Hey mommas, how's the week been so far for you? Mine definitely sucks cos Sophia, Mom and I are down, all at the same time.
It's the time where I just want to bury myself in bed, asleep. I'm allergic to alot of medications thus when I fall sick, there's nothing much I can eat, even the good ol' trustee Panadol. Due to the horrific weather lately, despite all the water I've been chugging down and eating proper meals, apparently the bad weather won. I haven't had migraine for the longest time in my life and there, my right cheek, eyeball, head, neck all had to throb. UGH!
Mom's body is perpetually aching and she just needed to have some restful sleep. Sophia, on the other hand had a sudden onset of high fever after her evening bath on Sunday. It went on till today and I'm hoping she will get better soon. So there I have a whiny little girl who just want to bawl her eyes out at every moment of my miserable throbbing migraine. Of course, I threw a little fit here and there but I feel bad each time I explode.
It's not that I am not being an understanding mother. C'mon, if I was well, I wouldn't throw my temper into my daughter's face. But to deal with a child who cries for no reason? Sorry, I don't give in when she's unreasonable. The girl's gotta learn that she doesn't get her way all the time just because she's unwell. I give tough love, I don't deny.
But I do try my best to keep her as comfortable as possible when she's ill. But as a SAHM, especially when we're unwell WITH our babies, there's a huge tension around the house. (Now, where's the man when we need them?) How do we keep it together? How do we keep the house clean amidst all the germy tension? How do we function as per normal despite the invasion of germs? Here's how (oh well, Ashley's Style)
1. Chores
As you may have already know, I cannot break my routine when it comes to the chores. So what do I do? Instead of accumulating all my laundry till I get better (and end up with Mt. Fuji), I have two buckets of laundry where I segregate the child's dirty laundry and the adults'. So I will probably start with the adults' then I'll leave the child's one for tomorrow. That way, I don't accumulate my dirty laundry. As for vacuum and mop, I do both every day cos' I wanna minimize as much germs as I can so that my air at home is at its best. I can't get rid of all the germs, at least minimize, right? To be very honest, perspiring out while you're unwell is actually a darn good way to feel better. I know the body will ache like a bitch but really, it works. Ok, unless you're really crawling on the floor, sweat the damn germs out.
2. Meals
Eating out when you're ill is not going to solve your problem. Eating home is the best option for both mother and child. Last time, I would have my helper or my beloved mother to prepare my meals for both bub and myself when I'm down. This time, I'm a one-mom-show. So to make life easier for everyone, I try to cook simple meals like noodle soup for lunch. It is easy to prepare lunch because we can survive on uber simple meals. Comes dinner, I will cook a proper meal cos hubby will be home. I will push on to cook. That's just me. But if you can't, don't force yourself. Cook for the child only, and ask the big man to pack his own dinner, unless he wants to cook for the family. When you're ill, it goes to show you need to slow down. Just prepare a nutritious dinner for the bub (and yourself) and get the health back on the right track.
3. Chug down water
Don't forget to eat medication on time. If the bub is running a temperature, soak his/her little feet in a small tub of ice cold water to bring the temperature down. Sponge every 3 - 4 hours if necessary. Wear loose clothings and make sure baby chugs down gallons of water and pee. Peeing alot actually helps to bring the temperature down as well, in case you're not aware of that.
4. Eat fruits
I know, there alot of "pantangs" of Chinese families whereby fruits are too cooling for the child and should be avoided when they are under the weather. If your family is strict about it, especially the grandparents, eat apples, strawberries, bananas and papayas. You can't go wrong with these fruits. Papaya and apples are hi-fibrous fruits that promotes good bowel movement. Being under medication can sometimes cause kids (even adults) to be constipated. Strawberries are packed with tonnes of Vitamin C and full of nutrients. Vitamin C is an immunity-booster so it's a superfood for the kids! Bananas are also packed with loads of nutrients and not only it's good for the health, it reduces constipation as well, it is a mood enhancer and it fills your tummy. Of course, if you're diabetic, watch the banana.
5. Rest, rest, rest.
Yes, rest. When bub is down, get him/her to take a nap in the afternoon after medication. This helps the body to rest as well. Take that time to rest too. Your body needs to slow down a little when you're ill. Don't worry about anything else, just rest. Shut the eye for abit then when you wake up, you will feel better. At night, rest earlier. Make the kid rest early. They may not like the idea of resting, but they have to.
6. Avoid school if possible.
I cannot understand why some parents, despite their child is sick, they still push the poor kid to school, Whatever the reason is, someone has gotta sacrifice, even if it's taking a no-pay leave. The child shouldn't be the one sacrificing. You won't know that a proactive parent is trying to keep her child as healthy as possible and there comes a selfish parent who pushes her sick child to school, with all the coughing and sneezing. No fever doesn't mean they can go to school. Yes, I agree that every child who goes to school will be prone to germs and getting sick, yada, yada, yada. But, we as mothers, need to be as proactive as possible! We have to be responsible for our child's health, and not jeopardize another child's health. When your child is having a bad cough or cold with phlegm, they will get very exhausted easily as the phlegm is interfering with their breathing. They actually feel very frustrated. If an adult can feel pissed off with a bad cough and cold, what about a child? So, as much as we hate this, if your child is sick, stay home.
It's the time where I just want to bury myself in bed, asleep. I'm allergic to alot of medications thus when I fall sick, there's nothing much I can eat, even the good ol' trustee Panadol. Due to the horrific weather lately, despite all the water I've been chugging down and eating proper meals, apparently the bad weather won. I haven't had migraine for the longest time in my life and there, my right cheek, eyeball, head, neck all had to throb. UGH!
Mom's body is perpetually aching and she just needed to have some restful sleep. Sophia, on the other hand had a sudden onset of high fever after her evening bath on Sunday. It went on till today and I'm hoping she will get better soon. So there I have a whiny little girl who just want to bawl her eyes out at every moment of my miserable throbbing migraine. Of course, I threw a little fit here and there but I feel bad each time I explode.
It's not that I am not being an understanding mother. C'mon, if I was well, I wouldn't throw my temper into my daughter's face. But to deal with a child who cries for no reason? Sorry, I don't give in when she's unreasonable. The girl's gotta learn that she doesn't get her way all the time just because she's unwell. I give tough love, I don't deny.
But I do try my best to keep her as comfortable as possible when she's ill. But as a SAHM, especially when we're unwell WITH our babies, there's a huge tension around the house. (Now, where's the man when we need them?) How do we keep it together? How do we keep the house clean amidst all the germy tension? How do we function as per normal despite the invasion of germs? Here's how (oh well, Ashley's Style)
1. Chores
As you may have already know, I cannot break my routine when it comes to the chores. So what do I do? Instead of accumulating all my laundry till I get better (and end up with Mt. Fuji), I have two buckets of laundry where I segregate the child's dirty laundry and the adults'. So I will probably start with the adults' then I'll leave the child's one for tomorrow. That way, I don't accumulate my dirty laundry. As for vacuum and mop, I do both every day cos' I wanna minimize as much germs as I can so that my air at home is at its best. I can't get rid of all the germs, at least minimize, right? To be very honest, perspiring out while you're unwell is actually a darn good way to feel better. I know the body will ache like a bitch but really, it works. Ok, unless you're really crawling on the floor, sweat the damn germs out.
2. Meals
Eating out when you're ill is not going to solve your problem. Eating home is the best option for both mother and child. Last time, I would have my helper or my beloved mother to prepare my meals for both bub and myself when I'm down. This time, I'm a one-mom-show. So to make life easier for everyone, I try to cook simple meals like noodle soup for lunch. It is easy to prepare lunch because we can survive on uber simple meals. Comes dinner, I will cook a proper meal cos hubby will be home. I will push on to cook. That's just me. But if you can't, don't force yourself. Cook for the child only, and ask the big man to pack his own dinner, unless he wants to cook for the family. When you're ill, it goes to show you need to slow down. Just prepare a nutritious dinner for the bub (and yourself) and get the health back on the right track.
3. Chug down water
Don't forget to eat medication on time. If the bub is running a temperature, soak his/her little feet in a small tub of ice cold water to bring the temperature down. Sponge every 3 - 4 hours if necessary. Wear loose clothings and make sure baby chugs down gallons of water and pee. Peeing alot actually helps to bring the temperature down as well, in case you're not aware of that.
4. Eat fruits
I know, there alot of "pantangs" of Chinese families whereby fruits are too cooling for the child and should be avoided when they are under the weather. If your family is strict about it, especially the grandparents, eat apples, strawberries, bananas and papayas. You can't go wrong with these fruits. Papaya and apples are hi-fibrous fruits that promotes good bowel movement. Being under medication can sometimes cause kids (even adults) to be constipated. Strawberries are packed with tonnes of Vitamin C and full of nutrients. Vitamin C is an immunity-booster so it's a superfood for the kids! Bananas are also packed with loads of nutrients and not only it's good for the health, it reduces constipation as well, it is a mood enhancer and it fills your tummy. Of course, if you're diabetic, watch the banana.
5. Rest, rest, rest.
Yes, rest. When bub is down, get him/her to take a nap in the afternoon after medication. This helps the body to rest as well. Take that time to rest too. Your body needs to slow down a little when you're ill. Don't worry about anything else, just rest. Shut the eye for abit then when you wake up, you will feel better. At night, rest earlier. Make the kid rest early. They may not like the idea of resting, but they have to.
6. Avoid school if possible.
I cannot understand why some parents, despite their child is sick, they still push the poor kid to school, Whatever the reason is, someone has gotta sacrifice, even if it's taking a no-pay leave. The child shouldn't be the one sacrificing. You won't know that a proactive parent is trying to keep her child as healthy as possible and there comes a selfish parent who pushes her sick child to school, with all the coughing and sneezing. No fever doesn't mean they can go to school. Yes, I agree that every child who goes to school will be prone to germs and getting sick, yada, yada, yada. But, we as mothers, need to be as proactive as possible! We have to be responsible for our child's health, and not jeopardize another child's health. When your child is having a bad cough or cold with phlegm, they will get very exhausted easily as the phlegm is interfering with their breathing. They actually feel very frustrated. If an adult can feel pissed off with a bad cough and cold, what about a child? So, as much as we hate this, if your child is sick, stay home.
There you have it.. my six main ways to function, especially as a SAHM. It's not easy to look after everything and everyone (including yourself). Routines get changed, the child is extremely whiny and attention-seeking at all the wrong times. But we have to keep it together. It is tough, but we can do it, right ladies?
xoxo
Pomaika`i
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