Childcare for Lillie, the flu for Judd and a walk at the lake

Last week Lillie had her first day in childcare.  I had been working myself up to taking her for months.  It is a Thai owned and operated family day care which a friend of mine told me about as she takes her 2 1/2 year old there while she goes to the gym.  Childcare in Pattaya is almost impossible to find, which is why most westerners use their maids as nannies but at present we don't have a maid and I was grateful to find out about this place.  Unfortunately it is very very basic and they don't seem to have a limit as to how many children they take each day and most of the day is spent with the kids sitting around on the mattresses on the floor watching TV.  There is a small play area outside in the carport but I am not sure how much time they spend out there.  I spent ages back in Melbourne finding a suitable childcare for Judd and Lillie making sure they were safe, clean and friendly but here the my options are so limited I have found myself lowering my standards. 
Her first day she was great, she didn't cry when I took her in and she seemed quite happy when I came back 2 hours later to pick her up. The next day I took her and the TV in the kids room was so loud I could hear it way down the street.  She seemed a bit more reluctant this time but when I came back to get her they told me she was sound asleep and to come back a bit later if I could. 
Now I know she was perfectly fine but my mothers intuition tells me that its just not quite right. My other problem is that the children that attend this childcare aren't from particularly wealthy families meaning that the parents probably cannot afford to stay home from work if a child is sick or contagious and I am concerned about Lillie getting sick more often.  There are so many kids that go and there are obviously no rules in regards to children not being allowed to attend if they are sick and the colds and flu's that are around this country seem to be so much more severe than back home, we have all been sick numerous times especially the kids I just don't want to expose them to much more.  At the moment there is a virus going around Marcus' work which has put a couple of people in hospital, its a bit scary.
I think I may only use this childcare occasionally if I have a lunch on or if I want to do some shopping or to just have a break.  I do want her to have some interaction with children her age to learn to play and share well.

I decided on Friday night to ask a few people over to our place for drinks and nibbles and it turned out to be a pretty good night.  I bought some ingredients to make hamburgers just in case it kicked on a bit longer and we got hungry.  We finished up around midnight which is a pretty good stint for me these days.  It is so much easier to entertain here as I can put the kids down to bed and we can stay up longer and enjoy having company without being bombarded with "mumma and dadda" all the time.
On Saturday we took the kids to Underwater World here in Pattaya.  I have been meaning to go there for some time now but just never got around to it, but since I made my list of places to visit I decided to try and see one tourist attraction each weekend otherwise we end up just hanging out at home or going shopping which always ends up with whiney kids and a cranky mum.
The aquarium was surprisingly good, it was small but the kids loved it.  We walked through twice and Judd made me read out all of the plaques that had information about each of the fish.  Lillie really enjoyed running through the tunnels and pointing at the fish.  They had a touch tank but we were all too scared to try.  It was a good way to spend the morning and luckily we went early before all the tourist buses turned up full of pushy Russians.
Now I am stuck at home with 2 sick kids, Judd brought home a cold from school and by Saturday afternoon he was miserable and still is.  Lillie woke up this morning at 5.30am with a fever and crying so today has been full of crying, yelling, tantrums and frustration.  Lillie got her Tuberculosis needle back in early February and only now is it turning into a hard purple bruise and is very very sore.  She was crying so loud last night when Marcus put her nappy on I was very close to taking her to the hospital to see a doctor about it.  When she got the shot I didn't get any information about the side effects or possible reactions she may have unlike back at home where they make sure the parent is fully informed and aware of what could happen.  I messaged one of the mums I know who has a little one and she reassured me that her daughters did the same and said it will turn into a lump and possibly burst before it starts to go away.  YUCK, poor kid.  I am so glad they gave it to her in her bottom and not her arm as alot of people get permanent scars from them.  But she had to have it as TB is still a problem in Asian countries especially for young children.  The hospitals here give it to the new born's on their very first day!
I am hoping they both recover quickly enough that by next week when we fly out to Melbourne they are all happy and healthy again.

A lovely friend of mine has offered to babysit (or dog sit) Lady while we are away.  She has 3 dogs of her own and said she can come and play with them.  She came and picked her up yesterday for a play date and she took all 4 dogs for a big walk and of course Lady rolled in something dead so when she dropped her off she messaged me to warn me to buy some dog shampoo because she smelled really bad.  Lady must of had a great time, we don't get to take her out for a run very much and we wouldn't even know where to take her anyway as everywhere there are soi dogs lurking about.  I would take her up to the lake with us when we go walking but there are so many dogs up there. 



Some of the soi dogs who live at Lake Maprachan

 On Sunday I got a photo of 7 dogs all sleeping by the side of the weir wall.  They don't seem to bother anyone but we have still heard many stories of people being chased or bitten while out walking or running.  The other weekend I saw a litter of 7 puppies all playing by the road, they started to follow us and all I wanted to do was scoop them up and take them all home.  Even at such a young age (probably just been weaned) they were showing signs of mange and scabby skin.  They weren't anywhere to be seen the next week.  I wondered if they were dumped by someone, it does happen I have been told as some kind Thai people go down and feed the stray dogs that live by the lake so it becomes a dumping ground for unwanted dogs and puppies.  So sad. 



Lake Maprachan view from the weir wall

 Right next to the weir is a little community of shacks so run down and sad looking that I just had to try and take a photo to show the contrasts this country has ( as many countries do).  The beauty of the water and the forest, the big houses and estates around the lake and then the shacks and lean-tos with dirty dogs and dirty kids running about.  However I did see the occasional shiny new pick up Ute and car parked next to the rusty old units.  The Thais would prefer to spend their money on a new car than to make home improvements or buy a newer house. But in saying all this and seeing the poverty I would safely



There are heaps of these one room unit
blocks next to each other

 walk into any one of these villages, unlike back home where the poorer communities and government housing apartments are unsafe, full of drugs and addicts and just plan filth.  There may be poor families here but they do what they can with what they have and I have yet to come across an angry or "bad" Thai person.  Just because someone is poor does not mean that they are going to rob you or hurt you.  But a person still has to be careful and alert. Living here has really opened my eyes to how other people and cultures live.