(this is a continuation from yesterday’s post)

When the sun was beaming, “Good Morning”, our weary eyes and body were ready to report to our family doctor. We were the first customers. That was how urgent we want to get this over and done with.

Dr L. rattled on the usual stuff, “make sure the air-con is off…” “No, we don’t have air-con at home” I reminded the 50+ year old doctor AGAIN. He smiled and continued, “make sure the fan is not directed at him, no soft toys should be around him because of dust…blah blah blah…” All too familiar sentences that I was not listening to much. I just couldn’t wait for him to finish and GIVE ME THAT RUNNY NOSE MEDICINE so that I could get back to sleep!

We left the clinic satisfied. I fed Keatkeat the medicine the moment we reached home. He fell asleep soon after and so did I. Allan was taking care of Binbin that morning, while his wife, ME, tried to get her beauty sleep. My 4 year old was fine when he woke. No more sniffing, no more mucus and definitely no more “Haahhh…Cheeee”. Everyone was happy.

At 3am+, it HAPPENED AGAIN!!!! The nightmare happened again! Everything that I posted yesterday was replaying itself! *Urrrggghhh* The only difference was I had runny nose medicine this time. Got it down his throat and waited for the drowsiness to take effect, as my robotic body went like an automated machine, “Haahhh…Cheee” – Wipe Keatkeat’s nose and mouth – Wipe his saliva off my body….. “Haahhh…Cheee” Again – Wipe Keatkeat’s nose and mouth AGAIN- Wipe his saliva off my body AGAIN…..

He was all chirpy at 7.30am, ready for school. The nightmare was gone with the darkness of the night.

Did it happened again that night?! YES!!!!! In the wee hours of the morning I’m up AGAIN! This went on for about weeks. Went back to Dr L. for more medication, this time we took the bigger bottle. My body was so used to the unusual wake up timing, it didn’t feel like it was abnormal anymore. That’s how bad it was!

WE HAD TO STOP THIS CRAZINESS!

Step 1: We reminded him over and over again to cover his mouth. It didn’t work. We assisted him by bringing his palm to his nose and mouth every time he went, “Haahhh…..” (Before the “Cheee…” comes). After doing it for months, he still DOESN’T DO IT by himself!

Step 2: We fed him the runny nose medicine BEFORE he sleeps every night, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS NOT sneezing. I know its wrong. But after a month of such predictability, we just didn’t want to risk. Its not just about our sleep, its about Keatkeat’s sleep too. He lost weight, lost appetite and lost the cheerfulness. After doing it for another month, new progress, he stopped sneezing at night, he started to sneeze IN THE MORNING!

The sneezing and blowing of nose varied from 5mins to 35mins! We can be up early for school yet by the time all the sneezing and blowing of nose stops, we ended up being LATE for more than half an hour! Sometimes we were sent back, ‘cos the teachers think he is unfit for school. BUT THIS HAPPENS EVERYDAY, does that mean I had to stop his schooling totally?! That was another struggle I had to go through because of Keatkeat’s problem.

Step 3: We trained him to wipe and blow his own nose everytime his nose felt itchy and BEFORE he sneeze. For months, he would SNEEZE FIRST and let the thick mucus HANG DANGLING FROM HIS NOSE, threatening to break off and smack onto the floor, “Hurry Up! The mucus is DROPPING (noticed, not dripping). Get the tissue and wipe it off!”

There was no urgency in him AT ALL. He took his own sweet time and pluck out the tissue and SWEPT his nose! Sending the LONG STRAIN OF MUCUS FLYING TO THE GROUND! *Urgghhhh*

I showed him the right way to do it over and over again (you bet I’ve got lots of chance to demonstrate ‘cos he was sneezing non-stop), but it just didn’t get into his head! I ended up mopping the *Eeewww* off the floor every time.

With the medication and the tissue, the cost of this sickness was getting way too high. We were lucky to have free supply of toilet rolls from Allan’s aunt. So no more tissue, we switched to toilet papers. Worst! He sloooowwwlly UNROLL the toilet paper with his goo dangling from his nostrils, COUNTED 3 Sections and sloooowwwwly tear the perforated line with perfection. DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO WATCH THIS every time?!!!

You want to DO IT for him, WIPE THAT MUCUS OFF with your well-trained hands, yet you know if you continued to do it, he will NEVER LEARN!

But we were reprimanded by Keatkeat’s teachers after she saw the toilet roll in his bag. We needed to do that because it comes in handy AS WE WALKED TO SCHOOL. He stopped and blew his nose several times on the way to school too. A 2mins walk may end up being a 10mins walk sometimes.

Mdm N. told us its better to wash then to blow his nose into the tissue or the toilet roll which is very dusty. Fine! I AM ALL GEARED UP TO TRY ANYTHING that can stop all of these nonsense! So we tried BUT our WATER BILLS WENT UP! This was really really tough…

I was GOING CRAZY! I was completely beaten, I had no more ideas to solve the problem. No more patience with my boy. No more nice mommy. The sight of his nose twitching just makes me *Urrrghhhh*. Every morning, I had to yelled at him, “Cover your mouth! Blow your nose BEFORE you sneeze! Wipe the mucus OFF!…” I hated every morning. I was fuming every morning and I hated myself so much, I couldn’t recognize myself ANYMORE!……

(I think I’ll stop here for today….will end this 3-DAY long post off by tomorrow… if you have read yesterday’s post and today’s post, I admire your tolerance level *wink*…. Thank You!)