Pollen!
The yellow stuff on my car, the backyard toys, and basically every surface in the house when the windows are open is hurting my 5-year-old. I have never seen someone use as many tissues as my 5-year-old suffering from seasonal allergies. And to top it off, this is something new!
I started noticing how frequently he was asking for the tissues. And each morning it seemed like he was sneezing five times before even making it to the bathroom. (And let me tell you, those were not pretty sneezes.) Now that we were home together all the time, I realized how much this was affecting him each day — I could actually see how many tissues were left around, hardly ever making it to the trash. One day, I counted 33 tissues!
My husband was also waking up sneezing, blowing his nose, and itching his eyes. So, it had to be seasonal allergies and would clear up quickly.
Then, BAM, before we knew it, my 5-year-old boy woke up with a bloody nose I will never forget. As a child, I had bloody noses, so I knew immediately to pinch the bridge of his nose and wait for it to stop. Which, it eventually did. Unfortunately for us, he had snuck into our bed in the middle of the night, and now our white comforter was spotted red. Once the bloody nose stopped, he seemed to be doing fine. Some sneezes, but not bad.
Then, later that afternoon, BAM, his eyes were bloodshot and itchy. His face was getting swollen. I immediately reached for the Benadryl and cold cloths for his eyes. He was so uncomfortable and itchy. It was heartbreaking to see him like this. This time, I needed more information, so I made a call to the pediatrician. She was very informative and gave some great tips:
- Zyrtec in the morning (to replace our previously purchased Claritin)
- Eye drops twice a day
- Nightly showers
- Change clothes when coming in from outside
We immediately started this regimen, we closed our windows, and we actually spent two full days inside. The sneezing and constant nose blowing stopped after those two days, so we began to limit our outside time and, even then, hosed down all the toys and play area in the backyard to minimize the pollen exposure.
It has been about two weeks since the first flare-up, and with our new daily routine, I am happy to report that the use of tissues, the bloody noses, and the itchy red eyes have minimized. There are still some nights when we are proactive and give him a dose of Benadryl, but, for the most part, his allergies have calmed down.
My 12-year-old son, Ashton, met with his CodeWiz Coach, Jada, via Zoom for the hour-long class. Jada asked us some questions to gain knowledge about my son’s coding background (which was absolutely none!) and explained that she would be guiding him through a game called Code Combat, where he would complete missions using the Python language. Together, with the aid of screen sharing and voice guidance, Jada guided Ashton through creating algorithms to make his game character move through missions. Arrows appeared on the screen to let him know where to begin typing, and a split screen provided a clear view of what effects the codes he was typing were having on the game characters in real time. To his delight, game characters earned badges as he learned new skills, and he was thrilled to see his achievements on the screen. 
