The rainbow after the storm

不经历风雨 ⛈，怎能见彩虹🌈? 

They say after the storm comes a rainbow and that the greater the storm, the brighter the rainbow. I guess that is true and for now, I just wish to sit back a little, cherish and appreciate that beautiful rainbow.

For that means we made it through the storm.

Well, the last couple of weeks was probably one of the toughest times we had but we survived to tell the tale. The gist of the story is that the kids were down with Covid-19 one after another and eventually, all of them tested positive. Yup, that's statistically 4 out of 4, this virus is so potent that it spread rapidly and even the poor baby was not spared.

I did the ART test for him and the results confirmed my fear - he was positive as well. He was the third one to test positive, following Ariel and Asher who had already fallen ill. I was hoping Angel, who is fully vaccinated, would be able to escape from the virus but when she came home telling me she felt sick and was feeling hot, I knew it was a bad sign and indeed, she tested positive the next day. But oh well, all for one and all for one, right? 大家一起中病毒，一同康复，可能不是一件坏事。

So they took turns to come down with fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose, fatigue and exhibited all the respiratory symptoms. It's never easy dealing with one sick kid, let alone four. A couple of them complained about the lack of taste too but I reminded them we just had to be thankful to have food on the table and to be able to eat is a luxury to begin with because it means you ain't that sick, right?

In addition, there was an episode of seizure and hospital checkup to deal with - this is another story for another day - which filled my heart with so much worry and anxiety. I guess that explains why I had so much on my plate since 2022 began. Well, let's hope the rest of the year will be much better.

The consolation of it all is that they were able to recover at home - thank goodness for this option - and that means I was isolated with the kids for days on my own (the hubby stayed away so he could minimise exposure and continue to work), trying my best to catch up on their school work (I had to make a quick trip to school to collect their materials, thankfully I tested negative), giving them medication (luckily they don't fuss much, just need a little bit of coaxing), ordering food delivery (the hubby dropped a few meals for us at the door too), handling bickers (yes, they still had energy to do so), doing ART test after test (we are now experts at doing it), finding ways to keep them occupied (it can get bored when everyone is feeling cooped up), checking everyone's temperature regularly (I was the naggy mum who kept telling them to use their thermometers and drink more water), making sure they were getting better by the day and feeling exhausted when I plonked onto bed every night. 

Looking on the bright side, I guess we were lucky that no one fell severely ill and that the fevers, though high, subsided after a few days for all of them after taking Panadol, wiping down and using fever patches. Phew. It is also a good thing that we've become accustomed to staying home since we have done it so much in the last couple of years. I mentioned before that we actually like to stay home and that remains true up till this day. The house was merry, or should I say chaotic, all day long and there was never a moment's peace. When they were feeling better, we even managed to have some fun like having a water play session and movie night too! Gotta keep everyone in high spirits, right?

Yesterday, all of them finally tested negative and were cleared to go back to school. Yippee! That means we see the light at the end of the tunnel at last. Everyone is safe and sound, life can resume for all of us and I count my blessings for that.

It's the first time this pandemic hits so close for us and it left me feeling helpless at times, wishing that I could do more to alleviate my children's pain and discomfort. But, perhaps this is the way it has to be sooner or later now that we are making it an endemic way of life and I am just glad that the storm blew over just in time for us to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Hope the year has been kinder to all of you and may all of us stay positive, hopeful and appreciative of the little things in life. Thanks to everyone who checked in on us and sent their well wishes. We are okay now! Have a happy week ahead, people! ❤