The rose that made me cry

My eldest child graduated from Elementary two days ago.  A part of me is wishing that I could brag about him getting medal for academic excellence but he did not have that kind of award.  Despite of that I am still beaming with pride not only because he will soon be in grade 7 but because he was awarded for being the most helpful in class.  He was given the award because after typhoon Yolanda devastated the Visayas region, he suggested to his teachers that instead of buying prizes and candies from their Christmas savings perhaps they could just send the full amount to the Yolanda victims.  He even asked the teacher to ask the class if they are willing to give every cent to the victims.  What makes me more proud is that he asked the teacher not to drop his name when the suggestion is blurted out to the class.  The whole school took the cue from that generous act.  All the classes decided to offer their class' christmas savings to the typhoon victims.  He was beaming with pride when he told me about this but he kept quiet whenever talks about the mystery person who suggested about the project to the school.

I was teary eyed when the program ended but it was not because of him moving up to high school.  It was because he took an effort to pick the only pink flower among all the white ones that decorated the stage.  She gave it to me and kissed me after saying his gratitude.  Unlike his classmates who no longer wants hugs and kisses from their parents, my soon-to-be-12-year-old-boy still kisses me in public.  A lot of parents raised an eyebrow when my son kissed me but to us it's not something to be ashamed of.  I always tell him to take pride he has a family and to not be afraid and shy to show affection whenever he feels like.  Please do not think that we don't have rough days in our house because we do have, and we have a bunch.  There are a lot of instances when my son would tell me I'm too bossy and I'm such a nagging mom.  But I guess in the end, he still loves me wholeheartedly and that really made my day.  

In the end, it's really not about the medals or trophies that matter during recognition day/ graduation day.  At least for me, it's more of the knowledge and the attitude that has been embedded on the next generation. 

What to do if your Child has Chicken Pox

According to webMd, Chicken Pox is caused by varicella zoster virus.  It normally starts with flu-like symptoms (headache, decreased appetite, colds, sore throat and fever). It is highly contagious and most common in school children.  An infected person shoud stay home until the rash is completely healed.

My eldest went home two weeks ago looking pale and tired than usual.  He told me he was not feeling well and even asked if I could check his temperature since he seems feverish.  I obliged and found some blisters that looks like peck marks of chicken on his torso.  I immediately asked him to go far from his sister.  We went to see a doctor and ask for treatment.  Doctor said that the chicken pox itself will heal on its own and no medicine can make it go away faster.  Like all viral infection, it will heal all by itself.  He was only prescribed antihistamines for the itching and paracetamol for the fever.  He was also advised to continue to drink his Vitamin C to boost his immune system and to drink more fluids especially water to keep himself hydrated.

So what do you do when your kids is downed with Chicken Pox (I hope not!)? But if ever, you may find the following handy.

• Contrary to what our Lolas do in the past, doctors instructs patients to take a bath, and it could be numerous baths in a day because it helps tone down the itch.  Addition of finely ground oatmeal in your bath water can also help a lot.
• After taking a bath, pat dry the skin but DO NOT rub.
• To help relieve pain (from some of the blisters, especially those at the mouth are), you may take over-the-counter pain relievers.
• Doctors can also prescribe antihistamines for the itchiness.
• Take your Vitamin C supplement to boost your immune system.
• No matter how hard it is, try not to scratch.  Scratching can cause skin cuts and you might develop bacterial infections from them.
• If you have other kids at home, isolate the infected kid or adult to avoid exposing the other kids to the virus.
• Antibiotics won't help so do not try to drink any.
• Since I am breastfeeding and had been able to see the wonders of breastmilk over skin rashes, I put on breastmilk on my son's scars, hoping it would easily lighten them.

A child can be vaccinated at the 12-15 months of age but for the vaccine to work they need to get a booster at age 4-6.  My son had been vaccinated but we forgot to have him injected with the booster hence he still contacted the virus.  To our dismay, even if he has been isolated, our daughter was still infected with it 2 weeks after our eldest does.  I might need to pump more breastmilk so that I can constantly put some on my kids scars.

A Dose of Sunshine

"Always smile back at little children.  To ignore them is to destroy their belief that the world is good." 

Seeing her flash a smile is my daily dose of sunshine.  It always brighten my days no matter how gloomy I feel.  When I see her smile like this, I just wanna stop and linger at the moment.  I wanna capture my children's every smile because I know that when they grow up they will smile differently.  If only I can!


This photo is submitted to the I Heart Photo Challenge | Smile.  Do you to see more smiling faces?  Just drop over there and see some smiling actions captured on photos.