Battle Scar Galactica

Before becoming a parent, I had expected it to be difficult. Initially you have the endless night feeds, diaper change at 2am, 3am, 3:30am, 4:30am, 5am and it feels as if it will never end. Then they reach the Terrible Twos and even though you’ve read all about it and know it’s coming, when it finally does arrive you start to wonder, “Whose child is that? Is that really mine?”

What I didn’t expect, however, was just how physical it would be. I was totally unprepared for all the cuts and scrapes, bumps and bruises. And that’s just on the parents.

Let’s see, I’ve been pinched, punched, scratched (unintentionally, of course and sometimes in the process of protecting the boys from hurting themselves) not to mention head butted. They’ve head butted me on the chin, head, cheekbone, mouth and nose. Adik has even head butted me on the chest. (Maybe he has ambitions of becoming the most outstanding player in a World Cup football match.) The latest head butting incident has left my lower lip slightly bruised. I kept thinking that my lipstick was being very stubborn and refusing to be wiped off and then I realized it’s right at the spot where Adik leaned back and smacked his head. Made my eyes water..

Anyway, sorry, back to the boys. Most of their war wounds are from doing normal, everyday things, like clobbering each other with their toys, tripping on their own feet while playing outside in the garden and going to the playground.

I remember one time when Abang was playing on the swing at the playground and somehow he slipped off the seat. He would have just fallen down on to the ground and maybe scraped his knees. Instead, because of the chain that goes across their body to, ironically, prevent them from falling, his body was slumped over the chain as I tried to bring the swing to a complete stop. The next day his ribs had this huge bruise and I felt so bad for him.

Then you have Adik, who loves to climb the wrong way up the slide, i.e. climb up the slide instead of up the stairs and down the slide, and then complains when he stumbles down rather clumsily. At least he lands on soft grass, unlike when he slips and falls backwards from the first step of the stairs and smacks the back of his head on the floor. Ouch!

It never ceases to amaze me just how hardy the human body is, especially children’s. They go through a lot of battering – and my boys are only 1 and 3 years old. When I see the war wounds on my nephews, I realize there is so much to look forward to here on Galactica.