my kiddo occupied with a hint of happiness for a good 45 minutes or so.I am so glad that after watching mom doodle all week, she was still facinated by the pen on paper.

We’re home, she’s much better now and today as I was cleaning out my purse, I found the saved drawings… her favorite is still the “pider”.

Note: always carry paper, you never know when it will come in handy. This is one of those days that I wish I had brought the travel size sketchbook I said I’d carry around with me.