Tell tale signs that gastro is in the house

Tumble dryer and washing machine constantly running. Piles of washed linen and bed sheets stacked up in the corner. Sad and miserable kids curled up on the bed or sofa. Frazzled and exhausted parents who automate between jumping up and rushing the kids to the toilet, stripping sheets and cleaning up vomit or comforting sad kids.

Sigh gastro is in the house. I spent the night alternating between the beds of Saitaoha and Saitaomei who all wanted to sleep with mummy. Luckily I think they slept most of the night away, tired out after a full day of vomiting and diarrhoea.

This morning I was torn between going to work and staying at home with them. But my laptop wouldn’t start up properly and all the work that I had grand plans of ‘finishing up’ this weekend came crashing down on me. When I left Saitaoha at my ah ma’s she started tearing up and I felt myself tearing up too. This is ridiculous having to have a make a choice between work or tending to sick kids. Yet so many mothers do this every single day.

I’m hoping I can power on and finish up early today so I can rush home and see the kids. Here’s hoping. SIGH.

Rolling with the punches

Mother’s Day 2021

The pleasantries of Mother’s Day feels like a very long time ago.

Saitaomei feeding mah mah

We had a good Mother’s Day weekend where we indulged in sushi and the kids enjoyed their icecream in the city.

Picnic

The actual Mother’s Day was simple with a picnic at the nearby playground and park, then takeout for dinner with the other mums in the family.

Emergency ward

Then things took a bad then and somehow I ended up with a fractured foot after an innocent game of hide and seek with the kids. I am such a stubborn cow that I didn’t seek medical treatment till day 3 and even went into work much to the bewilderment of my colleagues. They were all very sweet to me but I knew I was being a hindrance and not helping myself or others by trying to tough it out. So I went off to the GP who told me to go to the hospital straightaway and here I am. Fractured foot and all.

Toughing it out is overrated. I was worried the kids would be bored over being stuck at home with me over the weekend and thought it would be ok for us to go out shopping. I could just hire a wheelchair from the center or so I thought. What I didn’t bargain for was Saitaoha’s constant whining and increasingly frequent five year out tantrum. I was also so stressed out about the kids getting run over or hurt by the moving

wheelchair. We headed home very quickly.

Smashed window

Came home to find our other car’s passenger window smashed. Woo hoo icing on the cake. Honestly our bad luck this week is just unbelievable. I’m a bit depressed and down about it but then I’m also kinda numb ? What is the point of moaning why me or poor me right ? Window won’t fix itself. Foot won’t heal faster with constant whining. Saitaoha won’t become an angel overnight.

So we will just roll with the punches as they come. And hope that this is the worst of it for this year. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Start

This weekend I did lots of cooking for the family. My mum’s outdoor kitchen is really great, lots of prep space and less mess and so much easier to wash up.

I haven’t posted #daitaohalunchbentos for a long time. Cantonese style fried noodles topped with a sunny side up, R loves this type of noodles.

Vegetarian beehoon, another simple lunch that he enjoys.

Teriyaki hambagu, I didn’t keep any for ourselves, these went to my sister and ah ma, Jo likes these and I haven’t made them for a while.

Also cooked chicken rice for the whole family and they seemed to enjoy it very much, chicken rice is very popular in our family. I think I’m getting the knack of it and after many tries, have the timing for the chicken and rice almost perfect.

It’s the first day up at the Ivory Tower today. I wish I felt a bit more excited and upbeat about it. I will have to put aside my worries and put on a positive face on before we set off today though, the team feeds off my energy and if I don’t start us off on a good note it doesn’t bode well for our future.

We need to hit the ground running. We will become even more resilient and will come out of this better and brighter.