Chicken pox information

After 2 sleepless nights, my son is finally getting better. Now he has scabs through out the body. Hopefully they won't leave scars.

He is really a tough boy and despite the rashes all over his body with painful blisters, including one on his eye lid and one at his nostril, he could still smile. His waking up at night was the only sign that he was in some short of discomfort.

We consulted a number of websites and my father who's a doctor. So wanted to share some useful tips for you parents out there.

You should be aware that Chickenpox is a highly contagious illness and also infectious even before the rashes come out. Fortunately our daughter was vaccinated in Malaysia when she was 13 months old. It seems that vaccination for chicken pox is not common in the UK.

In order to ease the itchiness, we gave him a bath twice in lukewarm water with a little sodium bicarbonate powder added. After that we applied Calamine lotion to the affected areas apart from the face. He developed a mild fever and we gave him Paracetamol.

Warning: If you haven't had Chicken pox, you can catch it from your kids. Hope this info helps.

Some related links:
- Wikipedia
- NHS Direct

Trip to Cambridge cancelled

We were planning a trip to Cambridge and had even booked the hotel rooms but had to cancel it at the last minute.

A few days back we noticed some red rashes on our son. The next day, water filled blisters developed on the skin. Checking on the Internet led us to a distinct possibility - chicken pox. However, the sites mentioned that the kids would suffer from fever but Imaan was normal. We decided to take him to our GP and she confirmed it as chicken pox.

I guess we have to take that trip to Cambridge some other time. Anyway, it's just one and a half hours away from here.

Kids say the sweetest things

Kids say the darnedest things but they also say the sweetest things too.

Yesterday I was busy bidding on ebay when I heard my daughter calling me from the living room. She was watching her favourite cartoon channel - Tiny Pop, and there was an ad on.

"I want that! I want that!", she said referring to the toy being advertised.

Me: I can't buy you that

Daughter: But why? I really like it.

Me: Because Baba doesn't have any money.

Daughter: But why?

Me: Because Baba is not working in an office anymore.

Daughter: "Oh!" With a resigned look.

Me: I will get you something at the car boot next time.

Daughter: OK! With a smile.

I went back to continue with my bidding. Suddenly she was at my side and looking at what I was bidding at (which I lost because it went way beyond my budget).

Daughter: What's that?

Me: That's a toy that Baba wants but cannot buy because I don't have any money.

She was silent for a while.

Daughter: When I am big tomorrow, I will earn a lot of money and buy Baba that toy.



That was the sweetest thing that anyone has said to me in a long time. I love my sweet daughter.

First time on a roller coaster

Can you recall the first time ever you were on a roller coaster?

Well last weekend, we drove down to the Easter fun fair at Walsall.

My daughter went on a roller coaster for the first time in her life. My wife was there with here and I couldn't help myself but laugh when she later told me that Rahil was screaming "it's not fair! It's not fair!" when it started picking up speed. Not sure what she meant by that.



She was shaking a bit when they got down. I thought Rahil would be scared to go on another ride but No! She wanted to go on the flying pink elephant - this time with me.

Easter bonnet project

Had to make an easter bonnet for Rahil's school easter parade.

So here is what we came up with:



It's made from a straw hat covered with cotton balls. Turned out great and Rahil is very proud of it.

Baby boy taking one step at a time

Taking care of a baby is not easy and I can totally relate to Ami-chan when she writes

"I remind myself part of learning is falling down, getting bumps and bruises, and apparently givng your parents heart failure on a half-hourly basis."

Read the full post here.

My son crawls so fast that before we know it, he's either in the kitchen or trying to climb up the stairs. We have put in door-safety hooks and stoppers. Right now we are shopping for used stairgates.

A few days back we were in the dining room and heard a thud followed by loud wailing. We guessed that he was standing up against the sofa and had fallen backwards on the wooden floor.

We nearly had a heart attack. And this was not the first time. Fortunately the living room is carpeted but we now take take the extra precaution of putting a thick comforter on the floor near the sofas. My wife also bought him a woolen helmet for extra safety but he hates wearing it and we gave up after the first day.

UK in Summer time

This Monday I took my daughter to her play school at the usual time and was surprised to find that there were no other parents around. Usually it would be quite hard to find parking but there was no one in front of the school that day.

"Is it a holiday today?" I thought to myself. However, was quite relieved when I found that the gate was open.

Then it suddenly struck me.

In the Winter, the UK uses Coordinated Universal Time (almost equal to Greenwich Mean Time). However, at 1.00 am on 25 March 2007 (Friday), civil time returned to British Summer Time (BST). The whole of UK set their clocks forward by one hour last Friday.

I had forgotten to set my wrist watch and my daughter was late to school by exactly and hour.

TV is bad for your kids

Was watching some parenting programme on the idiot box some time back and the expert on the show mentioned that too much TV can result in a host of behavioral problems in children. This include short attention span and hyperactivity among others.

I felt a bit guilty because I had been letting the TV babysit my daughter - putting on the cartoons for her while I did my thing.

My wife and I recently decided to cut down on her TV viewing and substitute it with some other activities.

Last Sunday, we were able to get some great bargains and our purchases included 3 boxes of Jigsaw puzzles (almost brand new with their original boxes). You will be surprised when you hear the price - 10p each. 2 of the jigsaws were for me (500 pieces each) and another for my daughter.

We had lots of fun. And before we knew it, we had spent hours without no TV at all. That day we only put on the TV at night after the kids had gone to sleep.

When it gets warmer, I plan to have some outdoor activities for her.

Tags: games jigsaw kids

Alcohol and the youth

Channel 4 is fast becoming my favourite channel here in the UK. They have so many interesting documentaries.

Today morning there was this documentary called "Booze: A Young Person's Guide" on one major problem in the UK. I am sure you must have guessed it from the title.

It was not really shocking for me to see young people boozing away like there's no tomorrow because I went through that phase myself. Was just an inch away from becoming an alcoholic during my undergraduate days in University. We drank alcohol to enjoy ourselves and that meant getting dead drunk.

I no longer drink and haven't touched anything alcoholic for a little more than 6 years now. No more beers, whiskey, vodka or even an alcopop for me. I don't care when you try to convince me that "it contains only 1% alcohol". Never for me means NEVER!

Coming back to the documentary, what was shocking for me was watching kids as young as 16 drinking hard liquor, which had been bought by their parents.

A BBC report reveals that "alcohol causes more problems amongst teenagers than any illegal drug".

The documentary also points out that half of all date rapes are alcohol related. Something which an earlier BBC report had warned about.

Picture by Rick A. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.
Tags: Alcohol Channel 4 Drunk Teenage drinking

Malaysian kids in the UK

Yesterday we went over to our friend Din's house for the Majlis Kesyukuran to celebrate the birth of his son. He's leaving the UK soon as his wife as already completed her PhD studies. They have been here for nearly 4 and a half years now.

As usual, most of the Malaysian families were there in full force with the kids. Most of the children were born or grew up here including two of Din's kids. It's quite funny because the parents would be talking in a mixture of Malay and Malaysian English with the occasional Lah! thrown in while the kids would reply with a British slang. Most of the kids can't even speak a single sentence in Malay.

I wonder how they are going to adjust to Malaysia and Malaysian schools when they get back. I remember a story one of our friends told us about her kid, who's very bright and talkative. He had a culture shock when they got back to Malaysia. Unlike in the UK where kids are taught to be inquisitive and to speak up in class, the Cikgu (teacher) actually fined him every time he said something in class.

Anyway, I was watching the kids (between 5 and 10 years) playing with the computer and they were searching for a song on YouTube. They finally found it and told me the singer is "Jojo".

I told them, "Sorry! I haven't heard of her."

And they gave me that "where are you from" look.

BTW, JoJo is the stage name of Joanna Noëlle Levesque, a popular American pop singer.

Already see a generation gap here.

Tags: Kids Jojo

The Motivation in Our Life

"Seek to do good, and you will find that happiness will run after you."

James Freeman Clarke

Style for kids

Style Kid is a new Canadian on-line retailer of clothing, accessories, furniture and decor for babies and kids.

Check out their amazing range of baby clothes. They ship worldwide and offer free delivery for orders within the US and Canada for products over $100 (prices in Canadian Dollars)

Among the great gift ideas are the Chopstick Kids. These soft, washable, food-safe hinges that keep the chopsticks in place.

They also have a good collection of kids shoes and slippers. Check out the ballet inspired slippers.

Change of school

My daughter Rahil will start going to a new play school from Monday. She was in another play school (The Little Hollies) but that was about 10 minutes drive by car. So when we got the call from this school which is just a walk away, saying that they have an opening, we jumped at it. FYI, most schools in the UK have a strict limit to the number of kids per carer.

Rahil is now eligible for 5 free sessions (with each session being 2 and half hours), per week. Before this, we had to pay £6.50 per session.

Had a look at the school last Friday and it was more organised and better equipped than the previous one that Rahil went to. Unfortunately we couldn't get into the school which is just down the road. Hopefully by the end of this year.

Hidden Nanny Cam

In most households today  both spouses have to work. One of the problem that ultimately arises is the question of "who's going to take care of the kids?"

Some people are lucky to live near their parents / in-law houses where they would drop off the kids. Some would prefer to enroll their kids at a nursery. In Malaysia however, many have opted for maids who can take care of their kids at home. People in the UK and the US prefer to use the term "nanny". However I have heard so many horror stories, that I sometimes wonder whether it's worth to hire one.

One of our friends who has a maid looking after their baby, was relating her own story. One day her neighbour informed that a man had been visiting their house while she and here husband were away at work. Probably the maid's lover.

They didn't know how to confront the maid as they didn't have any proof and when they finally did, she just denied it.

I suggested putting up a hidden camera or "nanny cam" to keep an eye on the house while they were away at work.

Recently came across a security site which has a huge collection of covert cameras disguised as ordinary household items including clocks, air fresheners, smoke detectors, books, plants and even teddy bears.

Apparently, it is actually quite easy to set up one of these cameras.A lot of people are increasingly investing on such cameras but for another reason - Home Security.

Of course, some may argue about the "intrusion of privacy" issues but then, I guess a parent is willing to do anything to make sure their home is secure.

Hari raya gatherings and a birthday

The Malaysian community here in Coventry had a Hari Raya gathering yesterday. A lot of nice Malaysian food including Penang Laksa, pulut, etc. Nice to have a taste of Malaysian dishes so far away from home.

Even though the population is not as big as in Birmingham, the community (most of them, post graduate students) here is quite close knit with almost everyone knowing each other. They have even arranged to have a Quran reading class for the kids every saturday here at a commmunity centre.

Anyway, just realised that we have been in UK for a month now. Time seems to fly so fast. Gives me an idea about a series of blog posts - about the difficulties and challenges we faced, handy tips - what every Malaysian planning to come to the UK should know.

We were lucky to have good friends to guide us around but not everyone is that lucky. For example, I heard about a family who couldn't find a suitable place to stay and had to 'tumpang' at someone's place for quite sometime.

Today is the 29th of October and the last Sunday of this month. "So what's so special about this day?" you ask. Well we had to turn back our watches and clocks by an hour as UK changes to winter time. Rahil also turns 3 today.

Went to the car boot sale at Stoneleigh Park again today. Bought a lot of stuff including several books and toys for Rahil. We later bought a small cake for her and some balloons. I had to drive around quite a bit to search for the birthday candles as it was Sunday and most of the shops were closed. Finally found one in an shop in Foleshill road and it was the last packet. We didn't invite anyone but Rahil was really happy.

Tags: Birthday Car boot sale CJ's Car Boot Rahil