Cold and damp = sickness

Every country has its downsides. Some have more than others. And for some it’s more a matter of personal preferences.

New Zealand is a truly amazing country in more ways than we could ever mention, and we just love living here. I could talk about why forever. Personally I think NZ only has two downsides in total, and one of these is that we have a reputation for cold, damp homes (the other being that we sit on a major tectonic fault line). 

Double glazing and central heating are uncommon – so in the winter people huddle together in the one room which has a log fire or expensive heat pump, while the rest of the house freezes. Many houses are inadequately insulated, and many of us wake up each morning to “crying windows”.

As a result, asthma, bronchial infections and general sickness levels are extremely high at this time of year.

We are very lucky that we live in a modern, insulated house, with some heating facilities (they’re not entirely adequate but they’re better than many people have) and our house faces the sun which helps keep it toasty warm in the afternoons. But never-the-less, our children are both picking up every cough and cold that’s going around (and passing them on to us!) at the moment.

Meanwhile, last week Molly had a school trip to Zealandia (our local wildlife sanctuary) where she saw Takahe – an indigenous and endangered species of flightless bird – and impressed the tour guide with her knowledge of different Tuatara species. She’s still a wildlife fan at heart, and her Daddy is very proud of her knowledge given his current role at work! 

It’s been an exciting time for our Molly because the next day she was presented with an award at Assembly, for having moved up two reading groups in the space of 4 weeks (and for having a nice smile?!)

The day after that was her annual Cross Country running race at school where the kids run quite a long track! They've been practising for weeks and despite being so tiny, she still managed to come in roughly in the middle of all the other kids so we were very proud of her. Although she had originally herself a goal of coming first, second or third, she was pleased with herself too - we told her she was the third person wearing a pink hairband and that seemed enough. 

And the day after that she came down with a cough/cold bug. It’s hardly surprising!

She is off school today recovering, despite pleading to go in because she loves it so much! (I wonder how many more years that attitude will continue for?!).