"Baby sitting" my adolescent boys

My wife went off to Melbourne to pay Cheng Yee a visit since last week. I am left with my two adolescent boys, Cheng Kai and Cheng Jie, to look after at home. All the clothes had been ironed, and the floor mopped clean before my wife left for Melbourne. My main task is to ensure my boys go to school on time, take their meals regularly and complete their school works on time. And of course, to make sure that they do some additional worksheets during their free time.

Snap shot my wife and I at Changi Airport Departure Hall

It has been rather uneventful until yesterday, when all of us woke up late in the morning. The boys were supposed to reach school before 7.15 am. The alarm from my handp hone rang at 5.45 am. I shut it off and thought I would just take a short break (shutting my eyes in "meditation") before waking up the boys. But alas, the next thing I knew, it was already 6.10 am. Immediately I surged to full emergency mode, rushed to wake the boys up, prepared milo drinks for them, and took a quick shower myself. We were all ready by 6.40am. Fortunately, the drive to the school was quite smooth - no snarling traffics for once - and we managed to reach the school by 7.20 am. Not bad at all.

Last Sunday had been quite busy with emergency calls as well. I was called to attend to a newborn who had some grunting immediately after birth at around 6 am. I decided to complete the morning round, seeing my other inpatients in Mt Elizabeth Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and Mt Alvernia Hospital. By the time I completed the round, it was already 10 am - time for breakfast at Jurong West Hawker Centre. Guess what, we ordered our favourite Laksa and Penang Fried Koay Teow as usual.

laksa, sugar cane drink, penang koay teow (from front to back)

But alas, I was called to see a child with lethargic and poor feeding secondary to gastroenteritis at around 1 pm, then again at 5pm to review the same newborn baby that I saw in the early morning - he started to develop chest retraction, which usually implied thatsome kind of respiratory distress. After reviewing the child, I was called to attend to a child with an episode of loss of consciousness - query fainting versus seizure. Fortunately I managed to take our dinner before I rushed off to review those patients. 

Finally, I managed to discharge all my patients except one yesterday. It was a less taxing day today! What a relief!

As you could see, I hardly had time to "baby sit" the two boys. I trust that they would do what is right - i.e. complete their homework, do some revision work books and readings (if time permit). And of course, not forgetting to allow them some spare time to indulge in computer games sporadically. Fortunately, apart from occasional reminders, I must say my boys behave quite responsively over the past few days.