All About Your Child

*Deep Breath*
When I am so overwhelmed with emotions, I had to talk, I had to blog.
That’s how I calm myself down.

More than 3 hours ago, I could have lost Binbin…. for good.
When he was still a toddler, I lost him once in a shopping mall (Read here: “Child Independence“) and never came close to losing him again whenever we go shopping.
Then, I nearly caused him to drown when he was 3 years old (Read here: “Nearly Lost Him Again“)

For the two incidents above, it was my negligence, I can only blame myself.
But what happened just now………..was beyond my control…….

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We were in the car, on the way to a familiar coffeeshop to have our dinner.
Allan was driving, I was beside him and the kids were in the backseat.
The music player was on and the boys were singing along.
Suddenly, Binbin SCREAMED!
“Ahhhhh…..*catching breath* Ahhhhh…….” He went on.

I turned my head and asked: “What’s Wrong?!”
Binbin: “Got Cockroach!”

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Let me give you a little background of my family with regards to cockroach.
I am the ONLY ONE in the family who dare to catch live cockroaches.
So I am the cockroach warrior in my family.
However, my bravery is only up to a certain level.
If its an adult cockroach, I will become wary…..and when it chooses to spread its WINGS, I will be the first to run away screaming!

I am used to smacking cockroaches in the car.
Not that it happens often though.
Just that whenever that happens, they will shout for me, like how fans would scream the name of their idols on stage, in a concert.

So when I heard Binbin shouted: “Got Cockroach!” and Kitkit kept going “Ahhhh…Ahhhh…Ahhh….”
I simply said: “Wind down the windows.”
I was ready to flick the cockroach out of the window.

Then Allan turned and shouted: “Its a BIG ONE!”
OMG!
Now its my turn to panick!!! Especially when Binbin kept telling me: “Its Behind Your Chair!”

My eyes scanned around the poorly lit interior of the car, hoping to locate the Big cockroach, so that I can keep an eye on it, in case it decides to fly or crawl towards me.
But instead of spotting the cockroach, I saw something that FROZE my heart!
The car door beside Binbin was opened!
Binbin’s eyes were still staring at the cockroach, but his right hand was holding onto the half-opened door and he was semi-standing on the edge of the car.
His right arm was out of the car.
His butt was out of the car.
His back was almost fully out of the car too.
He was READY TO JUMP OUT OF THE CAR!!!!
If he had lost his balance or a car from behind decides to overtake our car from the right, Binbin could have ____________!!!!!

Damn!
My heart is racing again as I recall that moment.
He had fear in his eyes (because of the cockroach) and I had FEAR in my eyes too, but for a totally different reason, a life-threatening reason!!!!!
I YELLED: “BINBIN, CLOSE THE DOOR!!!!!”
He hesitated for a second or two.
He did not want to close the door.
He did not want to be near to the cockroach!
I YELLED again!
“BINBIN, ITS VERY DANGEROUS!!! CLOSE THE DOOR NOW!!!”
He slammed it reluctantly and edged himself against the closed door with eyes like a hawk staring at the cockroach.

The car door is always locked whenever the car starts to move.
I asked if Allan had unlocked the doors.
He said no.
I asked if Binbin unlocked his door, he said it was already unlocked, that’s why he could open the door.

Till now, I have no idea why was the door unlocked.
The traffic light turned red.
We had no choice but to stop at the junction.
The four of us were in fear, especially me, who have yet to spot the sight of the cockroach.
With Kitkit going “Ahhh…(paused)Ahhhh….(paused)“, I know it was moving.
Those few seconds at the traffic light seemed like minutes!!!
The tension in the car was so high!

Light turned Green!
The four of us were so uptight that we started shouting in the car!
Man!
It was a mess!
Me: “Turn into the carpark. Here! Here!”
Binbin: “So can I open the door now?”
Me: “NOOOOOOOOO! Go out from Gor Gor’s side!” [Gor Gor = Big Brother]
Binbin: “But the cockroach is at Gor Gor’s side!”
Allan: “Ok! Then go out from your side!”
Me: “Not now! Wait for Car to stop!”
Binbin: “Now? Can? Now????!!!”

Allan pulled over.
Everyone jumped out!
As I recall, I think we were very comical when we jumped out in unison!
*laugh*

Obviously, we did not have insecticides in the car.
Allan: “Spray Febreeze on it?!” [Febreeze = an air freshener which we use to spray inside the car, to get rid of odours created by food or wet umbrellas.]
Me *half giggling*: “Huh?! Ok ok……Spray alot! So that the wings are wet and it cannot fly!”

I think the fragrance had sedative effects on the cockroach!
*laugh*
It was moving as though it had 10 shots of Tequila!
*huge laugh*

I took two pieces of tissue and grab the ‘drunkard‘, heard the wings crushed as my fingers pressed on it.
With my right arm fully stretched holding onto the crushed tissue on my finger tips, I head for the dustbin, which was also in the same direction where my two frightened boys were standing.
They glided away from me with arms protecting their chest, ready to run if they saw the cockroach slipped out of the tissue paper.

Dumped the creature into the big dustbin.
The end.

I faced Binbin and reminded him again and again that opening the car door when the car is NOT parked is FORBIDDEN!!!

We held each other’s arms tightly as we walked towards the coffeeshop……
My heart was still pounding fast after we sat down.
I rattled on….as I needed to release my tension….
Allan: “Our car was already stopping (Light has turned amber) and we were on the right lane, so its impossible that any car will come to our right; therefore it is IMPOSSIBLE that Binbin will be knocked down by any car.
Me: “Oh! Really???!”
Oh man!
I think I lost my mind totally when I saw the opened door and did not analyse the surroundings……..
*slap forehead*

STILL!!!!
I hope Binbin will NEVER open the car door again, unless the car is parked or when we give him the permission to do so!

What a fright we had tonight!!!

Binbin Could Have Killed Himself

Today marks the second assessment visit to SNEC, Singapore National Eye Centre,  AFTER Kitkit started on Atropine Eyedrops last year November.
I totally forgot that this day falls on the March 1-week school holidays!
*slap forehead*
The duration of the wait was as long as our first visit to SNEC, which also happens to fall on school holiday period – 2 hours!

At the end of the visit, when the staff was searching for an empty slot in the eye doctor’s super-packed schedule in September 2014, my first reaction was: “Does THAT date fall on the September 1-week school holidays? If yes, please change it to a school day for us please.”

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Kitkit was able to get most of the numbers and alphabets correct during the preliminary test today.
Yeah!
The only alphabets which he kept saying wrongly were ‘D’ (he saw it as ‘O’) and ‘R’ (he thought it was ‘B’).
Other than these two, the rest had a perfect score.
Finally, I am seeing some results from the Atropine Eyedrops.

I remembered doubting the accuracy of Kitkit’s eye condition during the 1st assessment visit in January 2014, because he was playing games on the mobile phone while waiting for his turn and the result of the eye test was worrying. So today, I forbid him to use electronic devices at all from the time he woke up, in case it affects his eye test again.
Kids are seldom good at playing the waiting game, so mummy, aka me,  had to entertain him.
The only game which came to my mind was ‘I Spot Something, Can You Find It?’
Sound pretty lame?
Whatever, so long as it can stop him from chanting: “How much longer do we have to wait………?!!!”

After 1 hour and 50mins, it was our turn to see the eye doctor AT LAST!!!
Yet, we merely spent less than 3 minutes inside her consultation room.
She confirmed once again that Kitkit’s pupils are dilated, but the amount of dilation was not too much and was considered acceptable.
She also informed us that during the next visit, Kitkit will need to do the 3-eye-drop-test again, the one which made him cry previously.
Though Kitkit frowned the moment he heard those words, he was not as fearful as before, since he is so used to having eye-drops every night now.

The only upsetting part for him was the arrangement of the next visit.
The eye doctor is only available on Wednesday morning and Friday afternoon.
Since he needs to go to school in the morning, his only choice was Friday afternoon.
However, as I had mentioned in previous post, after the 3-eye-drop-test, he needs to stay indoors as much as possible to prevent sun rays from entering his eyes for 3 days.

His weekly soccer training is on Sunday mornings now because we had changed his soccer club. From Friday to Sunday, it is not a full 3 days. Therefore he was upset that he had to skip the soccer training on THAT Sunday.

With mixed feelings we left SNEC at 5.15pm.
Why mixed?
Sad that Kitkit had to miss his favourite soccer practice on one of the Sundays in September.
Happy that the WAITING GAME is FINALLY OVER!
*phew*
Related post :  My Child on Atropine for 2 years and After Being on Atropine Eyedrops for 2 months