The Phlegm Menace

it's that time of the year that everybody loves! Cosy snuggles, hot chocolate, dry fruits' binging and opportunity to indulge in endless sleep. Sounds picture perfect doesn't it?!

I too used to love winters. Till last year though. This year has been a different story. 
Karachi city's hardly witnessed any cold, and my baby fell right into the anticipated trap. He got a cold. 

Thankfully the severity of the cold was low, but it left him with a stuffy nose and congested chest. There should be a law against such diseases that make such tiny humans suffer like this. My baby seemed so helpless and stubborn at the same time that I wished I had a spell to make it go away

mama-me: 'anapneo fidelitas'

little baby: 'i'm still choking' * cough*

There were moments during the ordeal when I just glanced at my kid with a dead look. I had no clue what to do and pretended that I was trying to come up with a solution (a tactic I doubt my baby bought, or else he would've come over and hugged me).

... i kept staring till the baby got small .. very small

I then set forth to use the most useful resource in today's time: the world wide web. Within ten minutes, google presented a solution to my trauma in the form of a nasal aspirator. 
Nasal aspirators are devices used to suction excess mucus from the baby's nose in times of congestion and/or cold. Here's a video demonstrating its use.

Seemed the baby in the clip didn't like it much; neither did mine.
He hates it.

Every time I brought the aspirator near him, he started shreiking like a broken whistle. His response became so conditioned that now whenever I bring anything near his face, he goes all karate on me!

Using a nasal aspirator is not a one man job! 
While I did the nasty part of sticking the tube up the baby's nose, the baby's daddy provided distractions with his (illegible) gurgling. Now daddy is the baby's hero while mummy has been become his Woodhouse (Archer reference) 

Though my baby's passages are all cleared now, I still feel like I tortured my baby. 
Oh well, as long as they count tough love as good parenting.