Let's call it a day

Yesterday at the doctor, Evan was given some eye drops to treat his infection, as well as a prescription for an oral antibiotic to treat both ears and eyes. As of this writing, he has ingested none of his 10 day antibiotic, and one dose of the eye drops. We've tried everything, from hiding the medicine in food to holding him down to taking privileges away, and nothing has worked. (We even tried an "antibiotic pancake" this morning--not our finest moment, and the whole house smelled awful.) The only thing happening is that Mike and I are getting steadily more frustrated while Evan gets so upset he cries until he vomits.

I was fully ready to blame Evan for all this. I mean, he can be difficult, he's overly sensitive, he certainly isn't your textbook four year old. But then I started to think about it, and I don't know any four year olds who would willingly take this crap (it's the consistency of milk of magnesia, and far less appetizing). And Ev was actually very cooperative for the first dose of eye drops--he laid on the couch, and let me prop his eye open, and it wasn't until the first drop went in and burned like hell that he said no more, thanks.

I certainly shouldn't be so hard on him. I'm a grown person, and I couldn't swallow a pill until I was in high school (snicker if you must). I think I took children's chewables well into my teen years. And to this day I can't take any of those awful liquid medicines, be they NyQuil or Pepto or anything else--just the thought makes me gag. And yet here I was last night, torturing poor Evan to the point of total misery.

All I can hope is that Ev will get better on his own. This is a virus after all, and as far as I know the antibiotic is not absolutely necessary. I'll keep encouraging fluids, and rest, and I will make a good effort to get those eye drops in. But am I a bad parent if I just throw in the towel on the other stuff? I can't bear to keep forcing it, especially when I know the effort is a futile one.