Wait till your father gets home!

I really don't understand it. Yaasier and I have pretty much the same ethos when it comes to discipline. And when we do disagree, we agree not to disagree infront of Bilaal... you know... the whole united front thingy. So what I don't understand is, why, if I am just as strict as Yaasier, all Bilaal seems to care about is that daddy musn't be angry or upset with him. For example, whenever I reprimand him about something when Yaasier is home he will always say, "don't say so loud mommy otherwise daddy will hear." Nevermind that i am clearly angry with him. Or when he deliberately disobeys me  and I ground him from the neighbours or place a ban on one of his favourite activities... he sulks of course... but then always follows with, "but don't tell daddy".

I always vowed not to be one of those wait-till-your-father-gets-home kinda moms, but alas! My destiny as a traditionally stereotypical mom awaits! I just don't get it. When daddy says, no Bilaal don't do xyz, he listens, not showing his frustrations at not being able to do whatever bright idea that is actually incredibly dangerous thing he wanted to do. But when I tell him not to do something, he moans and sulks and sometimes even tries to hurt me (like today when he angrily wheeled one of his toy monster trucks into my legs because I told him not to launch it off the table in Sumayah's direction because it could smash into her face by accident. Not to mention the terrible marks it makes on the table top.) So I launched the dreaded threat-line, "must I tell your daddy about your behaviour?"

Gone is the easy-to-manipulate-into-desired-behaviour little boy who used to shower with me with endless amounts of hugs and kisses and I love yous. Hello to the child who's outgrown toddlerhood in the blink of an eye. I am entering a whole new phase of parenting and it scares the shit out of me!

Tonsilitis Monsterlitis

On Tuesday I got a call from Bilaal's teacher saying that she has a very sad boy with her who says he's eyes are burning and he is not feeling well. So I fetched him from school. He didn't have a fever or any cold or flu symptoms, but he did say that it felt like "there are speedbumps in my throat".

My immediate reaction was that he was probably coming down with a throat infection so I gave him a medicated fruit lolly and straight to bed. Now the strange thing is he was already on an antibiotic because the previous week he had an insect bite on his leg that became infected - cellulitis! Needless to say this didn't stop the nasties in the air! He slept nicely and still seemed ok, just tired when suddenly at about 5pm he's temperature spiked to 39 degrees and started crying bitterly that he's throat was burning. I quickly phoned the doctor who prescribed his antibiotics last week. Of course all the doctors rooms were closed already,so she advised that I just try to bring the temp down and monitor him through the night and if he didn't improve to bring him in the next morning.

What a long night. He just got worse and the temp just wouldn't come down. He was medicated, i gave him a sponge bath, I slept in his bed for most of the night with a damp cloth and a fan on, I even tried homeopathic stuff... nothing. Of course it didn't help that Sumayah kept waking up too so I was like a yo-yo between the two rooms all night. The very next morning I took him to the doctor and what do you know... those 'speedbumps' in his throat couldn't be a more apt description for Tonsilitits!

So my poor baby has been pretty much miserable with his throat speedbumps. Every so now and again he would just suddenly cry out in pain when he's throat suddenly burns. Anyone with kids I would recommend you get 'Viral Forte' throat lollies, they really do help with sore throats and yet appealing to the kids.

Wordless Wednesday 2