Thursday, March 26, 2015

Stomach Flu



On Monday afternoon at school, Little A fell asleep at his desk. Since this has never happened in the two years he has been attending, his teacher suspected he wasn't feeling well. She woke him up just before the last bell, and he rushed to the toilet but didn't quite make it there.

I arrived to see one of the school helpers wringing out Little A's wet uniform trousers and shoes. She told me what happened, and when we got home he indeed had stomach flu. He spent the next two days at home running to the toilet every couple of hours, including getting up once and leaping from his bunk bed at 2am.

I'd love to hear what other parents do, as we simply put Little A on the stomach flu diet of white rice and dry grilled mince, since he eats neither bananas nor toast. Instead of artificially coloured, sugared and possibly caffeinated energy replenishment drinks, I searched high and low for this electrolyte enhanced water that used to be available at the corner convenience store but, alas, was no longer in stock. We also resumed the powdered probiotics Little A used to drink daily, at least while his tummy was still upset. Finally, I switched him from filtered tap water to distilled bottled water, again just to get all his tummy flora and fauna calmed down.

Midway through the second day at home, things seemed better. While Little A never lost his appetite, he was markedly less energetic, spending plenty of time seated or lying down and voluntarily brushing his teeth and going to bed much earlier than he usually did.

On day three, I was all for sending him back to school, but Big A insisted he stay home one more day to get his strength back. His school breaks up for the Easter holidays in three more days, so being ill is hopefully something we can avoid over the coming ten day break.


Wednesday, March 18, 2015

All That Jazz



Once upon a time, I was a very fit person. These days, walking up the stairs can get me winded. Thank goodness for a very active son who likes to run around shopping malls or I'd get no exercise at all.

This year, though, I noticed the dreaded advent of cellulite and its friends thigh and belly flab. In a bid to be rid of them, I enrolled in a weekly dance class. It helped that a new centre opened just ten minutes from Little A's school, and the class fitted in with my own schedule.

So these days, on Tuesdays at lunchtime, I can be found attending a modern dance/jazz class.

While it's not as fat-burning as I'd hoped, and sadly my brain no longer seems to be able to retain long combinations (not to mention my body being stiff as a board), it is a welcome once a week activity.

My instructor was a professional too, and continues to teach and choreograph so we work on his new ideas in our class before he adapts them for his other students.

When I feel more fit, I may enrol in a second class during the week - pole dancing! I tried this a couple of years ago and really enjoyed the workout. More gymnastics than dance, the strength needed to support your own body weight on a vertical pole is upper body and core-centric, both areas I need to work on. Plus, it's lots of fun.

Fitness, then. I may entertain a teeny tiny hope of possibly appearing on stage again (amidst a group of senior citizens rather than the professional dancers to whose ranks I once belonged) but if that doesn't happen, as long as I stay muffin-top free, that's what really matters.