Dread

Dreadful today because Raeyen contracted with HFMD.

He was playing when I discovered a few faint red dots near his knees, feet and hands. And this morning he was complaining, "Mommy, pain pain" while sucking his water. I asked him to open his mouth and saw tiny white spots at the tip of his tongue. I thought he probably bit his tongue by accident.

Anyway, I alerted hubby and we rushed him to KKH. It was a long wait before we saw the doctor and she confirmed it's HFMD and he has to be isolated between 5-7 days.

The doctor asked if we required child sick leave, I told her there was no such privilege in most companies in Singapore.

This also means that his 2nd birthday party has to be postponed.

Our next fear is whether Kieran may get this dreaded disease from him.

How can working mothers (even fathers) feel good when we have to worry about our sick young child(ren) who needs 1-2 weeks to recover? There isn't child sick leave to ease such worry but to use our annual leave. If all annual leave is used up, which happened to some of my friends due to kids' sickness, then where can we strike a work-life balance or create a pro-family environment to boost birth rate? Sometimes, non-monetary carrots are more rewarding or may I say, effective? Have a heart.