Our bench-top currently looks like a display shelf at the Chemist, an array of medicines lined up and ready to be purchased. (Can anyone relate?) This is a foreign sight in our kitchen, my normally pristine white bench tops are now decorated with the sight of antihistamines, anti inflammatories, creams, Panadol, Vicks, multivitamins and jelly beans, yes you read it right jelly beans.

We have been fairly lucky, for most of this year, my children have been healthy, active little beings, but over the past couple of months, we’ve had bouts of vomiting (don’t you just love cleaning up vomit covered beds in the middle of the night!) There’s been Tonsillitis, which presented as a stomach bug, my son woke up one night screaming, grabbing his stomach and we could barely get a word out of him, he had a temperature and refused Panadol (as my children always have. very frustrating over the years!) After a trip to the doctor it turned out he had tonsillitis, needless to say I felt like the worst mother in the world for getting it so wrong, but in my defence he never once complained of a sore throat!!

This was followed by my eldest having a sore tummy, and then Miss Middle child April spent two days vomiting, I thought again that this was a stomach virus, she had zero appetite, but was at least okay with water, she had a temp, but refused Panadol. I expected as most kids do, that she would bounce back in a few days, after all the vomiting had stopped, but by the end of the week her eyes were bloodshot, she didn’t want to eat and she hated the electrolyte replacements, (yes I tried all flavours and styles,) so I took her to the doctor, who sent us to the hospital. Turns out to be a nasty urine infection, I mean seriously that’s now two for two, both tonsillitis and a urine infection disguised as tummy pains! Again, in my defence (I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but . . .) she never complained of any pain whilst going to the toilet, not once!  It took her a few weeks to fully recover and it broke my heart seeing her so ill.

Relief when for two blissful weeks all five of us were healthy, but again the tides have turned, we have Aspen with her foot injury and hay fever, she’s on Zyrtec, eye spray and anti inflammatories, then number two April has some weird dermatitis so she’s on Claritin (because she likes that one better than Zyrtec), and cream that she has to put on 3 times a day. Finally Adam, has his ear infection so he’s on antibiotics, probiotics, and because of a nasal drip he is also on Zyrtec, (because he can’t stand the taste of Claritin!) So hence the drug display, plus the multivitamins. To top it off we have jelly beans, my bribe to get my medicine hating children to take medicine. But, it’s backfired. Adam has decided he will now take panadol when in pain because, yes, he gets a jelly bean, but he has now started making up random attacks of pain in attempt to get more jelly beans! Poor little man doesn’t realise though that his mum’s got him all worked out, sorry buddy, no extra jelly beans for you, (let’s be honest here, I can’t afford the dentist! Can anyone?)

So right now I’m dreaming of a drug free bench-top and some healthy children, and no more jelly beans for the rest of the year at least!

Thanks for joining me, love Mackenzie xx

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