Our "romantic" getaway

We are jinxed - by our kids.

What was supposed to be a romantic hotel stay to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary in June got postphoned 3 times cos all of us took turns to fall sick.

Finally the room was booked over the past weekend and hubby and i were looking forward to spending some quality time together - at last...

And then....

The morning we were supposed to leave for our staycation, Terelle woke up with red, itchy and watery eyes.

Alarm bells rang in my head.

That's it, I thought, there goes our weekend plans. AGAIN!

As she had no other symptoms, Hubby dropped her off at school as usual, only to have her form teacher call me an hour later ordering us to take her home, cos her itchy eyes were bothering her.

We quickly brought her to the gp who diagnosed conjunctivitis and prescribed eye drops.

Time check 1145am.

We still had time to get her sorted out before we set off to check in at 2pm.

Optimistic, we brought her home, administered the eye drops, put her down for her nap and waited for Sis to arrive so we could scram.

To our dismay, she woke up screaming half an hour later, complaining that both her ears were painful. I figured it might be an ear infection so we rushed to the pd immediately cos the gp was by now closed.

Sure enough, pd diagnosed it to be an ear and eye nfection and we were sent home with one eye drop, one eye lotion, ear drops and an anti viral medicine.

By now, our friend was getting increasingly whiny and clingy, it was as if she knew we were going to sneak off!

We were only able to extricate ourselves at 6pm, and checked in at the hotel downtown at 645pm. The idyllic afternoon of shopping, movie and eating that i envisioned just went up in smoke.

We felt uneasy leaving the poor sick gal at home so after a hurried dinner, we drove home again to check on her. Went through the bedtime routines, administered the truckload of meds, gave instructions to helper, sis and dad to call us if her condition worsens in the middle of the night; we finally went back to our supposed "sanctuary" at close to midnight.

Luckily there was a 24 hr TCC nearby to offer some grub and comfort to 2 weary souls.

Comfort food at 2am

It was pretty fun sitting by the sidewalk and gawking at the trannies doing their rounds near Shaw Towers - some of these man chicks were really hot!

The next day, we were determined to enjoy ourselves for a bit.

After repeated phonecalls home, we were satisfied that the kids were still alive without us, so we headed out for a nice dimsum brunch and a leisurely look see at the new ION orchard.

It was EXTREMELY liberating traipsing around town without having to negotiate escalators, staircases and throngs of people with 2 strollers and 2 demanding kids!

That night we had a nice peaceful dinner with the Liews and caught up with old friends over supper.

It was bliss - no schedules to follow, no whiny, demanding kids, no frazzled nerves. It was just us back to pre-kids days, having fun and hanging out with our friends.

Us as we were in the past, not us as parents, as we have inadvertently become.

And although the kids were fine without us at home,

(Thane actually slept through the night without waking up to nurse!

He went without breastmilk for 1.5 days!

Terelle's condition didnt worsen!

Both ate well, slept well and didnt miss us one bit!)

we came back the next morning to fetch them back to the hotel.

Having dinner on the toilet while keeping an eye on the kids in the bath

Can parenthood be more diligent than this?

So there you are, our so called romantic getaway.

We firmly believe we are jinxed. Cos everytime we set up something fun for ourselves or just go out for a couple of hours' break, we'll come back to some calamity involving the kids. Or are we such bad parents that we do not deserve breaks at all?

Hubby thinks this is what transpires between the kids whenever they sense we are going off somewhere without them.

Terelle: Hey pipsqueak! Mummy and Daddy are sneaking off tomorrow.

Thane: Har...does it mean we have to make ourselves sick again?

Terelle: Ya lah, of cos! So isit ur turn or my turn this time?

Thane: Your turn lah! The last time u made me lick the raw meat and i had gastroenteritis for a week!

Terelle: OK OK...so what shall i come down withthis time? Flu? Fever? Baluku on head?

*Out comes a spinner on which is written a myriad of illnesses and injuries. They spin it*

Terelle: Awww man! Conjunctivitis?? Damn its uncomfortable you know!

*Proceeds to touch the toilet and rub her eyes*

Thane: *sniggering* And u think having diarrhea for a week is comfortable??

Plausible, dont you think?

As i write this, im so missing my lazy, hazy saturday already. I really wonder when we can have another break...a proper, guilt free, incident free one...

Sigh...

Kids if you are able to read this now, its payback time!!