Fatherhood

Francis has had a difficult few days. Her last solid meal was on Christmas day (when she ate an entire steak at Hunk and Jerry’s house in Clarendon). She’s had a fever for most or all of the intervening time. The Urgent Care center told us that she had bilateral pneumonia, strep, and ear infection, and possibly a UTI. After an evening with a kind ER doc, it turns out that some of those diagnoses may have been exaggerated, but I want to talk about Francis’s nose right now. She was blocked up and unable to breathe comfortably last night. She couldn’t sleep, and she hasn’t developed an effective nose blowing technique. Sally tried to use the suction bulb, but it didn’t reach the problem.

If you have a queasy stomach, you should stop reading now.

Other people might have run a steamy tub to try to loosen it up. More medication was also an option. We eschewed these modern solutions and reached deeply into our frontier traditions. I sucked Francis’s nose clean with my mouth, and then spit the offending snot out. No one enjoyed it, but it helped.

The device pictured above is made by a Swedish company called Nosefrida. I am ordering one today.