Fever

Yesterday morning, Son No 3 woke up cheerfully and played half-an-hour of Pet Society before complaining of some discomfort in his intestinal region. Thereafter, his disposition deteriorated as rapidly as the rise in body temperature. He did not go to school. I sensed it was more than a common flu - which I normally would have treated at home - and so, I brought him to see a paediatrician at Desa Sri Hartamas.

Son No 3 did not like the doctor's prodding and poking and told the doctor so, but he was generally cooperative. His tonsils were not inflamed. Nevertheless, a bacterial infection was diagnosed as the lymph nodes were enlarged. 5 different types of medicine were prescribed. The cost of the consultation was astronomical at RM236 but that's another story.

Anyway, the fever continued to rage unabated, despite all the medication. At one point last night, his body temperature shot beyond 40 degrees C and I had to sponge him with tepid water to control the temperature. This was in addition to the "Kool-fever" gel sticker which we have pasted across his forehead and the doses of paracetamol.

The fever broke some time after 2 am. It came down to 38 degrees C. After that, we managed to catch some sleep. I slept next to him as Son No 2 was already asleep in my bedroom. In his sleep, Son No 3 sometimes broke into speech. I wouldn't say he was delirious, far from it, he was crystal clear - I remember once he said, "The animals can see it but the people cannot." Wonder what he was dreaming about :)

Today, Son No 3 continues to rest at home. He still has a mild fever but he should be on his way to full recovery soon.

4 Accidents & A Nightmare

This morning, Son No 3 told me he had a nightmare. He dreamt that we had a car accident.

I don't blame him. Over the past 4 months, my car has been involved in 4 minor accidents. Yes, that's an average of one accident per month. In all four incidents, Son No 3 was in the car. The other two boys were in school. But Son No 3 wasn't like traumatised or anything like that. Really.
I will just give a short description of each accident.

Accident No 1

• Isuzu pick-up squeezed its way through a narrow lane and caused a deep gash on my car and broke my tail-lamp.
• Happened outside Son No 2's school.
• Male Chinese blue-collar driver.
• Hit-and-run. I had to foot the repair bill of RM900.

Accident No 2

• Car in front of me stopped abruptly. I managed to stop my car in time but the Vios behind me slammed into my car.
• Happened in Bangsar.
• Professional Chinese woman driver, late-30s?
• Driver apologised immediately and said she hoped my son did not get a shock (she must be a mother herself). Footed the entire repair bill of RM700.

Accident No 3

• I stopped at a stop-look-go junction. The Kia behind me hit the back of my car.
• Happened in Bangsar.
• Male Chinese driver with a deep tan and a "pai-kia" look.
• First thing the driver said in Cantonese was that we were fellow Chinese, so we should just help each other. Amazing... I wonder if I were a non-chinese, what would he have done? I told him straight in the face that this was not a racial issue. (I learnt the Cantonese word for "race" from Son No 2's Moral Ed lessons.)
• Next thing he said was that I should not have stopped. Hello? I was turning into the very busy Jalan Travers.
• Driver then said I was "ba bai" as in very fussy because I was unhappy with the dislodged bumper. He then used his fist to forcefully give the bumper a big thump to push it back to its original position. It worked. Ignoring me, he then sped off.

Accident No 4

• A Honda City reversed out of a parking lot and knocked into my parked car on the other side of the road. Luckily, I was still around to hear the "bang" when the accident happened.
• Happened in Bangsar, outside the kindergarten.
• Middle-aged male Chinese driver, a fellow parent at the kindergarten.
• Footed the entire repair bill of RM350.

Moral Of The Story... nah, there's no moral here. I am pretty blase about these scrapes now. For the last two accidents, I did not even call anyone from the scene of the accident. No big deal. I told my husband as an afterthought after dinner, "By the way, I had an accident today....." like it was just another conversation topic.

Son No 3 has been pretty cool about these accidents too. After the last accident, he asked me, "Mummy, why cars like to bang you, ah?" Wish I knew.

[P/S: The past tense for "foot" is footed. I just checked the Oxford Dictionary :)]

Parenting Books

Even before my firstborn was conceived, I have been reading parenting books. Motherhood can be a frightening prospect to a mother-wannabe because nobody tells you what to do to take care of a baby or to bring up a child. OK, maybe for some people, well-meaning relatives and friends may offer advice about this and that but you really do not know what is the best approach for your child. And I am one of those who generally do not believe what others tell me, without doing my own research.

For me, nothing beats reading. While my husband has been filling up his bookshelves with business-related books, my shelves have seen increasing number of parenting books. Much of my reading followed the course of growth of Son No 1. From infant to baby to toddler to pre-school to tweenie and now pre-teen, the issues surrounding the various aspects of development are different. And then there are those topical issues like sibling rivalry, discipline, sex and moral education as well as bringing up boys, which can be very different from bringing up girls.

Why I am writing about this today is that, while I was doing some spring-cleaning this morning, I realised that I have been relying on my memory and experience to bring up the two younger boys. It's like, been there, done that. No need to read any more. In some ways, it's true - the gut feel is more reliable now.

But as I picked up some dust-covered books, like "The Early Childhood Years: The 2 to 6 Year Old", and as I flipped through the pages, memories flooded my mind. I realised there are things that I can do better for the two younger boys. I should do my revision more often.

There is this beautiful passage from the abovementioned book, on the 5-year-old (Son No 3's age right now):

"Life with 5- and 5-and-a-half-year-olds is much easier than at any other age level because they are intent on pleasing their mothers and fathers. The Mother is the center of the child's universe at this time.

Fives like to have their mothers at home when they return from school. They enjoy holding long talks with their mothers. They especially want mother close at hand at bedtime, when they are sick, and when they are upset about something.

Fives are also very fond of their fathers. They are inordinately proud of them, and love having the company of their fathers whenever possible.

Generally, five-year-olds get along and play well with their brothers and sisters."

This serves as a poignant reminder to me that I must treasure this time with my 5-year-old more.

Fun At Ikea Playland

Son No 3 did not need to go to school today as the kindergarten declared a special holiday after Saturday's concert. As a treat, I brought him and Son No 2 to Ikea's Playland this morning.

This place is highly recommended for stay-at-home moms who need a reliable baby-sitter for an hour or so. While the children were playing, I had time to run some errands and browse at the Popular bookstore. It was a lovely morning. It's times like these that make me appreciate my life as a SAHM.

Growth, Growth, Growth

Let's talk about growth.... not contraction, recession or depression.

• Son No 1 has outgrown his old shoes. His shoe size is now bigger than mine.
• Son No 2 is no longer the shortest boy in class. His title is now passed on to Nuraiman.
• Son No 3 had needed to alter his Red Indian costume because he could not fit into it. His principal said that measurements for the costumes were taken just about 6 weeks ago.
• Mummy has not shown any vertical or horizontal growth. The only tiresome visible growth are hair (the grey bits) and nails.

Prologue

It's almost bedtime. Just wanted to record that Son No 3's behaviour today (after his concert) has been exemplary. We just came back from dinner and throughout the whole evening, he was agreeable, thoughtful, helpful and yes, chatty.

So sweet. It's like he was trying to make up for his not-so-good behaviour this morning :)

Ah, I love happy endings.

"Storybook" Concert

In the end, Son No 3 had a wonderful time performing in his concert this morning.

Earlier on, Son No 3 had not wanted to go for his concert. I am not sure if it was a case of anxiety attacks. It was only after much cajolling that he changed into his Red Indian dance costume with tears rolling down his face. His make-up was completely smeared.

He cheered up visibly in the car while we were on our way to the auditorium in Kelana Jaya. And when we reached the auditorium, he was finally caught up with the excitement. Sigh...

The concert was more than 3 hours long. Speaking as a mother of 3 (this is my 7th kindergarten concert in total), I can tell you that the best moments in these concerts are always the candid moments.

The two kinds of children who provide the best moments are

1) those who are blissfully unaware that they are on stage and continue doing their own stuff and

2) the bossy ones who tell their fellow classmates to do this or that.

I don't think I am biased to say that Bangsar's "Peter Pan" segment was the best in the concert. The entire cast performed well. The only blooper was when Captain Hook's hook fell off when he was duelling with Peter Pan.

Son No 3 had a small non-speaking role as the captor of Tinkerbell and John (see above), a role which he performed with aplomb (but of course!) He later performed the Red Indian dance with the rest of the troupe.

Son No 2 was restless in his seat right from the start. He was climbing up and down his chair, crawling on the floor, moving from seat to seat... Boy, was I glad when he fell asleep after the Peter Pan segment (see left).

Son No 1 seemed to be enjoying himself during certain items (see picture) but he too succumbed to the "sleep powder" in the air towards the end.

As for me, it's time for me now for some shut-eye...