NICOLA YOUNG: Things not so bad, on balance

OUTCRY: The shooting of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park needs to be put in perspective.AP150731223136

PERSPECTIVE is the theme of this week.

I have been trapped in the house with a sick child - five days of vomiting and diarrhoea at the time of writing. Needless to say it is gross and exhausting, plus frustrating that there's nothing you can do but keep him hydrated as best you can.

Actually there is one thing: get the wonderful anti-nausea tablets from the doctor - they really work.

It is funny reflecting on the lead-up to becoming a parent when you are elbow deep in excrement. I think I speak for quite a few of the people I know who became parents when they were older - and maybe some of the younger ones, too - you don't spend much time thinking about the (literal) crap.

Becoming a mum, to me, was all about the beautiful moments of joy and love I anticipated, and creating an amazing little person. And don't get me wrong, that has happened.

But this week, being a mum has been about swabbing out spew buckets, lots of washing, broken sleep, some more washing, a bit of cleaning the carpet, then more washing. Sorry - this is classic TMI (too much information).

However, I have stumbled across perspective a couple of times this week.

When Mr Six was complaining that his little brother got to stay home and he didn't, I said it was just because he was sick and he would not be sick forever.

It hit me - he wouldn't be sick forever and some people's children are.

Raising a child with a debilitating disease or disorder must mean such a mindshift to cope with what has to become normality, whether it is surgeries or injections or transfusions or avoiding day-to-day germs or bumps or scratches.

We are lucky. Mr Three is amazingly resilient through this alternating cycle of one end then the other. Of course, it is also a bit disconcerting as there is little warning to indicate a multicoloured episode is about to hit.

I have also found the intensity of outcry over the shooting of Cecil the celebrity lion in Zimbabwe a curious exercise in perspective.

I studied zoology at university and worked in conservation for 10 years - killing rare animals for trophies, whether or not a fee goes back into conservation, is madness. (As an aside, hunting to feed your family or to control a booming population is a different story to me.)

The scale of the reaction in the US was summed up in a tweet by @rgay: "I'm personally going to start wearing a lion costume when I leave my house so if I get shot, people will care." This was a pointed comment about the inconsistent reaction between Cecil's death and yet another unarmed black person killed by a police officer in the States.

I also gained perspective this week when I learned of two people with breast cancer.

There is nothing new to say about this except I wish them "enough". This is attributed to a Bob Perks book where he recorded a wish between a parent and child:

"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.

I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish enough 'hellos' to get you through the final 'goodbye'."

There is nothing wrong with wallowing in self-pity here and there, and I don't buy into that other guilt trip about "there's always someone worse off". But retaining a bit of perspective helps.

-Nicola Young has worked in the government and private sectors in Australia and NZ, and now works from home in Taranaki for a national charitable foundation. Educated at Wanganui Girls' College, she has a science degree and is the mother of two boys.