My boys and I

Our trip to Bloemfontein was not all negative. Matt and Luke said they had an awesome time. Obviously they lived that week on a different planet to the one Donna, Isabella, and I were on!

Donna and I also found out how far we would push ourselves as parents to support our children. Donna spending three nights in that room, amidst the hospital chaos was a huge sacrifice. Yet when her daughter asked, she did not hesitate to plonk her butt in that uncomfortable chair and aeroplane nap. I would hope most parents would chose to do the same; put the needs of their children well above their own needs.

On the occasions when I inhabited the same universe as my boys, we got to spend some special time together.

Bloemfontein is home to a massive military base called Tempe. Tempe is really a big suburb subdivided into the various military divisions. We explored the base stopping at the parabat and armour museums.  The parabat museum was closed, yet somebody kindly found the key and then proceeded to give us a personal tour. I made sure to take a photograph of Luke smiling under a sign which said; ‘a mind is like a parachute, it only works when it is open!’ The armour division was boy heaven! Imagine streets and streets lined with old tanks. We browsed for ages and eventually found the appropriate Sherman for our garage. Unfortunately the army killjoys would not let us take it home.

Another shared dimension saw us touring the local city zoo. I had not been to a zoo since I was a child. And zoos have not changed much since then. Lazy, fat animals in cages too small for them! Still not my favourite place, especially when we are so used to seeing animals in their natural habitat. My boys were fascinated regardless.

The highlight was on the long and boring trip home. Whilst listening to the radio we heard that a convoy of Ferrari's had been spotted on the same highway we were on. The announcer later read out an update that the Ferrari's had turned off and parked at the casino in a town along the road. As luck would have it, we found ourselves at the same town just 20 minutes later. Fired up on spontaneity, we stopped and drooled over the 43 incredible beasts parked there. We left on a high, the journey long forgotten! Luke sent an SMS to the radio station thanking them for the tip, and you can imagine his excitement when it was read on air.

I have two wonderful sons. Time together is to be treasured, regardless of the circumstance

A Sick Child

Last week was the longest month of my life.

It started with a little broken nose, which probably turned out to be one of the highlights!

Being a parent involves many things but this last week provided a first class lesson in anguish! I have heard it said there can be nothing worse than watching your sick child suffer. Helplessness and inadequacy mounting moment by moment, not an experience for the feint hearted!

We took a little 12 hour trip to Bloemfontein so that the boys could compete in the SA Schools Judo tournament. We planned it well, leaving at 02h00 in the morning and getting halfway in the darkness whilst the family slept. The rest of the trip was surprisingly easy and we arrived in Bloemfontein in high spirits.

The boys weighed in at the Tempe military base where the competition was to be held. The place was dirty and completely disorganised. We should have known then. It tool hours for the boys to be weighed in, which in itself takes mere seconds.

The competition started off well the next day with Matt winning two of his fights, one with an amazing throw. He ended up second, not bad for his first national competition at the age of 7. Luke entered this competition in a higher weight category and what a competitive category that turned out to be. He fought hard and came fourth. He was highly disappointed but these were good lessons to learn. All in all a long and exhausting day!

That evening, with no warning whatsoever, Isabella started to vomit. Then she repeated the process every couple of minutes without fail. Nothing helped, which is why we found ourselves at a hospital in Bloemfontein.  She was later admitted in the wee hours of the morning, utterly exhausted and still vomiting. Nothing can prepare one for the moments in life when your child is sick and in pain, and looking at you with those big ‘help me’ eyes. And you can’t!

Donna got to snag the chair next to the bed and bunk down with our daughter for the next three nights. Isabella continued to vomit for much of that time, and became hysterical when her mother was not within reach. A difficult time for my wife, as she too was confined to the hospital room, and all the joys that accompany such an opportunity. It turned out Isabella had picked up the Rota virus, and there was nothing we could do but wait it out. I got to share my time between the hospital and the boys. Luckily our hosts were wonderful and took it all in their stride.

Unluckily I picked up some strain of gastro on the Monday and spent the night draped over the toilet in strange positions. A more violent virus, I have not known. This did not bode well for my support of Donna or the boys or our hosts or the long drive home.

It turned out Isabella would not be making the drive and so the girls would get to fly home. That left me with a spinning head and churning stomach and a vow to fight all the way home. My boys had a cross country to run on the Thursday and I was going to make sure they were there. Of course, they had already missed a couple of days of school as a result of this fiasco. The drive turned out to be much better than expected although there were a number of hairy moments, which thankfully passed without incident.

It was wonderful to be reunited at home as a family, to actually sleep for the first time in a week, and to discover the cross country was actually only on Friday.

It is a week later and Isabella is doing much better. Her parents will need lots of time to recover.