Carrick Hill

Christopher:

Mummy, do you know what I want to be when I grow up? A long long time ago I first wanted to be a fireman.

Mummy:

Oh yes, I remember. After the Margaret Ives visit to the fire station, you wanted to be a fireman. And when you were in Year 1 you wanted to become a writer.

Christopher:

Hehehe yep! And then I wanted to be a scientist. And now I want to be the Prime Minister of Australia!

Mummy:

And so can you! You are born in Australia, there is nothing to stop you from being so!

Christopher:

(after some serious reconsideration)…. mmm, maybe that would be too ambitious.

Mummy:

There’s no such thing as ‘too ambitious’. You can be anything you want to be.

Christopher:

Actually, now I want to be a doctor when I grow up!

Sunday morning Christopher woke up with red rashes all over. Today, 5 days on and 2 GPs later, it is not getting any better, even on steroids. There seems to be a pattern emerging. Yesterday the rashes reappeared not long after dinner time. In the morning it was much better, then tonight the same thing happened again.

It is very strange how it all came on so suddenly. Could it be allergy to Jack? Jack joined us in the first Saturday of September and it does take some time for antigens to develop.

Depending on what Dr Grogan says on Saturday, it might be a good idea to keep Christopher away from the dog for a while and see what happens. Maybe swap houses with Ah Mah for 2 weeks?

Christopher’s leg covered in angry red welts

Sigh, I never would have believed it but I now have to resign myself to the fact that allergies run in the family.

• First, Dad with urticaria.
• Then me with my late life onset of asthmatic cough.
• Then Alexander with his first asthmatic cough that lasted all of several weeks.
• Then now, Christopher, with what is looking very much like urticaria too.

Damn.

A few days ago Christopher had his first onset of angry red raised welts spread all over his limbs and body. It was first noticed first thing in the morning after waking. A visit to the GP and a Telfast tablet took care of that.

Then this morning it came back with a vengeance. Dr Grogan from the new Norwood Medical Center prescribed him steroids (!!!). Prednisolone 5 mg today and 2.5 mg daily till we see him again on Saturday.

At times like this, the words of the kids’ paediatrician keep ringing in my head. He told us when the kids were born, “They should NOT be fed on anything but breast milk only. Amongst other things, breast fed babies are not as likely to develop allergies and asthma later in life.”

I did not listen. Of course I knew that breast milk was best. Of course I had every intention of breastfeeding them fully. But I had what I thought was extenuating circumstances. I thought I had very, very valid reasons then for giving them alternate feeds of breast milk and formula. When they were just 3 months old, again I thought I had very valid reasons for weaning them. Thankfully, none of these had anything to do with personal vanity and physical self image.

Looking back now, I can’t help but wonder if things might, just might be a bit different if I had only gone the full mile and fully breastfed them till they were at least 12 months old.

Sigh, at times like this I can’t help but wonder at all the what-ifs.

At 3.45 pm it was time to go home. The kids finish at 3.30 pm, and they come to pick me up at 3.45 pm and we all go home together, one big happy family. Have you heard of anything more ideal? Sigh, such flexitime will surely be missed when I take up the new job next year.

Stepping out of the office into the dimness of the carpark, I was just in time to see our car coming from around the corner. As always, Jack’s head hanging out the window was the first to greet me. Usually in the car there would be the 2 kids plus a couple of their friends coming over to do homework together. Today, there was not a single kid in sight within the car. Alexander is still at camp and Christopher was nowhere to be seen.

Andrew: Christopher went home early today. His rash played up again and he went home sick.

Me: Oh, that bad huh?

Andrew: *wink wink*

Aaaah ! I know….. Christopher is up to his tricks again. He is somewhere at the back of the car, hiding snugly.

Me: Oh, what a pity ! I’ve got a bagful of lollies I picked up at a fundraiser at the office today. I got it for Christopher.

Andrew: Ooooohhh…. too bad.

Silence.

Me: Mmmmmmm…… these are good chocolates. Maybe we will just finish it all up before we get home. Poor Christopher, he’s going to miss out……

Silence all the way till the car turned into the garage at home. Then a beaming Christopher, grinning from ear to ear, suddenly sprang up from somewhere at the back of the car yelling, “I KNEW you were bluffing ! You couldn’t trick ME!!”