So far, so good

So how is your New Year so far? I think people are more relaxed now, considering that the Holiday Madness is over. (Or is it?) On the first day of the year, 1-1-11, I found myself doing — nothing. Suddenly I had no social commitments. I was at home, lounging around, eating, sleeping, eating, reading, playing with my kids, helping my daughter review for her exams, then sleeping again. Eat, Sleep, Pray. It was pretty ironic because, just days before, I could hardly keep up with a toxic schedule.

If anything, traffic nowadays is not as horrendous as it was during the Yuletide peak. No more long lines at the mall cashier or atm. Suddenly the shops are almost empty of crazy, impatient shoppers. Except for some shops which smartly enough, are holding 50 percent off post-holiday big sales. (Hello again, crazy shoppers! And by all means, count me in) (BAYO is on sale. Fifty percent off! Yey!) The downside of it all was that the holidays took a toll on my family’s health — my hubby and I, our two kids, and even the yaya. We all caught a cold and a bad cough that just wouldn’t go away until we took antibiotics. A lot of people I know also got sick. Uso talaga. In the clinic of my pediatrician, a lot of babies and toddlers were down with either a cold or cough. Personally on my end, all the late nights, parties, weddings, school activities, events we attended, and the Christmas stress levels finally caught up with us. Seemed like all the vitamins we took weren’t enough to protect us from getting sick.

Two days before Christmas, we rushed our daughter to the ER of St. Luke’s Medical Center when she tearfully complained that she can no longer bear her tummy ache. That set me in panic mode! We were relieved when the X-ray test yielded negative results and the resident surgeon assured us that there was no need for surgery. It wasn’t appendicitis. Wasn’t UTI. Wasn’t ulcer. Turned out it was gastroenteritis. Thankfully too, she didn’t have to spend Christmas confined in the hospital.

Then on Jan. 3, my daughter caught the flu.

For days, Julius and I took turns nursing her back to health, waking up in the middle of the night to check on her temperature, giving her a sponge bath and giving her meds. I was touched that she insisted that we take care of her and not her yaya. It was an awwww moment! These were the moments that I felt happy and proud to be a mom. My heart melts each time I remember what my daughter told me, “Hug me, Mommy. I feel cold.”

“Read me a book and I’ll feel better.”

Isnt it that when your child gets sick, as a parent, how you sometimes wish “na ikaw na lang ang magkasakit kaysa yung anak mo?” rather than see your child wincing in pain? I always feel this way.

But remember, you also have to be in optimum health so that you can take good care of your loved ones. It is really a tough balancing act. You will never run out of things to do, even when you’ve crossed out a lot from your to-do list. But you’ll always have your lowbat moments. Your children, who are also living stressful lives nowadays will also have their lowbatt periods even if they’re the energizer bunnies. So be prepared.

Have a Healthy New year !

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