Chickenpox

It all began last weekend when Jake and I went up to Hawkes Bay for a friend’s wedding while some very kind (and brave) friends in Wellington offered to have Molly and Alfie to stay for the weekend.

The wedding was great but when we got back, the kids were both complaining about itchy mosquito bites. We put it down to the fact that they’d played outside for most of the weekend, put some toothpaste on the bites and told them to stop moaning.

It turned out Molly’s really were mozzie bites... but Alfie’s were chickenpox spots (oops!)

And there set the tone for the rest of the week. Alfie and I have been in isolation/solitary confinement at home (I’m thinking of painting a white cross on our front door).

Dealing with The Pox is not an easy task when you have a usually-very-active 4 year old – and you still have to get your work done. Still, we are surviving, and I have to give particular thanks to the following for their help:

- The manufacturers of Pinetarsol and Alpha Keri Lotion.

- A huge jar of instant coffee to help me get going after a sleepless night looking after an itchy boy.

- Kids on Four for an hour of kids TV shows each morning – it kept him occupied a bit while I worked.

- Activity Village for their free colouring in/writing/etc printouts which kept him occupied a little bit more while I worked.

- A full week of sunshine – so I could at least do something constructive while I was stuck in the house and get 4 loads of washing done in a day and a load of freezer food baked. 


- The sun also meant we could hang out in the garden making volcanoes and doing fun science experiments! 

- Countdown Supermarkets - I had my first ever experience of online grocery shopping this week. It was bloody expensive but great service and I couldn’t have fed the family without it! 

- Some very great friends who made sure Molly got to and from school and after-school activities, and who did pharmacy runs for me when I needed more Pinetarsol .

-  And on the subject of Molly, she deserves an extra big thank you for being so patient, for making do without a parent at her ballet performance this week, for caring so gently for Alfie, and especially for the letter which she wrote to the fairies and left outside her bedroom door last night. It said:

"To the flower fairies,

I rilly want you to make my little bruv feel better. Cood you help get him better. He has chicken pox. He has got only a littlll bit that’s shoing. I am 6. 

Love Molly.”