<text> From we are born, we feel pain, we just learn how to express it differently as we grow. We also learn how to deal with that pain and ease it in many ways.

A young child will cry out in pain, letting you know something is wrong, the only problem is they cry when hungry, needing a nappy changed or just feeling bad. It is a challenge to any parent or carer to know which pain is which and can end up as trial and error. If it is near feeding time then we try that, check nappies, lift them up, rock them, cuddle them, try to distract them but if they are in pain, none of these solutions will work. Recently I had a bad bout of earache which really floored me. I am used to different levels of pain every day from my back problems but this was a new one and was agony, it stopped me in my tracks, stopped me sleeping, put me off my food (meaning I really wasn't well) and just made me so miserable. Thankfully after a long weekend of suffering, it eased off enough to allow me to get back to my normal pain. As I was getting sharp stoons of pain right into my ear and neck, I kept thinking back to when my children had ear infections and cried in pain. I wondered how they coped so well, no wonder they cried, I know I cried a few times with it and I knew what was wrong, took extra pain medication, help a warm blanket to my ear and stayed still to help ease the pains. I was so miserable and winced badly every time the pain struck which, at its worst was every five minutes. I must have looked quite strange as I clenched my face, hunched up my shoulders and closed my eyes to help bear the sharp pain. It didn't help that we had already arranged to meet relations that had travelled from California and were only in Northern Ireland for a few days. We were having a meal with them too and eating caused extra pain so as I sat there I had to be really careful not to wince every few minutes or I would have looked strange, I didn't want to make them feel bad for me so I said nothing but was relieved when I could head home. Even with the pain, it was so lovely to meet them, a young couple, just married and starting out in life after working their way through college training as a teacher and a nurse. They are related through my Dad's brother who moved to America after the war, he had passed away quite a few years ago so it was special to hear stories about life with him. Dad and Mum did manage to fly over to Los Angeles and see them just before he passed away, even though he wasn't in great health, it was still a blessing but it was great to chat to his grandson and wife and get a different perspective on his life. As we travelled home from the evening I know it was well worth the effort, Mum and Dad loved chatting to them, my daughters loved hearing about life out in California and could share similar interests of college, television, films etc. that are current, my husband and I enjoyed being out and feeling relatively normal as we looked around at all the other diners having fun, although they did give us some strange looks, three generations of locals eating out with a young all American couple, taking lots of photos, having fun and non stop conversation, which was sometimes quite loud to be heard over the noisy background!

The same day was also special as my daughter was coming home from university for Easter so we had even more chatting to do, quizzing her how her course was going, how she was managing life, finances, food. Anyone watching closely would also have wondered what on earth we were doing as she tested my hands for signs of disc problems in my neck! She had just learned to diagnose these signs and was checking me out. I thought she was tickling me on purpose as I reacted quite strongly to her stroking my hands and arms but just to prove to me that it was me reacting positively to damage, she tested my husband and her sister who didn't react in the slightest. We must have looked as if we were acting out some strange ritual as she sat stroking us! She was happy to see us and be home again even though hearing the local accent was strange at first but she also very happy to tuck into some food that she didn't have to make herself. As we perused the menu she couldn't decide what she wanted, there was so much choice, even when she came home and checked out the fridge and cupboards she was excited by the amount and variety of food available to her. Seemingly a student's fridge is quite bare and cupboards hold very little stock.

She told me about evenings when she had been in classes all day, went to practice sessions for her beloved Ultimate Frisbee (a sort of cross between football and basketball played in teams with a standard frisbee) and came home tired, usually in pain with her ankle problems and just needed food immediately. On evenings like this she would have loved a fully stocked kitchen to choose from but more often than not it was empty apart form a few leftovers which usually sufficed to fill a hole before falling in to bed. I know on days when my back is bad and I need food to go with taking painkillers, if I had to make something it would probably be quick and easy though luckily I usually have a husband to do it for me.

One of the quickest nourishing meals has to be eggs. Scrambled, boiled, poached or fried, a few minutes gives you a filling meal with a slice of bread or some mushrooms and tomatoes but it is nice to ring the changes and do something different with them now and again. I recently saw an idea that we played around with so give it a try.

</text> <text> From we are born, we feel pain, we just learn how to express it differently as we grow. We also learn how to deal with that pain and ease it in many ways.

A young child will cry out in pain, letting you know something is wrong, the only problem is they cry when hungry, needing a nappy changed or just feeling bad. It is a challenge to any parent or carer to know which pain is which and can end up as trial and error. If it is near feeding time then we try that, check nappies, lift them up, rock them, cuddle them, try to distract them but if they are in pain, none of these solutions will work. Recently I had a bad bout of earache which really floored me. I am used to different levels of pain every day from my back problems but this was a new one and was agony, it stopped me in my tracks, stopped me sleeping, put me off my food (meaning I really wasn't well) and just made me so miserable. Thankfully after a long weekend of suffering, it eased off enough to allow me to get back to my normal pain. As I was getting sharp stoons of pain right into my ear and neck, I kept thinking back to when my children had ear infections and cried in pain. I wondered how they coped so well, no wonder they cried, I know I cried a few times with it and I knew what was wrong, took extra pain medication, help a warm blanket to my ear and stayed still to help ease the pains. I was so miserable and winced badly every time the pain struck which, at its worst was every five minutes. I must have looked quite strange as I clenched my face, hunched up my shoulders and closed my eyes to help bear the sharp pain. It didn't help that we had already arranged to meet relations that had travelled from California and were only in Northern Ireland for a few days. We were having a meal with them too and eating caused extra pain so as I sat there I had to be really careful not to wince every few minutes or I would have looked strange, I didn't want to make them feel bad for me so I said nothing but was relieved when I could head home. Even with the pain, it was so lovely to meet them, a young couple, just married and starting out in life after working their way through college training as a teacher and a nurse. They are related through my Dad's brother who moved to America after the war, he had passed away quite a few years ago so it was special to hear stories about life with him. Dad and Mum did manage to fly over to Los Angeles and see them just before he passed away, even though he wasn't in great health, it was still a blessing but it was great to chat to his grandson and wife and get a different perspective on his life. As we travelled home from the evening I know it was well worth the effort, Mum and Dad loved chatting to them, my daughters loved hearing about life out in California and could share similar interests of college, television, films etc. that are current, my husband and I enjoyed being out and feeling relatively normal as we looked around at all the other diners having fun, although they did give us some strange looks, three generations of locals eating out with a young all American couple, taking lots of photos, having fun and non stop conversation, which was sometimes quite loud to be heard over the noisy background!

The same day was also special as my daughter was coming home from university for Easter so we had even more chatting to do, quizzing her how her course was going, how she was managing life, finances, food. Anyone watching closely would also have wondered what on earth we were doing as she tested my hands for signs of disc problems in my neck! She had just learned to diagnose these signs and was checking me out. I thought she was tickling me on purpose as I reacted quite strongly to her stroking my hands and arms but just to prove to me that it was me reacting positively to damage, she tested my husband and her sister who didn't react in the slightest. We must have looked as if we were acting out some strange ritual as she sat stroking us! She was happy to see us and be home again even though hearing the local accent was strange at first but she also very happy to tuck into some food that she didn't have to make herself. As we perused the menu she couldn't decide what she wanted, there was so much choice, even when she came home and checked out the fridge and cupboards she was excited by the amount and variety of food available to her. Seemingly a student's fridge is quite bare and cupboards hold very little stock.

She told me about evenings when she had been in classes all day, went to practice sessions for her beloved Ultimate Frisbee (a sort of cross between football and basketball played in teams with a standard frisbee) and came home tired, usually in pain with her ankle problems and just needed food immediately. On evenings like this she would have loved a fully stocked kitchen to choose from but more often than not it was empty apart form a few leftovers which usually sufficed to fill a hole before falling in to bed. I know on days when my back is bad and I need food to go with taking painkillers, if I had to make something it would probably be quick and easy though luckily I usually have a husband to do it for me.

One of the quickest nourishing meals has to be eggs. Scrambled, boiled, poached or fried, a few minutes gives you a filling meal with a slice of bread or some mushrooms and tomatoes but it is nice to ring the changes and do something different with them now and again. I recently saw an idea that we played around with so give it a try.

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