Thursday, April 30, 2009

The kiasuness in me

Every parent wants the best for their children. I know I want my kids to have the best, and it's easy to be kiasu for them. We feel proud when our kids show development more advance than for their ages, and we try to load them with more things so that they'll be more advance than their peers.

But sometimes we forgot to let our kids play. Their childhood is after all, so fleeting, and in a blinking of an eye, they'll be adults, out there working. So I want my kids to have a great childhood, and I have to remind myself not to be so kiasu.

As it is, we sent our boy to Shichida for 6 months, and now he's in a mid-expensive-range nursery, and probably continuing in the mid-expensive-range kindergarten. He's also learning the violin at 3 years plus. I bet some parents would think that I am kiasu. But then again, maybe I'm not, since I hardly force him to practice at home or to do 'lessons'. Most of the time, the dear kiddo is just playing his lego, his aeroplanes, his dinosaurs, and I read to him as much as I can.

Need to get more interesting books. Tend to keep yawning when reading. :P

The way I look at it, what I want my kids to have is exposure. Learning the violin at a young age is as good as right-brain training. Drama classes is for confidence. Nursery is for socialising. I'm not too worried that he's way behind everyone in violin class, or that he still cannot write his letters (or recognise some of them).

But I'm really happy last week when during his violin class, when his teacher asked if anyone would like to 'perform' in class, the dear boy put his hand up and volunteered. Heh. Okie, I tried hard not to roll my eyes since he DID NOT practise at all that week. I'm lucky if he practises once a week. Heck, when I learn the piano when I was a kid, I used to practice an hour before going for lessons. See where it got me? I still love playing the piano and classical pieces for that matter! That is what I want my son to have. A love for music rather than being exceptionally good in it. Of course when he is six years old and if he could play the violin in the underpass and collect a few thousand of dollars, we'll be very happy to retire too.

The daughter has also been praised to be very smart and intelligent, and maybe smarter than her brother. I think in a way she is, and in a way she's not. Her character is less cautious than her brother, so in this way she'll be more advanturous and is able to take risks. Just see her crawl all over the house, reaching out and grabbing anything she sees. The son doesn't do that at her age. He was more careful. We were never worried that he will climb up the stairs by himself. But we caught the girl trying. Yikes.

And in a way, she's slower on the uptake than her brother. She doesn't see things right in front of her nose. Heh. Sounds like someone I know. :P

We'll be sending her 'education-wise' in the footsteps of her brother. I'm quite happy with the arrangement. But one thing for sure, we'll not be sending them to the 'branded' primary schools. Big fish in little pond. That's our take. If possible, to our alumni primary schools, and that's about it. I don't believe in sending them to the high end primary schools for it'll only be stressful for everyone. And if they can make it to the good secondary schools, then they deserve to be in it. Otherwise, at the end of the day, all of them are still doing the same 'O' levels.

Damn, I think I've just grown older.

For want of money

Basket case. Me, that is.

So 5 minutes ago, my boss called me and told me that I've been promoted. Effective when I go back to work, that is. Why do we all sound so unenthusiastic about it?

And just when I've already made up my mind to tender my resignation.

Was seriously considering that.

So what now? Go back and work? Extend my npl?

I'm actually quite keen to take the class I know I will get. Heh. It's quite fun actually.

But my kids, my kids, my darling kids.

*sigh*

Decisions are never easy.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

My wish list

Happy birthday to my dearest hubby. Unfortunately I did not have any presents for him, just a yummy cake, which we finished it a while ago when the kids were sleeping. Another cake from Shangri La. Nowadays cakes come in so many shapes and sizes, and can cost up to $300! Talk about indulgence. We saw one made completely in the shape of a fire-truck. A real fire-truck, 3D. Not a round cake with a picture of a fire-truck, but a fire-truck. Very cute. Very ex.

Not that dear hubby didn't have any presents for himself though. He bought a whole bunch of legos again. I'm sure those were for himself, not for the son. He only gave the son one set, and squirrelled the rest away some place. Every month something from Lego. Second childhood. Yup.

For me, what do I want for my birthday? Let me count.

1. A new Tods wallet. Time to change wallets. Heh. Went scouting around, and maybe I'll get the white one. Next month.

2. Chopard happy diamonds. A necklace which hubby said he'll get for me. He always says that when he's in a good mood. Just that we have never gotten around to shop. Plus the bloody chopard flagship store is a bit too intimidating.

That's all. I don't really have anything I really want. I'm really happy with what I have now. My two lovely kids, my family and my friends. Life sure is good. :)

But if anyone is giving me presents. Please please please do not give me any more lotions and creames. I still have the crabtree and evelyn hand creames from Wen many many birthdays back, and lots of origins lotions. Heh.

Otherwise, I need time for myself. To go for a nice back massage and a nice hair spa plus cut. Every night, I stick two of my medicated plasters on my back so that I can survive the next day. The son is extremely heavy and so is the daughter. Have to carry son when crossing the road especially when jaywalking across the road. :P

And I just did a IPL facial. Face felt really smooth and mom commented that face looked good. Heh. Then again, dear hubby said that IPL is basically burning your skin so of course you get immediate effect because the face is slightly SWOLLEN. So everything looked smoother. I know what he meant and I agreed with him, that's why I wasn't too keen to sign on a package of IPL. Heh. Just that I hope it can tighten the pores. We'll see ...

Okie, back to more bejeweled.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

sick sick sick

Does having a blocked and stuffy nose count as sick? I can't remember how long my nose is so stuffed, has it been more than a week? I think I was sniffing a bit on Saturday. It's just so annoying!

The kids are finally asleep. I've put them in separate rooms so that they won't wake each other up when they wake up. There isn't really much time for me to rest, have to start preparing for dinner. Am going to try making the steamed tofu egg my neighbour recommended. Plus vege soup and sotong balls. I went down to my favourite Japanese supermarket and bought crab meat too! Will make crab meat balls soon! :)
They actually do free delivery for $50 and above! Now why can't NTUC does that too.

Just a few quick things about my daughter. She knows to call me mama and to call her father papa. And she can apparently climb up the stairs.

More later ...

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

More April Stories

My girl just gave me a lovely tooth mark on my tummy. She crawled over to me yesterday, snuggled her head under my shirt, and proceeded to take a big bite on my tummy. Her one sharp top tooth now has its mark on my tummy. Next to my belly button. Yes, it bled, a bit. Then she gave me a toothy grin. I bet she must be taking revenge on mummy for posting her nude big bum photo on facebook.

My girl can wave her hands when she wants to say goodbye. She got the cutest and sweetest smile. She wrinkles up her eyes and nose when she smiles. And she has dimples. We must try to catch those dimples of hers one day, before she grows up and they disappear. Do dimples actually disappear?

She can crawl very fast nowadays, and can call papa and mama very well. Just now when I went to the toilet and left her with her brother (the brother was supposed to take care of her), the little girl crawled to the edge of the bed and kept yelling for mama. Naughty stuffs about her: she absolutely cannot sit in the pram. Cries her head off. Needs to be carried. Very very tiring. Very hard to go shopping with her.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

April stories

I feel quite depressed. Over the long weekend, all I can do, is to stay at home, with the kids. I'd have liked to bring the kids out, to a park, to the zoo, to the shops or somewhere, but I can't do it alone. Hubby has to work, and he is tired after working. My parents ... *sigh* ... don't talk about them. They are also too tired. Everyone seems to be so tired, all no energy.

Okie, the next best thing I wish I could do is to leave the kids with someone, then I can go out and do my things, like eat with my galfriends, shop, do my hair etc.

But all I can do is to be stuck at home.

And there aren't any nice animes to watch.

*sigh*

So yesterday, I fixed up the Lego house for my son. All morning. He refused to let me cook lunch until I finished it. I was so hungry! Fortunately, his sister was quite cooperative and slept quite a bit in the morning. Here's the end product of his house.



Our dream house. :)

He did help me initially, but after a while, he complained he was tired and went off somewhere to lie down, and when I wanted to stop, he immediately popped right back and demanded that I finished it. What a slave driver!

Unfortunately, the papa had to go to work early yesterday, otherwise it's the papa's job. You see, the papa is the contractor, I'm the architect (so I don't do any work), and the kiddo is actually the blangadashie worker (who also doesn't do any work).

I think the kiddo has way too many lego. We just bought the duplo pirate ship for him to share with his sister. It was supposed to encourage him to bring it with him to swim in the swimming pool. The smart kiddo says that he'll only use it in the bathtub. Humf.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

No head or tail

In the last post, I was writing about how much I like Japanese animes. Okie, that only goes for some of the animes. Very few in fact, which are really good and I like. That also counts for fiction books which I've read. Nowadays I can hardly find any good books to read.

The one I like very much is Natsume Yuujinchou. It's a story about a boy who can see spirits and his interaction with them and the other humans. Some people might find it boring, but I like it because 1, it has great music. And 2. The spirits tell a story which is captivating. The theme is on loneliness and friendship, responsibilty and kindness. It's a peaceful kind of story so far, but hopefully it might get darker.

I like Nodame and Skip Beat because they are so darn funny.

I like Ghost Hunt because it's a mystery-who-dun-it plus also so darn funny.

I like Full Metal Alchemist because the story was really good. The characters were really well-developed, and it made me cry when one of the characters died.

So when the new FMA came out, and I just watched it half an hour ago, I was so disappointed. It was not a continuation of the last one. I wonder what how this one would be like. As it is, the first episode wasn't that great. I wonder why people are all saying so much good things about it. It feels a bit like D Gray Man, and I think DGM is better.

Shucks, I should go finish watching DGM, and re-watch the old FMA.

I like HunterXHunter. These are the more memorable ones. Others come and go.

Just words

Wen changed her hairstyle again. This time, I seriously didn't recoginise her. And the photo on her friend's blog too. I was like ... eh? And when I saw her ... I had to blink blink my eyes a few times. Maybe I need Lasik too. Haha.

So much for her belated birthday present. Heh. And I thought it was a good idea since it was the next best thing to Tods and Tiffany which I know she likes. And I thought it would go very nicely with her hairstyle. Not until I saw her. Cheh. Well, I'm not sure if it is a Korean thing to have a fringe, but she looked tooo cute and soooo sweet. Damn made my hair stand on ends. Didn't get a chance to have a nice chat with her. Carrying a 9kg baby girl is no joke. Not at all.

My girl is starting to crawl on her hands and knees as opposed to on her belly. She really copies what her brother does. Like making the same sort of noise, refusing to drink from the bottle etc. And the best part, according to my mother, is that she doesn't sleep for long stretches of time. Half and hour and the power nap is good enough to give the girl energy to tear the house down plus make grandma pull her hair in dispair. Everyday when I come back, I get a earful of how naughty both of them are. Ah well, looks like I'm not going to be able to go back to work in July, especially if there's no one to take care of the kids.

Did I mention that my girl has now three teeth? Her top left tooth finally came out a few days ago, fortunately there was no fever. Lots of runny nose though, but it seems to have all cleared up now. She loves to eat her porriage, and since I'm not working, I've been making delicious porriage for her. Haha. One spoonful of rice plus Japanese daikon cooked with ikanbilis, mashed them together (minus the ikan bili), and sometimes add fish or carrots. It's a joy to feed her, she eats very fast, unlike the son (at his age too). And the best part is that after she finishes her porriage, she'll sleep like a pig. Hmm, I wonder why my mom can't handle her. Maybe it's because I have a sarong at home, and when she stirs, we just rock her back to sleep. Yep, that must be it. All the more reason why my mom should come stay at my place instead. haha.

The son just came back from a cruise with my parents. They told me he enjoyed himself super duper much. Had two servings of main course, which led to the waiter asking them if they are sure he (the son) could eat that much! How rude. After all, the son had to pay full ADULT fare tax. Humf. My mom told me that he didn't even cry or ask for me, although the first thing he asked for when he got off the ship was to revert back to his 'I-want-mummy' state. Duh. So dear son ate so much and pooed so much and enjoyed himself so much, that he was telling everyone that he wants to go on a cruise again. He enjoyed all the walking on the ship and loved being in the cabin. He enjoyed jumping on the bed apparently. He didn't get to swim because he told my father that he was too scared to try the slides. Ah well, one little step at a time.

I spent some time with my son at school last week, and spied on what he was doing. It was quite heartening to see that he participated in the class activities and has gotten very well with his classmates. They went to the playground that day, and he was going up and down the slides. Heh. I guess he just needed the company, he doesn't like to do things by himself. Dear boy was so funny. He saw a bird and yelled at it. "Bird! Bird!" And he was running a lot and laughing a lot. Heh heh. Now that is what I want my child to be. Happy.

Today, he told me that they had a birthday party and everyone had a balloon. They had a balloon war and someone's balloon burst and everyone laughed. It's quite funny when he told me over the phone, because you can hear his excitment and how hard he was trying to contain it, and trying to tell everything all in one go. I think kids in nursery shouldn't be given homework, because at the end of the day, they won't be doing it, but the parents. It's quite silly then to give kids homework huh.

However, they have started practising handwriting, and I was given feedback that the son, when it comes to writing, tends to be very lost and spaced out. Hmm. I was then asked to practise with him at home. My thoughts were like that:

1. Sure, we'll practise writing together. In fact I went to buy a few workbooks since then and we had done a few 'writings' together at home. We usually write only one letter a week, writing the letter 3 or 4 times each time. Also I'll spend some time reading a simple book together, after which we'll practise the violin. I think the whole 'lesson' takes less than 30 minutes.

2. The son just started writing this year, one can't expect him to be writing like a pro yeah? And if he knows what to do already and is perfect in what he is doing, then he doesn't need to go to school anymore, does he?

So I'm not too worried about all these. Yet. But that is the problem with our education. You can't have perfection right from the start. Otherwise where is the learning? We should not make our kids do well so as to reflect that we have been doing our work. That is : if my kid gets 100, that equates to me being a great mom or me being a great teacher. BS. But some people have started to think of it like that. And I was reading about the primary school teacher who changed her students' scripts. Tsk tsk. Unfortunately, that is just how they see it. How else to judge your performance in your job right? And with that kind of thinking enroached in everyone's mind, the stress level just went up one notch.

I can't find any good books to read nowadays. Thrillers are so predictable. Mysteries are also so predictable. Comedy romances are also so predictable. And not really funny. I think I've been completely spoiled by Japanese animes/mangas. It's their style, their outlook and their imagination. Simple and elegant.