Being a mum of three, it’s no surprise that my life pretty much revolves around my kids.
So what’s been happening in our household these last few weeks?
1. We’re going hiking!
We’ll be doing a bit of wet-weather mountain hiking soon, so I bought all my boys some waterproof, leather, hiking boots. Usually these kinds of boots can be $250 for a pair, but I found some for around $60 and had them shipped over from the UK. Hope they hold together!
We went for a long practice hike around Kings Park and I’m happy to say that there were NO BLISTERS. Phew.
2. My two older boys (11 and 13 years) play basketball for local teams.
One boy’s team reached their Grand Final Championships – and won!
The other boy represented his school in an Inter-School Basketball Championship and they won too!
I’m crazy proud that they play and love so many different kinds of sports. And I love it that they give it their best each time.
3. We had a medical emergency on the weekend (as you do!)
One of my boys woke up with a crushing pain in his lower abdomen that caused him to shake, cry, was unable to urinate and it affected his breathing. He usually has a very high threshold for pain, so it was really unusual for us to see him curled up in a ball.
I went from… making fun of him “Bah, you probably have a fart coming!” to… RACING out to the doctor and literally packing our overnight bags, expecting for the worst – Kidney failure! Emergency surgery! Ruptured appendix! Ruptured bowels! Internal bleeding! Death! OMG!
HOURS LATER: After a dose of pandadol and close monitoring from the doctor, it turned out that he was just dehydrated?? What. The. Hell??
Yeah… I’m so happy and thankful that it was nothing worse. But that whole adventure took up the whole day. 8 hours! It tested my threshold for anxiety and panic. It made me cry. It turned our weekend plans upside down. Just because my kid forgot to drink water after his cross country run?! Ugh seriously?? So bloody annoying!
4. My boys are into coding and making their own games. Even the 7 year old.
Yes my boys are bright. Yes they are creative. Yes I appreciate the benefits of learning how to code, I’m aware of the new “cool” factor surrounding science and technology, and that computers are the way of the future…
But do they have to be so obsessed about it all? Do they have to be on a computer all the time? Do they have to regard American ‘YouTube Gamers’ like heroes? Surely there is more to science and technology than being a YouTube Star? Surely there are greater life goals for young boys??
So, quietly, I am not too pleased about my kid’s new computer-game making hobby.
But I shall shut my mouth and not say a word about it… and hopefully this craze will end soon!
5. They are cooking more family meals.
They are just making hamburgers, nachos, omelettes, bread and pizzas from scratch, baking scones and brownies.
Aside from the mess and the huge piles of dirty dishes… I’m pretty happy with that.
6. Another medical emergency involving brain-eating amoebas.
We were recently on holiday, swimming, kayaking, bush hiking and sand-boarding around Moore River in the small town of Guilderton. There was large amounts of warm, stagnant, fresh water and warning signs about the possible risk of amoeba meningitis.
Yes! Amoebas that eat your brains! Holy crap! They enter through your eyes, ears or mouth, so you’re not supposed to submerge your face and head underwater. You can be sure that we took a lot of care whilst doing all our water activities.
We were all good, until we decided to go for one last sand boarding session.
While coming down a slope, one of my sons crashed, tumbled down and got his head buried in the sand. He staggered blindly towards some people who helped him wash his face and eyes – IN THE RIVER WATER! OH MY GOD!
On the car ride home, there was still sand stuck in his eyes, causing him a lot of pain.
Over the hour, his eyes became more and more red, puffy and inflamed. His face turned red too. OMG I was FREAKING TERRIFIED about the amoebic meningitis, I was literally trembling with horror and going through wave after wave of panic attacks. I tried SO hard to be calm about it on the outside.
We went straight to the doctor. Antibiotic eye wash. Pain relief. Dark sunglasses. Rest. A cry (me). 12 hour sleep (him).
After all that and another check up with the doctor, all was good. No need to go to hospital. Life goes on.
I’m sure life will get even more dramatic once they all become proper teenagers!
