Mommy Musings
Mommy Musings-Say No To School
Wednesday evening at Getrudes. They may want to consider streaming music for the guardians while Nickelodeon shows quietly on the screen. But then again, the crowd is very diverse. The room is packed, all seats are occupied. I do a quick sweep around the room and notice three kids who seem to be accompanied by their grand dads. Growing up, I envied kids who were brought up by their grand parents as they were spoilt rotten. A short stocky caucasian man wearing thick rimless glasses seemingly in his early sixties is talking in muted tones to an eight year old fair skinned boy with curly hair and blue eyes in school uniform which I believe is Braeside’s. A black elderly man in a navy blue blazer and beige pants is seated next to a 5 year old girl at the edge of my row. He is wearing a white cap with the words “Stima Sacco” printed on it. He must be an ex Kenya Power employee. Or a golfer. Impressively, there are more men than women in the waiting room. Dads (and grand dads) have surely taken parenting with the seriousness it deserves.
Across and whispering to her phone is a young fierce looking lady in cat eye glasses and black on black everything. No kid next to her. They must be out playing. She turns and I recognise her as the lady who brought out the g in glamour at my wedding by putting together the most impeccable set up ever. She must be taking in orders for an event. I walk over to her, we catch up for about five minutes.
The nurse calls out my daughters name. It’s our turn to see the doc. I quickly get her from the playground. It’s amazing how she never lacks the energy to play. As we make our way to the cubicle, we pass a white old geriatric staring at the screen in total amusement. Nickelodeon clearly is his thing. He is seated next to a black elderly lady in her fifties and next to her is a teenage point five girl in brown braids in a school PE kit. I can’t tell if that’s their daughter or granddaughter.
I know I probably lost you guys with the descriptions but here is the thing. First, if getrudes were to provide entertainment for the grownups, they wouldn’t know where to begin as the crowd is as varied as emojis. Thankfully, as I waited for about half an hour, I managed to kill about three chapters of my current read. What would we do without books?
Second and most importantly, I think the flu is every parents nightmare. Just from the look of things, I could tell that most of the kids were here because of the flu or its relatives. The room was filled with hacking coughs, bronchial rattles and asthmatic wheezes, with half the kids holding dearly on to their hankies. You don’t know how bad it can get until your child starts going to school. The first few years are a nightmare. Every so often they get the flu, get better go back to school and weeks later they get re-infected. It’s amazing how when schools are in session, a myriad of kids gather at paediatric centres especially after school. On this particular Wednesday evening at Gertrudes, I counted approximately 30 children half of them, the toddlers mostly, playing outside on the slides and the other half waiting patiently inside. My daughter left for school in the morning all bubbly and chirpy, but when the door bell went off at one o’clock, behind it stood a droopy eyed, sulky mini human. I touched her forehead and it was hot as hell and upon calling the teacher, she said my daughter was her usual cheerful self all morning but she must have contracted the flu from some two kids who went to school in a sorry state.
I really cannot emphasize how important it is to keep our kids at home whenever they have contagious diseases. Especially at the kindergarten level, school is not that serious anyway! Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to belittle that level of education because I fully understand that the formative stage is equally important if not the most important, and for that reason I chose my daughter’s school with careful consideration. But then again, they can always catch up on colours, or number recognition or the alphabet once they get well and no point putting a bunch of other kids at risk. So please let’s just say no to school when the flu is on!
Three days later, just as her condition was easing, her five month old baby sister let out an unusual sneeze early morning. My heart broke. I knew she must have caught the virus too. I can tell that the next couple of days will be tough as last week was for Kizza Besigye!
Have a flu free week and do not forget to subscribe if you like my mommy musings!
Joy D’Souza.
I am with you on that. Say no to school when down with the flu! My boys r both just recovering from it and they are not even going to school yet. I dread the day Jeff starts school.
Eva,the first year of school is the most nerve wracking for any parent if you ask me. First, there’s separation anxiety to deal with then soon after they start getting sick. I know a parent who pulled out their child from playschool and vowed not to take him back till he turned four! All the same,taking them early has its pros and cons and I am all for it despite the challenges. You will be fine ma.
This was me two weeks ago. Arrived at Gertrude’s at 4pm and left at 7pm with an inhaler after 2 weeks of persistent coughs and a myriad of cough syrups that I trashed after a recent post about a mum’s visit to a chest specialist. And yes, I am with you on keeping our babies at home until they’re ok. xoxo
The most disheartening thing is the myriad of drugs one is given as you correctly put it! Zyrtec, Paralief, Berotec and sometimes Augmentin.I hope your LO is fine Rahel and as always thanks for reading. Do share the post about cough syrups kindly?
Talking of flu…I had the mother of them all combinined with a soar throat to boot!So yaaaas!!say no to school and work when the flu is on??
So sorry dear, I can only imagine how incapacitated you were! Hope you’ve been keeping yourself hydrated with soups and all. Quick recovery. Our household just fully recovered last week.