once upon a norza

We're still staying at my mum's place because Aisyah's still having the flu. The kanda is having a bad flu himself and we don't want the germs to spread any further. Her temperature usually rose to 39degrees at night and after sponging her and giving the fever meds, it went down again.

Alhamdulillah, the fever is under control today and I hope it will be this way till tomorrow or we will have to go back to the doc. She's still coughing bad and her nose is running yellowish mucus. My mum also needs her rest after not sleeping properly for a few days. Even my sister has somewhat caught the bug. We've checking for any HFMD signs but there's none. We're relieved that she's eating her food and drinking her milk now compared to previous nights when she didn't want any of those.

It's been quite a while. Aisyah's down with fever again for the 2nd time this month. I'm getting all paranoid because there have been so many cases of HFMD recently and you can still catch it in places like shopping centres and playgrounds.

I'll be staying at my mum's place for a couple of days cos she's helping me look after Aisyah. I doubt I can survive with my condition feeling nauseous (sometimes), bloated and everything at the moment (thank God for mums!). We're keeping a lookout for rashes and ulcers because I thought I did see a couple of red dots on her tummy last week.

HFMD begins with a mild fever, poor appetite, malaise ("feeling sick"), and frequently a sore throat. 1 or 2 days after the fever begins, painful sores develop in the mouth. They begin as small red spots that blister and then often become ulcers. They are usually located on the tongue, gums, and inside of the cheeks. The skin rash develops over 1 to 2 days with flat or raised red spots, some with blisters. The rash does not itch, and it is usually located on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. It may also appear on the buttocks. A person with HFMD may have only the rash or the mouth ulcers.

Aisyah will be coming to 3 this year and technically she will have to start nursery next year. Well, most of friends who have children have already started sending their kids to pre-nursery. We're looking into Islamic education centres because we hope she could be in Madrasah Irsyad since its only a 10min walk from our home.

We've checked the locations with preschools with good reviews. Location is very important to us because I know kids can be restless on the journey to school. Since Bishan doesn't have many Malays living here, the nearest nursery is Hanis Learning Centre and that's in Potong Pasir (that's like 20minutes by taxi).

My mother suggested to send Aisyah to Al-Iman or Elias Kindergarten near her home in Pasir Ris but I'll have to only see her on weekends like last time when I was working. I wouldnt think of going through that route again. :/

But after a teleconversation with one of their teachers and researching online, I think that the activities they're offering are somewhat similar to what I'm doing now. And yeah, that infamous line, 'Learning through Play' sprouted out as well. It has somewhat become a common catchphrase like 'Thinking out of the box'...hehe.

After rethinking my options, I decided to continue our daily 'Learning through Play' sessions and send her for enrichment classes (a few hours for a number of days per week) particularly in Arabic instead since neither my husband nor me is fluent in the language. Well, there's not much socialisation part at home but Aisyah doesn't have any problems with meeting new friends now except for adults. She calls all mini people her 'frens' or 'kowan'.

We'll just see how well it goes. Afterall teaching at home does not limit to focused teaching of a couple of hours only. It's a much bigger responsibility and spending a LOT of time to teach informally instead.