COUGH COUGH, ---

"Maa.. tee veee," 2-year-old Ikram ran into the bedroom, sounding a little alarmed.
I was changing his little brother's diaper, and was not in the mood to entertain him.
"What have you done?" I whispered at him.
He put his hands behind his back, a sign of guilt.
And I looked up at the clock.
7.00 am.
We were running late. Definitely not a good way to start the day.

It has been a tough month.
The last school holidays had me babysitting Ihsan at home for a week, who was down with a common cold and [suspected] measles. He was teething and became quite clingy.
That over, it was my turn to be sick. And really sick.
I went to the doctor, who diagnosed my case as a simple bout of common cold. "No need for antibiotics, because you have no fever," he said and gave me a day off from work.
I didn't recover. Instead my coughs got worse, and I went to the health clinic where I was given a week's supply of antibiotics.

Bad cough, bad timing. And the man of the house is away on a course, so I have to manage everything.
The school's sports day around the corner, and everyone supposed to be in the field too.
Needless to say, I was tired. I continued to cough. And teach in class. The current haze worsens the situation.
Despite drinking glasses of water and cups of herbal drinks which are supposed to cool the body and suppress my cough, it became so bad that I was croaking yesterday.
I lost my beautiful voice.
My last lesson, with the Form 5 students, had to conducted voicelessly, via the chalkboard.[what an experience!]

I got laryngitis.
My own school clerk told me to go home when I returned to school to hand in my medical certificate today.
"Kesian la, go home!" she said upon hearing my abnormally hoarse voice.

Well, at least it's me who's sick and not the children.
Alhamdulillah for that.
Although Ikram seems to have a runny nose today, insyaAllah it'd be cured in no time. I'm praying hard.

I'm remaining optimistic.
After all, everything happens with Allah's permission.
Hopefully this is the last trial.
Like they say, every cloud has a silver lining.
I don't expect any silver lining; I just pray that the clouds would go away not not pour down as rain :P

By the way, Ikram's tee vee has decided to go 'kaput'... it is joining the DVD player, waiting for the repairman to come over, if he ever comes at all...
NOW I need to find a new entertainment for Ikram, since the teevee is sick too. Alas, reading all his story books and answering his 'apa tu?" is impossible for me at this moment. Unless he understands and accepts my sign language.
Ahhhh, what a time to be sick....