Panicked!

A fortnight ago, I had the greatest scare of my life.

My 3rd child, Jaq, had developed a fever due to teething. His fever was not that high, only about 38 or so. Nevertheless, I gave him some Tylenol, but I did not administer the medicine as prescribed (every 4 hours). The last dose I gave was around 11pm.

During the night, I heard him giggling in his sleep. "Probably just dreaming", I thought. Then at about 5am, he woke up. He still got a slight fever so I let him sleep beside me in our bed (he still sleeps in his crib). Shortly thereafter, it happened.

I felt the bed shook and I thought that he was giggling in his sleep again. When I turned to look, his whole body was twitching violently, his eyes were rolling ... goodness me! he was having a seizure.

Then, I did the most STUPID thing to do in case of an emergency ... I panicked! I picked up my son and screamed "Call 911, call 911" to my friend who was sleeping in the other room. For what seemed like eternity, my son shook heavily in my arms. Then, he went limp. I swear I thought he had died in my arms, and my heart just stopped beating. I just stood there helplessly cradling my child, calling out his name over and over.

He regained consciousness a little while later; paramedics came, and off we went to the Emergency; my hubby followed (soon as he arrived from his graveyard shift); all blood tests turned out ok, and there seemed to be no cause of panic ... "just a febrille seizure", doctor said. Normal occurence in 1:25 kids.

Still, it was the most frightening thing that ever happened to me. I realized that I am no superMom after all. With 4 kids, I should have been more experienced, but I wasn't. Should have known better, but I didn't; I felt so ill-equipped with the usual know-hows of a mom. I felt so terrible.

Latest 'Brag'

"Mommy, I have a surprise for you", our eldest, JJ, shouted excitedly last Saturday when he came home from Kumon. "Close your eyes". I obliged. "Boo". (That was my cue to open my eyes). In his hands, he was holding a medal which read Reading Grade Level Achievement. "Wow! Very good!" I said, feigning surprise. You see, it was the quarterly award event in Kumon and I kinda thought that the centre gives awards to everybody who attends, especially to the kindergartens ... well you know, coz they're kids and they love getting ribbons and stuff?!?! . It wasn't so much of a big deal then that he's getting another one.

Then my husband came in and told me that JJ was the only one awarded in his class. (Hmmm ... perhaps it is big deal). Though I guess it doesn't mean that JJ's the only one who could read in his class; just maybe he'd shown great improvement than the rest. See, JJ started reading at 4, big thanks to Kumon, and now at 5, reading's a breeze. But I do remember one time the Kumon supervisor, Ms. Joan, commenting that she was really impressed with JJ's proficiency in reading (and comprehension). Anyway, whatever.

That was when I felt the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise and got real excited. I hugged my son so tight and showered him with kisses and told him how very very proud I was with him. I could see that he loved my sudden show of enthusiasm from the way his eyes twinkled. It then dawned on me that I haven't been really vocal about my feelings toward my son's achievements, even the small, 'insignificant' ones. I vowed to change that.

As his reward, I told my son I would create a webpage of his own. Oh boy, you should've seen his reaction. It was like he'd eaten a bubble gum! (he's forbidden to eat one till he's 10, so for him it was pretty exciting). Did I mention that he's also a computer buff? Having his own webpage would mean he could use the computer for a few minutes everyday, not just on Sunday (his computer day).

So, here I am trying to finish up the webpage I promised him. Just want you guys reading this to please support and encourage JJ to hone his thinking, writing & reading skills by posting comments to his blogs and other entries.

Thanks. I'm sleepy na. Bye!