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| Image by Sukaina Rajabali |
I used to scold my mother for worrying too much
about us. Growing up I was the child who was scared of riding a horse, skiing,
or going on a hike because my mother was always anxious about us falling or
hurting ourselves. She made sure that we knew all the gory details about anyone
whoever fell, and even though I love you more than life dear Mami - I somewhat
blame you for making me worry about people I care for so much now. I am
officially a "mère poule", a mother hen in my adult days.
I'm not sure that the translation from French to
English actually has the same underlying meaning, which is basically a mother
that keeps her chicks very close so that nothing happens, and always worries
about them. I have been in denial, and just realized over the weekend that
I have turned into the worst kind. In my defense, there are valid reasons
behind why I have become such a worrier. I do not want to get into my
sad stories too much, but my father was diagnosed with lung cancer years ago, after I
spotted his wheezing and sent him for a checkup. A while later, my nephew was
diagnosed with congenital glaucoma, a serious eye condition which is very rare
in children. Unfortunately he was misdiagnosed by several pediatricians. So I know for a fact
that those two incidents in my life catapulted my anxiety to another level.
Even though I like to think that I am a calm and realistic person in all other
aspects of my life, and know better than to worry all the time, I
simply do.
The reason for my rambling about this is that
Phares, my son, started heavily coughing and breathing
on Friday eve. To my surprise I was really calm and figured it was just a
strong cough and a cold. That was until Phiras, my husband said that his
wheezing looked like it could be asthma. Once he uttered those words, I called
my pediatrician and when she did not answer, we rushed to the
emergency immediately. Thank God, hamdellah, he only has a strong case of bronchitis, but
the scare alone gave me a few more white hairs.
When we drove to the hospital I realized that we
actually did not know how to get to the nearest one, even though we have lived in Dubai for so many years now! Well now we do and
realized how silly we were for not knowing something so vital. I
guess Phiras and I are still parents in training...
On to the yummier things in life, and one of my all
time fav recipes, Peanut Butter French Toast. It's one of the older recipes on
the blog, and actually made the front cover of BBC Good Food Middle East. Trust me
it's a must unless you have a peanut allergy, and you can drizzle that peanut
sauce on pretty much anything and everything! Absolutely divine...
Much love,
D xx
Recipe from the cookbook "Food, Love and Life from Dalia's Kitchen"
