The 'Damaged' Person

"Daaaaddddd...." Owain hollers from back of our car. "Can we go to Queensway McDonalds?"

That sparks off our Saturday ritual of Deciding Where To Go For Breakfast. With so many members in the family, everyone wants a say and of course everyone feels like eating different types of food. There is usually a great deal of wheeling and dealing and lobbying going in the backseats as the kids try to garner votes, make alliances to pressure mum and dad into having breakfast of their choice.

So while mum and dad were hemming and hawing in the front, frowning in concentration to fit food and errands into locations which were convenient to each other, the back rows were noisy with discussions and arguments.

Through this noise, suddenly a voice piped up in very serious tones: "Mummy, you have to listen to the damaged person." This was Caitlin.

Huh? What damaged person? "Owain of course! He's got a wound in his head remember?" she says.

Who can argue with this recommendation?

The Damaged Person won and the Chongs had brekkie at Queensway McDonalds - our favourite outlet. The kids love the little garden and the turtles. And there's something nice about a lazy brekkie amidst greenery (and this includes the algae-laden pond) while the kids hang out at the bridge checking out the turtles and the resident large arrowana which occasionally surfaces, scales gleaming gold amid the green.

After brekkie, we tried to drug our son in preparation for the removal of stitches. The doc had given us some chloral hydrate syrup and Owain had to swallow 15ml of the stuff to be knocked out. I was not in favour of this, preferring to nurse him through the process - which is also very relaxing. But KH said no. So he was on his own when it came to giving the boy the stuff - which Owain promptly spat out onto himself and his daddy.

End result - nothing went in and my boy was not drugged after all. The removal of stitches went smoothly. He lay there while I talked to him, pointing out the big OT lights, asking him how many lights there were, telling him why we needed the lights etc, while the doctor snipped and pulled the stitches loose. He was a real trouper!