After a thought-provoking post yesterday, I thought of getting back to recollecting a few more hilariously unavoidable misadventures in the admission season. As we draw near to the finishing line in this challenge. I am often left baffled at the thought of the next topic in this series. Today I was wondering if there was anything more I could write about that has already not been mentioned in any of my earlier posts. I suddenly remembered those scary sleepless nights that became a part of my life for the first quarter of this year and brought my writing to a standstill.
The admission season, as mentioned in my first post started in September 2018 and was officially declared closed only in March 2019. The first three months of this season were all about standing in queues to pick up forms, submit them and then attend the interviews held in this duration at a couple of schools. I would say that we managed to sail through this period despite the turbulence the boy managed to create through his resistance towards the process initially. His preschool had declared winter break from December 25th until January 4th.
In the second week of January, Tuneer returned from his preschool with a sore throat. Ever since he had started preschool, it had become a routine for the boy to fall sick at least twice every alternate month. If I ever brought up my concern of his poor immunity (I was of the opinion that his resistance towards diseases was getting lower because of falling sick so frequently), both the medico husband and the kid’s pediatrician enlightened me with their knowledge about the boy’s developing immune system. I had somehow managed to keep the boy fit and fine enough to glide through the months of November and December but all my efforts went in vain as he developed his first viral infection of this year in January.
From a sore throat, he went on to develop pharyngitis, cold and cough and high fever. This was his usual pattern of falling sick, step by step. Before I went back to calling the pediatrician seeking his appointment yet again, my heart skipped a beat as I thought of the interview scheduled the next week. The following week passed by in taking care of the sick child, giving in to all his demands as I struggled to feed him a single bite of food. We survived the week and went on to face the interview next week.
On the very next day of his interview getting over, I came down with viral fever. As a mother, the last time that I had this luxury to fall sick and be taken care of only before Tuneer was born. After that, I only remember gliding through such phases in a zombie or a rather mombie mode. Life went on as usual as I continued helping Tuneer with his daily chores and managing to squeeze in a tiny bit of time to gulp down medicines with water. I started a feeling a little better on the fifth day. We thought of celebrating our recovery that weekend by taking Tuneer to a play zone followed by an ice cream outing. He contracted pharyngitis again on the same night. The following week saw me battle through his sickness while being on recovery mode myself.
The first week of February turned out to be a little less uneventful. This was also the time that we needed to be extra cautious since the final round of his interview at the most coveted school was scheduled in the middle of the month. Every time Tuneer made a sound that remotely resembled a cough or a sneeze, I was seen running towards him with turmeric milk or kara (strained water post boiling it with cloves, bay leaf, and ginger paste) in hand.
In my obsession to keep him healthy, I hadn’t realized how much I had started ignoring my own health. A couple of days before his last and final interview, I developed severe breathing problem. By then, I have had a stretch of sleepless nights owing to sickness and stress related to admissions. What looked like a blocked nose initially turned out to be a nightmare soon. I went gasping for breath the moment I tried sleeping in the bed. Very soon, I started resembling a disciple of Baba Ramdev in my attempt at anulom – vilom pranayama exercises at every possible opportunity.
I managed to speak in a voice that sounded like a cross over between the voices of Rani Mukherji and Himesh Reshammiya (this man has taken the concept of nasal voice to another level). It took me doses of a steroid nasal spray to recover eventually. After this double whammy of sickness at home, the process of interviews was officially over and I thought we would get back to a normal mode soon. But not the one to disappoint in terms of consistency, Tuneer came down with very high fever in the last week of February.
This time he had grown so weak that the recovery took much longer than usual. I almost cried in front of his pediatrician from the feeling of hopelessness. I failed to understand why Tuneer and another kid in his class kept falling sick so frequently while others were immune to such diseases. I had warned Sr. T that if he uttered one more word about the boy developing resistance power through sickness, I would force feed him all the medicines in the cabinet (they had started resembling prized trophies).
Nursing Tuneer back on the path of recovery, I could feel that I was going to follow him next. This time, I exceeded all expectations by getting admitted to a hospital after contracting a contagious viral infection that required isolation. By now, I had grown indifferent to the sequence of falling sick. The grandparents took care of the child at home while the husband shuttled between his wife and his work. I am sure he wanted to smack me on the head in that phase for repeatedly ignoring the health check reminders.
I returned home weak but hale and hearty. The reason was Tuneer’s selection in our most preferred school. I had a strong feeling that we were finally done with this phase of sickness. We had plans to celebrate his success over the Holi weekend as his preschool classes were due to get over on the day before Holi. The boy was excited about his first graduation ceremony at the preschool. Two days before the last day of preschool, the boy developed rashes all over his body leading to high fever again. He not only missed the celebrations on the last day but was also instructed to stay indoors for the fortnight while we were lined up to complete his admission formalities.
On 16th April Tuneer started his new school and last weekend, he had a running nose owing to the extreme heat outside. I almost had an attack after discovering it. These days, I have developed such a phobia of the word ‘viral’ that even when people talk about videos or write-ups going viral, a part of my brain seems unable to process the information. Instead, I immediately start assuming that someone has contracted a viral infection.
I am not sure how long I can keep the next viral infection from making its presence felt, but I sincerely hope that you enjoyed reading this post. I will be back with a fresh post on ‘W’ tomorrow. You can read the rest of the write-ups in this series here.
soniasmusings 
Poor kids, they fall in sick again and again and often it can spoil our months long plannings. But unless we as Moms stay fit, we can keep them back on the track. This is the hardest lesson that I have learnt as a mom of two kids.
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I feel for you Sonia. I felt bad for the little boy on missing this graduation ceremony and what all he had to go through. I’m sailing in the same boat. Gals fell sick every 20days since the time they have started going to the school. We moms in order to keep them fit ignore our health which takes a toll on us. Exactly what happened with you. As you have mentioned, even i have developed a phobia of the word viral as it starts with mere running nose which is at present the case here and I’m dreading what next. Wish our kids stay healthy and this monstrous virus goes away from them.
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I grew up in New Delhi. And come summer I always had severe attacks of constipation. It used to be really severe and my suffering was immense. My daughter had the bed-wetting problem for quite a few years and I was very anxious, but my wife was confident that she would eventually grow out of it and yes, true to her words at one point the problem just disappeared. I really enjoyed getting to know little Tuneer in this series. He is really cute in the images. I really wish him all the best in his school journey.
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I remember this phase, you were busy taking care of him. It happens with mothers usually. If the kid gets sick they forget food, health and end up being sick. But seeing kids suffering is unacceptable. If there is an option to take the pain from kids mothers would have done that as well. Anyways, take care! Eat a lot of healthy stuff and drink water 🙂
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I am so sorry to hear that both Tuneer and you have fallen sick to the “viral”. This is one difficult stage. I hope both of you return to your normal selves soon. All the best.
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In the future maybe they can develop kids that don’t get sick. And also soda that doesn’t go flat.
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Well, if they can consider group discussion to be a part of nursery admission, I wouldn’t be surprised if kids who don’t fall sick also becomes a mandate soon. Thanks for reading
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I feel so sorry for both of you. It is such a helpless feeling to have a sick child. School is very good at passing around germs. Wishing you both full health soon.
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Loved reading it sonia! I feel you as my sister and her baby are sailing in the same boat. Loved his pictures
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It has been a tough year for you, Sonia. Illness being added to the mix didn’t help either. I hope writing about it was therapeutic. Wishing you and Tuneer wonderful health and wonderful times ahead!
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Yes, kids fall sick atleast till 5 years of age – till then it is a challenging time for all! Wishing Tuneer the best of health!!
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Viral is indeed a scary word! My sis-in-law was complaining only recently about how her son keeps falling ill at school. The changing weather, the germs, our dampened immunity in general – all of them are responsible. Wishing you good health and viral-free days ahead ❤
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Hahaha Sonia! It must have been a very difficult phase for you but I love the humorous take you have on it now. Here’s hoping the extreme heat kills all viral infections at least for a time!
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Haha! I know it must have been a difficult phase for you but I love your humorous take on it now. Here’s hoping the extreme heat finally kills all viral infections, at least for a time!
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May be all this pressure of admission and underlying tension had resulted in viral fever. Besides pollution in our cities, changing weather pattern all contribute to respiratory diseases. In preschool so many kids coming, god knows who has what underlying problem that gets transmitted. I guess through these repeated exposures, immune system becomes strong and healthy.
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Probably too much mental and physical load were the reasons behind falling sick, this is life where you have not only to face mental problems rather physical ones also.
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As a child I often contracted pharyngitis. It used to be very painful and I would lose my voice often. This continued until I got married. Never lost my voice thereafter even for a single day. Wives can’t afford to 🤣🤣
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And yes a word about your mombie mode… Nice invention!
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Part and parcel of motherhood dear…I liked the Rani Mukherjee -Himesh comparison…Gawd….what a voice :p
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The interview phase is quite challenging and when your child falls sick, you can’t concentrate on anything else!
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I feel school jane ke bad bache zyada viral prone hojate hai.
Last week I was attacked by severe throat infection and fever but had to keep it moving as no option for the mothers 🙂
Lots of love to little Tuneer 🙂
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I can completely understand and it is so disheartening. Sadly, both my kids fell sick often especially in their initial school years. I tried all the ayurvedic stuff and ghar ke nuskhe on them to build their immunity. Luckily, that phase is behind me now. But yes, it will be troublesome till Tuneer is little. Maybe you can start him on Chyawanprash and haldi doodh after asking your pediatrician.
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From the title i thought its a different kind of viral. This is the age when immunity shapes up. Take care of him n urself.
#ContemplationOfaJoker #Jokerophilia
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I have faced it a lot as both my kids have been at daycare and cold,cough and fever was so frequent, it gets sad and frustrating at times.
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Oh ho! Both of you falling sick repeatedly! That sure must have been stressful. Can totally relate to this. I am also struggling with health issues after a severe H. Pylori infection few years ago. It seems to have totally messed up with all my systems, and especially the immune system. All through last year, if a customer even sneezed at my store, I would get a full-fledged viral infection! Was real tough. I have only just realized that I may be deficient on Vitamin C, ‘coz my body is also unable to absorb iron. I have started on Vitamin C supplements only last week. Do ensure that you and Tuneer are taking adequate Vitamin C.
Find my V post @ My Favorite Video Game As A Kid: Nintendo Oil Panic
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The first thing we learn after sending kids to school is dealing with all sorts of infections. They will all pass through
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Reading your title, I thought the same that this is going about to be videos going viral, etc.
I was a sick child as a kid, every month I was down with a fever, tonsilitis. Family members did all they could – allopathic, homeopathic, ayurvedic but things were the same always. After growing up, I think I have better immune and I do not fall sick often…touch wood.
Anyways you should also take care of your health and not ignore it. (Mombie is a nice word invention. )
I am sure Tuneer will also go up to be a strong boy.
Read my V post here VALUES
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My son was born underweight and had a cold and cough issue almost throughout the year. When he started preschool, within the first week itself he contracted severe viral fever. Trust me Sonia, I know how unbelievably hard it is. Mombie mode is a tough state to be in but most of us don’t have any choice but to live it. I hope you do give attention to your own health from now on.
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Once they start school, this sequence becomes a routine. Give him a good diet in the interim phase and please take care of yourself too
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Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts Ruchi. Your comments are always very encouraging to me
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