How to recover from a cough

Warning: This post starts off rather innocuous and light, like all my other postings but gets unsuspectingly heavy toward the end - not for the faint hearted. But adversity is part of life and we all get our fair share at some point or other.

Last evening, I learned something new - on what to eat to get well from a cough that has lasted more than 2 weeks - from none other than my wise 4 y.o-to-be.

"Mama, I eat one M&M and then I sleep. I wake up, no more cough already!"

I do not promise that it will work for you. But if you want to try, you must first do the following for 2 weeks:

- Abstain from banana, orange, chocolates, ice-cream and all things cold
- Abstain from fried food
- Get lots of rest (including forced afternoon naps)
- Drink lots of water
- Finish a bottle of Prospan (herbal cough mixture)
- Stay away from the fan
- pop Vitamins C

And you ask, "He did all of that?". Yes, isn't he just wonderful? I just couldn't bring myself to chide him for taking the little indulgence with that M&M.

You think I'm being strict with him? Well, I believe you are not alone. My mum and parents-in-law happen to think so. Slightly more than 2 weeks back, my parents-in-law indulged S.P with chocolates. The following day, he got an ice-cream from popo. Then a stubborn cough followed. I highly suspect that they would need little persuasion to resist being indulgent with snacks after this. And I can finally give up my incessant nagging which honestly is making me unpopular with myself - how nice.

Did I also mention that you should get someone to cover you with a blanket in the early hours of the morning when your hands and feet are cold?

Btw, if you think I'm paranoid. Yes, you're right. The stubborn cough, irritating it maybe, I can cope with that. What scares me is the fever. This child, unlike Peanut, had an episode of febrile convulsion - fits or seizure is the more commonly used word. It happened in Dec 2009 at 38.6 degrees at 11.30pm. For that 5 minutes which seemed like eternity, I went berserk - I thought he was going to die on me. He was stiff, shaking in spasms, his eyes rolled up, I could only see the whites, he did not respond to my cries (I think I was yelling, "Don't scare mama". I was totally incapable of giving any assurance to my child) and I could not tell if he could breathe... It's an experience I would not wish on my worst enemy. So each time he has a fever, I would drop everything at work and stay home with him. It doesn't matter that the PD (plus all the medical literature scoured from the internet) had assured that a febrile convulsion, though frightening to observe, is nothing serious and definitely not life threatening.

I love being a mum. The only time I remember hating being a mum was during those 5 minutes of helplessness, succumbed to an overwhelming fear of loss of my child.

Have you eaten your fruits today?

It's Fun Friday and this time, the theme is fruits - obviously! Check this out: Fruit costumes - it's where I got the idea for Peanut's costume.

RSAF Openhouse 2011

29 May 2011

We were among the tens of thousands who made it to this year's Air Force Openhouse. It's no mean feat, I assure you. We almost didn't make it as I contemplated to turn around and leave when on arrival at about 9.30 am, I had to drive on past car park after car park full with parked vehicles.

It's madness - I am almost certain that I would not have braved the crowds but for the 2 boys. We pressed on and managed to park at the last car park some 800metres away from the entrance of the grounds. We were amply rewarded - the boys spotted Samual and Matthew (Peanut's classmate) and so it became a party of 8!

The enthusiastic start at the entrance

Admiring a fighter jet whilst Q-ing for a photo opportunity


We q-ed for 15 minutes to get alongside the cockpit - we were told that the Q for a cockpit shot would take 3 hours!!

Samuel's dad was the only one who could name the different fighter jet models. For the rest of us, well, it didn't matter.

I know I know, this is the Apache (that's what the sign reads).

Urrr ... another fighter jet.

Look, mama, a gun.

Count on us to defend our countrymen?

All of us were totally enthralled by the show

The Chinook airlifting a truck. The boys' jaws dropped.

.. I have a feeling we will be here again this time next year ...

The Next Morning

We survived the long night ... sort of. It went like this:

7 pm - let's see, he should be having dinner at this time.

Time check - 8 pm, no phone call. Should be cleaning up after meal, changing into PJ, brushing teeth and preparing for bedtime.

8.15pm - Mr M asked if we should drive by the school and check. I said, "Don't be silly. He will be fine."

8.30pm - Still no phone call. I asked Mr M if we should take a stroll and checked if it's lights-out at the school. Mr M said, "Maynot be bedtime yet. The teacher mentioned that the schedule could slip as they may be back late from the excursion to the Underwater World."

8.45pm - It can't be 15 minutes, seemed like such a long time ...

9pm - All's quiet. Sweet Potato went to bed, did not miss his bro at all.

9.30pm - Guess, we are in the safe zone. He's probably sound asleep by now - with all the activities packed in the day. Grandpa called Wati on her handphone (we only found out the next day) secretly checking if the school called.

1 am - Not morning yet. If only I could sleep as blissfully as S.P.

3.30 am - Mr M has abandoned me.

Time check - 5.30 am
7.30am - Still not time for pick-up yet.

8.15 am - FINALLY. I was amongst the first parent to be at the school to receive a well rested chirpy Peanut who couldn't stop talking about his night at school, how his teachers took turns with his comfy blanket, how he had to share his blanky with a classmate and both were tucking at each end through the night. And on and on about the jellyfish, the entertaining acts of the sealion, the sting ray, his drawing. He declared triumphantly that he can now stay over at Ah B's (his uncle, my cousin) place. Gulp, maybe next time, I'd cope better?

My baby is all grown up and ready to conquer the world! Boo-hoo-hoo.

Tonight is the School Camp and I ...

This is a costume I created for Peanut for his camp in Dec last year. The theme was birds and each kid had to do a short introduction of himself in Mandarin.

The shapes were cut out from felt, glued onto the raincoat and feathers were added as the last touch.

Thankfully, most of the felt "feathers" stayed on through the evening ... and one year on.

Tonight is the School Camp (again) and I am feeling the jitters because ...

my darling is staying the night ... that is, if all goes as planned - his first stay over. Who knows, maybe I'll get a phone call from the teacher at 8 or 9pm (lights out according to the time table the school sent to us). Any bets? I wonder if I'll be able to sleep tonight or will I be staring at the empty bed next to mine? Or staying up waiting for the phone to ring, perhaps?