By Annabelle Chapple
Term three, what a drag. Not close enough to December to be laced with the giddiness of Christmas or hot enough to tempt a cleansing day the beach. After a relentless winter flu season these September holidays could not come fast enough.
I’m writing this fresh after cleaning a vast puddle of vomit from our bathroom floor and worrying now about our six year old back in bed (Googling ‘is it food poisoning or gastro’ and the most efficient way to mop up when the next inevitable wave hits).
This was winter of 2024, sickness in all forms impacting all bodies: little kids, big kids, parents, grandparents, the ultra fit, the ‘never sicks’. Email health alerts from our school and kindy this term included whooping cough, chickenpox, RSV and, for good measure, headlice.
I’m still getting into the rhythm of the educational calendar with my eldest in grade one but I feel like term three needs a midway break. I came across an Aussie survey of almost 100,000 students who agree. It found Term 3, Week 7 to be the hardest of the year namely because of the rolling sickness, cold weather and shorter days meaning less time outdoors.
It was certainly true in our house. By mid to late August my husband and I felt done with the year. Fatigued by juggling work, life and caring for sick children. The only way to get to the holidays has been to reinstate those small daily habits that make us feel more stable. Replacing doom-scrolling with exercise, reading a book or writing, and remembering if I neglect to take care of myself I am useless to everyone.
Three Wise Women Recipe – ‘No Churn Ice Cream’
Where there’s no hope, there’s ice cream. And though this one has a Christmas flavour you can substitute the brandy and fruitcake for your favourite store-bought biscuits or just an extra splodge of vanilla. For best results stick to ‘pure’ cream not the thickened stuff.
Three Wise Women is available to purchase at Scrumptious Reads in Red Hill or at www.annabellechapple.com