Parenting is not just about wiping bottoms...

My boys caught a stomach bug and for over 24 hours now, I have been constantly changing pants and nappies. My hands are totally stripped of skin from the constant washing and disinfecting. They look gnarled like I've just turned 92 without knowing it.

1 am and they both woke up, needing to be washed and dressed. Fortunately, I inserted bed protectors in the evening, so I didn't have to worry about the beds. My washing machine had been on the go for over 24 hours. I'm now fed up with the drying up.

3 am and Zak was hungry. I groped my way down the kitchen, half-asleep, to get some bread and rehydration juice. When I got back to the bedroom, he changed his mind and didn't want to eat after all. My pinoy mentality of not wasting food even if not really needed prevailed, so I threatened that if he wouldn't eat his bread, rats would come to eat it instead. "There are no rats in this country!", he exlaimed.

As I was wide awake anyway, I gave in to his want for conversation. "Mum, what was your school like when you were my age?" I said, "when I was your age, I wasn't in school yet. I started school when I was 7 years old." "That's old!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "What was your school like then?" he prodded on. "Big grassy playgrounds and lots of vegetable plots." "No bikes, tools and other equipment??" "No. I went to a rural school. There was only one swing and there were hundreds of us." He was in deep thought, probably wondering what it would have been like if he were in that kind of school. Then he said, "I'm so lucky." And before I could say, yes you're lucky coz you don't like swings anyway, he went on, "I'm so lucky my school is not in India."

I clarified, "you mean Philippines." He said, "Oh, they're the same!"

And before he got up to go to the bathroom again, he asked, "Are there toilets there too?"