Monday, March 23, 2009

Aye, Me Hearties, 'Tis The Pox...

Blogging this week is going to be done in installments I'm afraid, segmented around various babysitting duties as our youngest has fallen foul of the pox.

Thankfully only chickenpox but his condition does require him to be in quarantine for a week to ten days. So no nursery attendance for Tom this week... he's going to be a home bird for the next five days.

I've elected to do the first watch, so to speak, and am home looking after the little chap until Thursday when Karen will take over. Apart from being spotty Tom doesn't seem to be too bothered by his condition - but then we haven't reached the itchy and irritable stage yet...

As usual the timing of this is awful - I'm out of holiday at work (though ironically will get awarded my next batch in April) so will have to take this time off unpaid just at a time when we can ill afford it. Karen too. But what else are we to do?

Needs must as the devil drives.

So for the next three days I am giving myself over to kid's telly and games of tractors and trucks and tickle tummies (spots permitting).

See, every cloud has a silver lining.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Poor him...and you...but y'know time spent with your boy watching telly eating whatever your favourite treat is and reading comics etc., sounds like a fabulous few days....treasure it..ps do people still use calamine lotion these days?

Steve said...

I am planning on treasuring it, Deirdre; he'a actually in a really lovely mood if a little subdued. And I believe calamine lotion is still recommended these days... a trip to Boots may well be in order for us both!

Tim Atkinson said...

Oh yes, you can't beat a bottle of CL. Enjoy CBeebies, Steve. It's reallr rather good. And here's to a swift recovery. (Btw, they clearly don't recommend Chickenpox parties these days then?)

Steve said...

That they don't, Mr Dotterel, though my wife can remember being taken round to play at someone's house as a child simply because their daughter had chickenpox and her mum thought it would be a good idea for her to catch it! However, although there aren't chickenpox parties these days, we've found that a good nursery can do the job for you as a free bonus...!

Matthew Rudd said...

Has he got internal chickenpox? Hope not. My mother informs me that when I caught the wretched disease in 1976, the spots weren't only on show on my skin, but also inside my mouth, nose, anus and there was even one solitary spot under an eyelid.

Eugh.

Steve said...

Eugh indeed, Matthew. No sign of any internal spots I'm pleased to say though he's got some nasty ones on his buttocks and the soles of his feet. Hopefully that's as bad as it'll get!

Anonymous said...

Hope he's better soon and that you enjoy the time spent together.
All my kids have had it but only one got it like Matthew Rudd, it lasted for ages too.
Corn starch on the spots does the job too.
I'll be honest with you ( why not? lol). I actually quite enjoy it when one of my kids gets an actual disease, something with a name, where there is no decisions to be made, ok no school ( or daycare as it was), can't go to work, wont get paid, can't be helped, and then just turn the entire time over to them and what they want and what they need. Really quite fulfilling!!
My kids are a bit older now and they have nearly everything I think ( touch wood).
Hope he's not too itchy :).

Steve said...

I must admit I'm enjoying every minute, Missbehaving, and am going to be quite sad to hand over babysitting duties to my wife on Thursday. He's lovely company and their is something so enjoyable about spending the day playing and watching kid's telly. Already we've got a little routine going and are having a real giggle. I could quite happily become a house husband (though may feel different, I suppose, if i was doing this day in, day out)!

MommyHeadache said...

Goodness me you are an angel ... you just want to spend time with your boy ... ah how to stop the scratching you'll have to get him to wear scratch mittens!

Nota Bene said...

Sympathy..the pox can be uncomfortable. Still a few days at home should be fun. I was in trouble for trying to play join the dots with my lad when he was in the recovery phase...

justme said...

If he DOES get to the itchy stage......oatmeal baths are the thing! Put porridge oats in muslin and run bath over.....you get a milky bath which is VERY sooy=thing. The ONLY thing that worked for my baby when he got c pox aged 10ish.....a paste made from oats helps too
But hopefully you will not need and are still having fun!

Steve said...

Emma: thankfully at the moment he doesn't seem to have noticed the unsightly blisters - he's more into opening and closing cupboard doors. That's far more important to his mind.

Nota Bene: sounds fun - alas (or rather, pleased to say) Tom hasn't quite got the necessary coverage to make a decent dot-to-dot puzzle. Not yet anyway...

Justme: sounds quite fun - Tom likes drinking the bath water at the best of times so an oat bath will save us having to feed him too! ;-)