What a Week!

Last weekend, I was gearing up for Munchkin's birthday. (And mine, three days before his.) We had decided to do away with the whole noisy party thing this year and take him out to lunch instead. After that, we thought, we'd take him to a nice store and let him pick out something he wanted as a birthday gift. He also wanted to give out some chocolates to his friends in the apartment building. That was fine too. And he'd agreed to my mum's suggestion that whatever might have been spent on his birthday party, we'd give away the amount to an orphanage.

On Sunday afternoon, the brat felt a little hot - to me, anyway. That evening, my mum came down with a mild case of food poisoning despite not having eaten anything that hadn't been cooked at home. Munchkin and I decided to spend the night with her. But by midnight, Munchkin was burning up. I took him to the doctor the next day who suspected it was a viral fever but hoped it could be contained without antibiotics. That evening, he had a temperature of 104.4F!! And he hates sponging. That was tough. From 7pm until midnight, we did everything to control the fever. Finally, nearing midnight, he agreed to the full-body sponging. This and a dose of Crocin helped bring down the fever to 101. Although the fever seemed to be under control by Wednesday evening, he coughed through the night, bringing back his fever.

In the meantime, my husband (DH), my mother and I all came down with the same thing. It hit Mum especially hard because she was just recovering from the food poisoning. DH is a bit of a hypochondriac so perhaps he was the worst hit. But he had the sense to visit a doctor right away. Mum and I, of course, are incorrigible, managing with home remedies and patience.

Poor Poppet spent his sixth birthday weak and hot and very, very cranky. And there was another trip to the doctor who finally started him on antibiotics. The fever had eased up by the next morning, but he was ultra-cranky by now and I'd reached the end of my tether. What with the sleepless nights, sore throat, incessant coughing, runny nose, a mopey-dopey DH, I just could not deal with his outrageous tantrums and blew my fuse twice. I'd also gone off my anti-dep meds. The whole thing did not go down well with my mother, of course.

Anyway, it's Sunday again, and while Poppet is up and about, happy and jumping, eating, I'm ready to collapse! DH is having an extended siesta (like yesterday) while I supervise Poppet. He's watching Jab We Met on TV right now and I'm having a tough time keeping him on the couch - as opposed to peering into the TV screen from point-blank range! Sigh.

At least his appetite is back. Like I keep telling myself: thank God life happens one day at a time.