Term 1 Holiday Activities

The Easter break has been a mixed bag.

It's nice that the girls (and Mommy) can get up at whatever time they like, without the usual "Hurry UP! We're going to be LATE!" from me every 5 minutes.

However...because Beth opted out of any school holiday program this term, it's meant having to invent something for her to do to keep away the boredom blues.

It's been a challenge keeping the girls entertained long enough for me to do my work. They'll start off well playing in the toy room or watching a video, then a few minutes later, someone is bound to yell out for parental intervention because the other has annoyed her. Or J will wander up to me and ask "Wa you doing Mummy? Wa you doing?"

Not once but 4-5 times. In a row.

I think school is good. At least there is a structure and non-negotiable times for things to get done.

The first week had barely begun before J was diagnosed with HFMD and sent home early from daycare. That meant dealing with a whingy, distressed toddler who cried all the time, was incoherent from distress and fussy with her food (very unusual for J).

She's over it now and has gone back to daycare (thank goodness!). Now it's Beth's turn.

She's been complaining of a sore tummy for a few days. No diarrhoea or vomitting, just unexplained stomach cramps. I tried the AmWand, lots of tummy rubs with Pak Fah Yeow/eucalyptus oil/essential oil, but the minute I stopped massaging, she would start crying in pain.

One trip to the GP and another to the local hospital later, it turns out she may have constipation possibly linked to intolerance to cow's milk and to poor diet and bowel habits. It seems kids get different constipation issues from adults. For example, you can go regularly and still get constipation because you didn't do a complete job.

Did a bit of research on the subject of cow's milk and constipation. It seems there was a 1998 study done in Italy that confirms that cow's milk can cause chronic constipation in young children. Beth loves her milk and drinks it like water, but if she's going to suffer for it, I think she'll just have to get used to non-dairy.

One good thing came out of Beth's travails.

She tried the liquid paraffin mix prescribed by the doc (Parachoc, an alternative to the Agarol I had to take as a child) just once - and gagged. Given a choice of treatment options, she is happy to accept a tsp of probiotic powder neat, followed by a gulp of water. Anything but Parachoc. :)