Colm over at InFactAh is organising a Christmas Blogger get-together tonight in the Market Bar in Dublin from 7pm onwards and all are welcome. I’m going to be there and there seems to be a nice group of others signed up so it should be a good laugh.
I went to the blogger meet-up this time last year and, once I’d managed to find everyone, I had a great night.
Hope to see you there!
Eve has been sick for a week now. Well, since we started her in créche a couple of months ago she has been sick most of the time with a few breaks inbetween to allow us to catch our breath before the new virus sets up house. Up until now she hadn’t had a sick day in her short life so dealing with a sick child is a new one for me. Her latest illness seems to be a bad dose of bronchitis.
Sad but true fact of living in Ireland: it costs so much to go to your local doctor (€50 – 55 is the going rate, plus any prescriptions he might give you) that it makes you play the waiting game walking the line between paranoid and responsible parent. Well, she’s not getting any better so I’m bringing her today making the grand total I’ve spent on doctor’s visits in the last two months a whopping €260! All for colds and flus and things the doctor couldn’t help with anyway. Still, she’s just so miserable it doesn’t matter how much it costs if he can actually do something to help her.
Anyway. Here’s my list of ways to keep a coughing, sniffling, wheezing toddler as comfortable as possible. If you have any others please feel free to pass them on to me:
1. Stick a pillow under the top of her mattress to raise her head up a little. Helps to relieve the congestion so she can sleep.
2. Luke warm sponge baths to keep her fever down.
3. A little Vaporub massaged into her chest and back before bed after the bath.
4. All her favourite shows on the TV…Pingu, Boobah (well, she is sick after all), Pocoyo and Peppa Pig.
5. Plenty of cold drinks. She has her two sippy cups to hand at all times with cold orange squash in them to soothe her throat and to make sure she’s getting plenty of fluid.
6. She’s not eating well but she still loves her smoothies from The Happy Pear down in the village. They have a cold buster one that’s full of Vitamin C.
7. Plenty of cuddling on the couch watching Christmas movies like The Santa Clause and Miracle on 34th St.
8. Lots of rest. I know she’s not well when she comes and asks me can she go “night-night” at four o’clock in the afternoon.
9. Loose comfy clothes. It seems logical to bundle her up but that only makes her fever worse.
10. If all else fails a stiff shot of brandy works wonders. Heh, only joking…kind of.
I took a break from the writing and dusted off my camera. These guys appeared after all the rain we had over the weekend.
