Happiness is.. seeing the light at the end of the tunnel

October has been a rather tough month for us. Not only am I struggling to pack the house, research on home renovation ideas, meet up with potential sponsors, take measurements for the new house and shop for furnishing, I still do what I do daily - look after the three kids on my own and make sure they are well and alive.

Besides that, I also had to go through some revision with Angel for her year end quizzes and can only feel thankful that this girl is quite motivated to study on her own. I keep reminding myself not to give her any unnecessary academic stress and make more time for us to play, laugh, bond and do nothing yet everything.

Oh, and I am also planning for the birthday parties for the little ones and since our house is going to be in such a mess this year end, we are going to outsource the venues and I'll be sharing more exciting updates with you soon!

Anyway, you know I'm the type of mum who loves to keep myself occupied like every second of the day and so I'm actually secretly enjoying all of this busy-ness I am feeling. I've also been sacrificing a fair bit of sleep just so I can draw out the furnishing designs for the new house (no $$ to engage an ID), communicate with sponsors (just so thankful to have received a few), keep up with the blog (blogging is hard work!), get myself acquainted with Taobao (like finally), understand more about Scandinavian theme (did I just reveal the theme for our new nest?) and so on.

But you know what? All of this, which seemed so important at one point, became so insignificant when my darling baby was put through an ordeal for an entire fortnight.

Right, we started off October with him developing a high fever, followed by cough, cold, rashes before he was admitted to the hospital and two of us had a 4D3N 'staycation' in KKH. It was tough, it was gruelling, it was absolutely heart breaking. In today's "Happiness is...", it's about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for us.

This happy boy of mine, who never fails to brighten up my day with his smiles, giggles and infectious laughter, turned into a different person for an entire fortnight. He wouldn't eat, he wouldn't laugh, he wouldn't sleep, he wouldn't respond much, he wouldn't interact with me. All cos' he was feeling so sick, so tired and so terrible inside. I mean, a high fever, flu, measles, pneumonia all coming together is really no joke.



Plus, on hindsight, I feel like a terrible mum for not rushing him to the A&E when his body and face broke out in rashes. I simply assumed that if the PD isn't worried, I shouldn't be too. So maybe, just maybe, this bad mama prolonged his pain and his suffering? Oh well, guilt aside, I just had to move on and hope the best for his recovery. You can read more about my thoughts in the letter I wrote to him when I was watching over him in the hospital one night.


For that two-week period, he was my koala bear, my superglue, my whiny baby who just wanted to stay close to Mummy. I think I needed that too, to be extra close to him 24/7, to tell him I'm sorry, to let him know how much I love him, to rid his fears, to assure him that things were going to be okay and that we were all there beside him to cheer him on.



You can jolly well imagine my relief when we were discharged, when he flashed his smile at me once more, when he started to regain his strength, when he finally got back a little of his usually huge appetite and ate a few mouthfuls of porridge. P-H-E-W. I could only count my blessings that it was a short ordeal and that he managed to recover soon. We are lucky. We really are.

It was also through this experience that I saw how much my kids love, and need, one another and I'm just glad to have the three of them in my life. If time and money allows, or if I grow two more pairs of hands, I actually wish I can have half a dozen kids. At least. But for now, three are all I can handle and I'm just very, very grateful to have these happy, healthy kids to bug me and drive me up the wall every single day.

So, with just two more weeks left in October, life still moved on and we got back into the rhythm of things once again. We went shopping for new pillows, bolsters and bedsheets and the girls can't wait to show you their new bunk bed when it arrives!

I took a morning off and left the two younger ones with the hubby so I could have some one on one time with my firstborn - something which I think I desperately need and will try to carve out time for. It's been overdue and I miss that feeling of talking to this big girl, of reconnecting with her, of understanding her thoughts and feelings, of getting in touch with her life, of reminding myself just how much I love her and how I need to show her that.

We had a Sports Day celebration in her school and together, we took part in some parent-and-child activities. She told me she was really happy to have me present and I was so glad to be there too. We did relays, we took wefies, I spoke to her classmates and I was the one who put the medal over her head and told her she would always be a champion in my heart. Awwww.

Art classes continue for the girls and I'm so glad the hubby managed to fetch them to and fro when I was busy looking after the sick baby. You know what was one of the best thing that happened? He told me he now understood how tough it can be to manage the home (and he didn't even need to cook or wash the dishes or do the laundry), put the kids to bed, bring them to school and to and fro classes and basically be a stay-home parent and look after the kids. Thanks dear, I feel much appreciated after that and I've always known that your work ain't easy for you too. Anyway, how do you like their latest masterpieces? Angel painted a Beauty and the Beast poster with a colourful rainbow in the background while Ariel painted a swimming pool picture and chose to include herself and her dearest big sister.

With the hubby being busy catching up on work after the baby got well, I was also happy to be able to bring all the three kids out together once more. It's funny how you learn to appreciate the small little things in life after a bad experience, right? Sibling rivalry, squabbles, hair pulling fights, pushing and shoving, endless whining, classic tantrums, needy baby, oh well, I think I can handle all that.

A highlight of the month was when Ariel performed in her first ever school annual concert! Her teacher told me she was the best dancer and I think it all stems from her love and enthusiasm for dancing ever since she could move her limbs. Yup, this girl who loves to move, shake and boogie finally got her turn to shine on stage and she did it flawlessly. Will share more in another post soon!





We also got into the Christmas mood in advance when the girls participated in a Gingerbread Decorating Workshop held at Shangri-La hotel. It was a really fun-filled, relaxed, delightful and super duper SWEET experience. Will blog about it in a separate post soon (see, I told you blogging is hard work. It's 1am now already!).

Last but not least, we ended the month with a bang when we celebrated Halloween at the Safari Boo event held at River Safari. The kids dressed up in their pumpkin and witch costumes and were thrilled to be able to come up close with aliens, monsters, giant flowers, watch shows with animal appearances, enjoy free ice cream and sweet treats, and best of all, see mermaids live in action.



Yup, that was pretty awesome and I think they will remember this special moment for quite a long time. So yes, we saw the light at the end and we are just glad to be given the chance to make happy memories as a family once again. Till more updates in November!