Quarantined!

Gone were the days of full warranted attention given to my little boy. Now that I am minding three, its a totally different ball game. My eldest recently got sick of Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease (HFMD) which he caught from his classmate/s. This literally sent me through a panic. Without even completely knowing what it was I was seriously distraught. It really sounds soooo bad and a bit icky right? Reminds you of the swine disease. Good thing I was reassured by our pedia that like any other, we can combat the spread with constant hand-washing, disinfection of surfaces and avoiding close contact (hugging, kissing sharing utensils etc.).  The last one felt like a death sentence to my 6 year old. He is such a hugger! We had to quarantine him to his room and of course he was not allowed to even see his sisters. =(

I was so heart broken seeing him missing his daily play time with his sisters. On top of that I was also exercising extreme caution and avoided giving him hugs as well. It was so hard since he is really malambing. Our bedtime routine involves cuddles and kisses! Also he had to finally use his room for sleeping. It was as if he was forced to grow up! I was actually so proud of him. He understood that everything was essential. There were no fussing except for that one night when he requested me to sing him to sleep instead of our usual cuddle time.  

I guess what really helped was when we made him understand that it is the sickness that we do not want and not him. I was so scared that he might take it badly and feel that we are alienating him and feel left out of the family. He kept his high spirits all through out and found ways to entertain himself. He even invented "virus power" as if it was a game and that was his weapon. Another thing that helped too was when we let him skype with his sisters, as per my younger brother's suggestion. It worked wonders in cheering him up! And I seriously believe his sisters were missing him too and got all hyped up and excited whenever they see him on the screen. After 2 weeks the doctor finally cleared him for school. So glad this was over and we can finally resume our routine. Hugs all around!

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much love