Pox and REM ramblings

For the past week, I've literally not been outside the house, not even into the front yard - except for a blissful Barney-free 2 hours on Tuesday when my husband managed to come home early from work to relieve me and a short doctor's visit on Thursday. The temporary exile from the outside world was due to Amani suddenly getting chicken pox last Saturday morning. I noticed a red bump on her hand on Friday night before but mistakenly thought it was an insect bite and it was only the next morning when we were getting ready to go for our nephew's wedding in Seremban that we saw many red spots had already spouted all over her body. Luckily she had already been vaccinated (apparently 1 in 10 kids who have received the chicken pox vaccination may still get it) otherwise it could have been an even bigger heartbreak. To distract her from scratching I let her watch Barney all the time during our quarantine week so now I have fully memorised all songs and all the scripts of Barney Goes to the Zoo, Barney Goes to the Farm, Moving and Grooving with Barney. Is it just me or do the kids on Barney's show speak in an unnaturally cheerful tone, they're sort of like Stepford kids, creepy and annoying...but it just broke my heart (and made me laugh at the same time) when I saw Amani scratching the itch from the spots in her bum by rubbing her butt against the edge of her kiddy chair, so Barney it was then.

On Tuesday, from 6 to 8 pm, it felt really great to be out of the house. I didn't plan to go anywhere, just put on the Best of REM CD and drove around in the car, circling the Cheras area. So surreal listening to REM and rediscovering and falling in love with them all over again especially when I read about the stories behind each song in the album cover. Feeling habis as I drove in the sunset listening to "Losing my Religion" and "Everybody Hurts" and "Electrolite".
Felt much saner when I drove back to the house.

Notwithstanding the chicken pox, it was really nice spending all that time with Amani, just hanging out, playing with her and reading to her. During her naptimes, I managed to finish reading "Mother Missing" by Joyce Carol Oates which made me cry..God, I've gotten very sentimental and weepy ever since I had a kid..the littlest thing, a soppy TV advert or a moving quotation about parent-child relationship just makes me tear up.