parenting – Page 16

Thou shall not give a child false hopes

That is the lesson I learned last night. I’m so surprised Ayex can be very disappointed at such a very young age.

Here’s the background. The other night Ayex was looking for her crayons. Hubby said he doesn’t know where they are (I know they’re in her toy box, I just don’t know in which container). He added that her crayons are already broken into little pieces (not really little pieces, but some are already broken) and already need replacement.

Thursday morning came and Ayex still skipped school because of the stye on her right eyelid. We had a hard time leaving the house as she kept on telling hubby wag sama si mommy!. She didn’t want me to go to work and I fully understand. Only that I can’t. I have meetings to attend to and there might be unscheduled tasks that I need to take care of. So hubby promised her that we’ll buy her new crayons. I need to go to work so I can buy her crayons, that’s how I said it to her. She finally gave up on my and played with the dogs instead. We took that opportunity to leave the house.

Before I went of the car, I told hubby to buy me something when he goes to the department store. An additional to the coffee maker and crayons that he was suppose to buy. I didn’t bother asking him the whole day if he was able to buy what we need since the department store is very near his office and they usually go out on lunch break.

Back at home, (this is according to my in-laws) Ayex kept on telling her lolo and lola that by the time we come home, she’ll have new crayons. She kept on telling them that the whole day. She’s super excited about the new crayons that the moment she heard the sound of our car, she started screaming. I heard it as I open the gates. The moment I get inside the house, she asked for them already and my reply was Nakay daddy

Apparently, hubby forgot everything he needs to buy including the crayons because he had work to do.

Ayex was super disappointed and even cried. She didn’t want to accept that daddy forgot her crayons. I tried to explain to her and apologized several time but she was so sad. She cried on my lap and kept on telling me Mommy gusto ko ng crayons.. I got somewhat impatient and told her Gusto mo bigyan kita money tapos bili ka na ngayon? – rude, I know.

She finally stopped when I handed her my pasalubong – turon. She ate it as hubby and I were eating dinner. She’s silent at last. After she ate all the turon’s skin, she asked for her Sugus candy. She’s back to her usual happy and giggly little girl.

So today, to make sure Ayex will not be disappointed when we get home, I told hubby that I’ll take care of buying the crayons. I got her a pack of new crayons and a set of water color.

I will definitely share her artworks using these in my future posts.

Styes also known as Kuliti

When I woke her up yesterday morning for school, she won’t open her eyes and when she finally did, she complained that it hurts. She didn’t want me to open the light so I just took the flash light to see why. To my surprise, her eyelid is swollen.

Initially, hubby and I suspected it as insect bites, a cockroach perhaps. But how can that be? We make sure to clean the bed every night before we even sleep to remove the dusts it could accumulated the whole day. And if was indeed some insect, I should have felt it also as Ayex sleeps beside me.

When we came home last night, I noticed that her eye is a bit bigger already but it’s teary and nagmumuta. Good thing hubby is working from home today, he was able to bring Ayex to the pedia.

What is a stye in the first place and what is its cause?

A stye — commonly called kuliti — which is a boil that has developed at the base of an eyelash. This usually happens because the eyelash root has become infected by bacteria, often by rubbing the lid with infected hands.

At first a red lump appears at the edge of the eyelid, which then gets larger and eventually bursts after a few days, often during sleep. Despite its appearance, it will rarely cause any problems and usually goes away on its own in about five to seven days.

To ease your baby’s discomfort you can use warm compresses. Use a clean warm towel to bathe the eye for about ten minutes, four times a day until the stye starts to go down. Often keeping the eye clean is all you need to do.

If the stye does not get better or if your baby keeps getting styes you should contact your doctor. Sometimes an antibiotic ointment is needed to clear the infection. In some instances, incision and drainage may be necessary. Source

Ayex is definitely prone to styes because she has this habit of rubbing her eyes. And like any little girl, when she plays, she gets dirty hands. That is probably the cause of her stye. The pedia gave her an ointment and we were instructed to put warm cotton on her eye every four hours.

Lesson learned, keep your kids’ hands away from their eyes or even mouth and always clean them either by frequent washing or using alcohol.

Self-weaned, finally?

Adj. 1. weaned – freed of dependence on something especially (for mammals) mother’s milk. Source: weaned

I’ve always wanted Ayex to have a self-directed weaning from breastfeeding. Yes, I’ve been feeding her with my own milk for 3 years now. And although my parents and in-laws are already telling me to train her to wean ( because she’s becoming hard-headed and impatient as they say), I did not because secretly, I don’t want our special bonding to be over.

But like other breastfeeding-working moms out there, I too get tired. Specially now that I am 4 months pregnant with our second child, my body goes through a lot of changes again, and sometimes, breastfeeding can be really tiresome.

One time, as I was getting diaper supplies, my friend/supplier told me a story how her eldest child just gave up feeding from the bottle. Her child is 4-5yo. She told the teacher to tell her kid that she should no longer drink her milk from the bottle because she’ll get tooth decay. Instead, she should start drinking her milk from the glass. From this, I got an idea of telling Ayex’s teacher about her still breastfeeding. Ayex stopped feeding from the bottle after she turned two and drinks her occasional milk from the glass when I’m at work. At night she feeds from me.

Hubby told me over chat yesterday that he was able to ask Teacher Jade to tell Ayex that she should stop getting milk from me. Instead, she can drink milk from the glass. After dinner, hubby asked Ayex what did Teacher Jade told her about drinking her milk. My little girl narrated to me what her teacher told her. We told her that if she asks for mommy’s milk, we’ll tell her teacher the next day that she still breastfeed to which responded with constant No.

I had my usual short tv-time and I waited for her to ask for milk. She did not. At bedtime, she said Mommy, dede. I reminded her what we’ll say to her teacher the next day and offered that I’ll just pat her back to put her to sleep. She agreed. After a few minutes, she’s already fast asleep. She woke up twice in the middle of the night to pee. After peeing, she goes to back to sleep without asking for milk.

Yes, I did not breastfeed her the whole day and the whole night yesterday until this morning. And although I don’t want to jinx this, I hope that she is really ready to finally wean. Not because I want our special bonding to be over but I really need a rest. I know I will be breastfeeding again once our little one comes out in June 2010. What a bitter-sweet reality of motherhood!