Friday Focus 24/01/2025 – Chickenpox

Chickenpox has struck the LHBL house this week with Sophie being unwell at the start of the week and then coming out in spots on Wednesday. So far Thomas is spot-free but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he comes down with it too.

 

The word 'chickenpox' in peach bubble writing with pink spots

 

Sophie’s mostly feeling fine in herself, but is struggling with the itchiness and feeling a bit bored being stuck at home and missing out on various activities. She was so pleased when her dance teacher invited her to join in with the stretch class over Zoom. It was lovely for her to see her friends and feel part of the class.

 

Sophie taking part in her stretch class

 

Thomas has had an up and down week at school but the last couple of days have been calmer ones. I took part in an online workshop for autism parents this week and it was good to chat to other parents and get some ideas for strategies to help make things easier for him.

 

 

 

What I’ve been grateful for this week:

 

Thomas lying on his teeter rocker; Thomas on Sophie's back watching a rollercoaster POV video; Thomas on a swing; Thomas on a climbing wall at the park; Thomas playing with his Numberblocks; Sophie making a wooden automaton machine; calamine lotion and cotton wool pads on a bathroom shelf - "#365daysofgratitude 2025 - Week 4"

 

  • Day 17 – I am grateful for calm, chilled-out moments.

 

  • Day 18 – I am grateful for a piggyback rollercoaster ride.

 

  • Day 19 – I am grateful for some one-to-one time with Thomas at the park.

 

  • Day 20 – I am grateful that Thomas had a good day at school.

 

  • Day 21 – I am grateful for Numberblocks Mathlink cubes.

 

  • Day 22 – I am grateful for some fun STEM learning with a KiwiCo crate.

 

  • Day 23 – I am grateful for calamine lotion.

 

 

 

Other things that have made me smile this week:

  • Catching up with a friend over lunch.

 

  • A panto trip to see ‘Sleeping Beauty’ which some of my friends were performing in.

 

  • Having my husband home again after a few days away on a work trip.

 

  • Sophie making spotty heatpads from old socks filled with rice.

 

Sophie making heatpads from old socks filled with rice

 

 

Joining in with Raisie Bay for Word of the Week.

 

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22 thoughts on “Friday Focus 24/01/2025 – Chickenpox

  1. Aww! I hope Sophie is feeling better now. Chicken pox is no fun at all. That is so lovely that she got to take part in her dance class over Zoom.
    Lovely photos! Those heatpads look fab! What a great idea to use old socks. x

  2. Oh no 🙁 chicken pox is no fun hope she feels better soon and fingers crossed Thomas doesn’t get it-unlikely but still. Love the heatpads! You may already know this but if Thomas does get it and he doesn’t like the calamine lotion they do a cream as well.

    1. Thank you, she’s feeling better now. Thanks for letting me know about the cream – I’ve picked up some just in case Thomas gets it too.

  3. Hope the itching has improved. N’s had it twice with only 5 spots each time so he was very lucky, but it was painful when he was absolutely fine with it and trying to work from home at the same time with a young child. Good that there were some better school days for Thomas too.

  4. Oh no. Hope Sophie is feeling less itchy now. Calamine was not a big success with mine and I seemed to be endlessly running oatmeal baths for them. Fingers crossed that Thomas escapes. I couldn’t help smiling at you being grateful for calamine. How lovely that Sophie could and wanted to join in the stretch class. Very kind of her teacher to set that up.

    1. Thank you, she’s much less itchy now. Oatmeal baths worked well too. It was lovely that she had the opportunity to still join in her stretch class.

  5. Poor Sophie, I hope the stretching class helped to cheer her up a little bit. The online workshop sounds really helpful, it’s good to hear about others’ experiences and find out what has worked for them.
    Those heat pads are a brilliant idea, they will come in handy with this cold weather we are having.

    1. The online workshop was really helpful. It does help being able to share experiences with others.

  6. Sorry to hear that Sophie has chicken pox, I haven’t seen it about as much recently – hope she is back out of confinement soon and Thomas avoids it

  7. I hope you’ve figured out something for the chicken pox itching as that can be unbearable. It was nice of Sophies teacher to get her involved too. Hopefully, the coming week will be better.

  8. Goodness me, poor Sophie. Hope she feels better soon. Calamine lotion works well, but you might also have oat baths (you probably know about that already, but just in case, put a handful of oats in the cut off leg of the old tights, and leave in the bath, there will be a calming effect from that).
    Glad that the teacher has invied Sophie to do a class together.
    Hope Thomas doesn’t catch the chickenpox.

  9. Poor Sophie, I’ve not been online much but I wouldn’t be surprised if Thomas has it too now, it’s so contagious. Saying that, as awful as it is, it’ so much better to get as a child, both me and my eldest son had chickenpox as adults and we were both incredibly ill. I hope Sophie is feeling better very soon.

    1. Oh that does sound nasty. I’d rather Thomas got it while he’s still little. Sophie wasn’t too bad apart from the itchiness, but she’s much better now.

  10. Glad to read in the comments that Sophie is recovered now from chickenpox – we are still waiting this end for little to have it!

    Mathlink cubes sound good I’m going to get little some he is also a number blocks fan so I’m guessing their related!

    1. Mathlink cubs are great – there are lots of Numberblocks themed packs available but you can also get plain ones too.

  11. Oh no to the chickenpox, hopefully it’s not too bad, I suspect when I read next weeks post, Thomas will have them also. Glad Sophie was able to join in with a zoom dance class, what a great teacher she has. I hope you found chatting to the other parents helpful and picked up some good strategies for supporting Thomas. If you have anything in particular you want to know about please just ask, my background is autism and I support Autism and EHCP assessments in school, writing strategies for support in mainstream.

    1. Thank you so much Suzanne, I really appreciate that. Thomas has now come down with chickenpox but is coping well thankfully.

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