Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Who's happier when holidays are coming?

Hooray! Today is the last school day of the third term.  Monday onwards, there will be
  • no screaming at the kids to wake up for morning tuition class or school
  • no need to chauffeur Wyng for tuition as the tutor normally gives advance additional classes so as to take a break during school holidays.
  • no stressing over whether the kids have done their school or tuition homework.
  • no rushing to prepare early lunch for Wyng and worry about whether he gets well-fed before he goes to school.
  • no need to be a pest and plead to the kids to hit the sack early for school the next day
  • no waking up early to cook breakfast for Hoe as he goes to school in the morning
  • no need to remind Wyng to pack his school bag and sharpen his pencils
  • no yelling at Wyng for taking ages to shower in the bathroom
  • lastly, Wyng can take his own sweet time at the dining table without Mom yelling at him to quickly finish his meals
God is always fair. To enjoy all the above, Mom has to bear with boisterousness at home simply because the kids will be at home.  All these for just a short one week but enough for Mom to destress and relax for a while.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Would you desert your kids?

Would  you desert your kids when they have not been in your good books? What if it is for discipline issue?

I don't think I would ever do this unless they are old enough where any form of reprimand or nagging or lecturing fall on deaf ears.  My definition of desert here is confined to not talking to him, paying no attention to what's happening to him in school, basically ignore him.  Other things such as cooking for him and providing other basic needs as a parent still continues.

The only form of deserting Hoe was for just a while and is usually limited to cold stares if he does anything wrong such as bullying his brother or not talking to him but this only last for a day, the maximum, that's all.
Yet, it didn't change his behaviour.  He might just be aware that Mom was pissed off with his indiscipline or behaviour but for him to realise that he should change and that what he is doing is not acceptable takes more than deserting him, I realise.

Mom's lesson from here is that it doesn't help to desert him for him to change his uncalled for behaviour. It takes patience and much more and Mom is still learning.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Spending a fortune for your kid's mischief

This post appeared in my lost blog on 24 August 2008.  This is a reposting of the same one.

Don't we parents always end up paying a fortune for the kid's mischief? Wyng and his wacky behaviour can be unnerving. Would you believe that he would stuff foreign particles into his nose or ear (maybe to attract my attention)? I've seen him doing this with my own eyes once and I don't doubt that he may have daringly attempted these a few times.

Just about a month ago, Tr O informed me that there's a foreign white particle in Wyng's ear. (Want to guess how Tr O can even explore that part of the anatomy?) I was quite relentless that it's going to be harmless and the foreign particle may just fall off after a while since Wyng didn't complain of any discomfort or ache. Tr O reminded me once again a couple of weeks later whether I should take Wyng to the doctor.

Eventually, I realised I may end up burning a bigger hole in my pocket if I procrastinate taking him to the doctor. What if his ear got infected? The last I want is Wyng's hearing to be affected adversely because of Mommy's over-frugality.

It was an experience for Wyng (and myself and Qo Qo) to visit an ENT specialist for the first time. The long wait for the doctor didn't dampen our anticipatory mood to find out what's residing in Wyng's ear.

A 5-minute treatment by the magical hands of the specialist did just the job. What was cleared off the ear was a piece of hardened tissue compressed into the size of a red bean. Some dark brown wax was removed after that. Nothing serious, of course. And this cost RM83!

Wyng was very cooperative and stayed motionless on the patient bed throughout the procedure. No fretting or complaining. Just a slight 'arghh' when the doctor removed the wax after the tissue.

What followed after the visit was several stern reminders not to insert anything into the ear, nose, mouth or any parts of the body. Refusal to obey will mean a surgery by the doctor (no choice but to introduce this threat).

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Their smiles are valueless

This was posted on 2 May 2009 in my previous removed blog. Here is a reposting.

Wyng shyly beamed with joy as he was walking from the gate of his kindy to my car, knowing that Mom has arrived and fetching him home instead of the normal school van which used to ferry him home to Tr O's house. When he got into my car, his happiness is verbalised to a short but the sweetest 'Mummy!'

Hoe flashed happy laughter while chatting happily with his friends with both his arms on shoulders of his friends, walking out of his school to greet Wyng and I who were waiting for him under a tree.

The waiting and the scorching hot sun didn't matter anymore when I saw the glow on their soft red faces. Such sights of joy of my kids (who greet their mom's presence in their school to fetch them home) are priceless. Who can debate this? And I feel blessed that I can enjoy these sights of joy.  If only I brought a camera to capture these priceless 'kids meet mommy' moments!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Have you caught your kid doing crazy things?

I once caught Wyng doing a horrific thing I've never dreamt of.  Hoe had complained to me before that his 'maniac' little brother did this and I didn't believe him because it was rather absurd.

Now, after seeing with my own eyes, I almost shrieked.  Wyng was picking booger from his nose and putting it into his MOUTH!!!!

Curiosity could KILL the cat!

What a lesson to learn that kids can do crazy things just to satisfy their curiosity!

Friday, August 19, 2011

Should I let my teenage son attend more music lessons?

Hoe sat for his Grade 5 practical exam yesterday.  This exam will mark the end of formal piano lessons for him.  After August, there will be no more piano class for him.  Mom can bid goodbye to stress due to constant nagging and reminder to play the piano in preparation for examinations. 

He has been playing the piano since he was six, starting with the Yamaha system which he took until he was eleven. Realising that too much time is spent attending classes jointly with Hoe, Mom decided to switch him to the ABRSM system.  After sacking two teachers, Hoe finally ended up with his current teacher.  With her, he had sat for two practical and theory examinations each. 

The journey to his musical life will no longer be driven by Mom.  He has to decide if he wishes to continue playing the piano.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Training young kids to sleep alone

This was posted on 22 July 2008 in my previous blog.  Here is a reposting.

I recently discovered how my sister trained her kids to sleep alone. Though I find the method too drastic, I am impressed that both my sister and nephews coped with the training stage quite well. I would never be able to do what my sister did.

Her older son was left to sleep alone when he was 1 year old. Going through the normal ritual of reading and saying their prayers, she remembered, as she related the incident to me, walking out of the room and closed the room door when he was still awake. The brave boy didn't give any cry of protest at all. That was how it was done, she recalled.

She did the most cruel (so she said) thing to her younger son. She 'abandoned' him alone in the kid's room when he was just a baby at two months old. She did that because the masterbed was too small to have a baby sleeping with the parents. However, she could also recall checking on him many times each night. Today, she still feels guilty for leaving him to sleep alone at that tender age. Despite this, she is proud that her younger son is much more independent from young.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Kids' rattlings - Rome was built on seven hills

Honestly, my Geography is not my strong subject especially when it comes to European countries.  Neither is History.  Well, there is no excuse for being ignorant, I have to admit.

My niece had just came back from a ten-day trip to Netherlands and she also stayed in Rome for two days.  In a short reunion, Wyng posed a question to her older cousin. 

Wyng : Did you go to the seven hills?
Cousin : Huh? (softly)
Mom : (Thinking very hard in her mind) Huh? What hill?

The usual Wyng babbled on and explained that Rome was built on seven hills.  What do those ignorant ones have to say? Nothing, except but to watch him talk in amazement.  The next thing we asked was where did he get to know about Rome.  Thanks to Mom! It was a book about Rome I bought him. 

Saturday, August 13, 2011

What does my kid mean by short term memory loss?

Daddy must have promised to take him to A&W.  As soon as Daddy got into the car, Wyng demanded that Daddy took him there.  When Daddy said, 'Did I say I want to take you there?', Wyng snapped with a 'Short-term memomy loss!'. 

Mom's mind was thinking, 'What's that? Oh, forget. Can't he just say forget?'  He learnt this phrase from a book he read.  Not sure which one. Gotta find out from him.

From that day onwards, he seldom used the word 'forget'.  He prefers to use that phrase. 

Thursday, August 11, 2011

How horrendous can Uranus be?

It was a Sunday in March. We were in our car on a highway.  A gigantic billboard caught the kids' attention, 'Mars Needs Moms'.  Wyng then concocted 'Venus Needs Dads' which Mom and Dad thought, 'Yeah,you are creative.'

Listen up what he had to say next. He babbled something about the solar system and mentioned planet Uranus. (Are you ready for this?) Wyng split the word Uranus and pronounced it as two words 'Ur (which he pronounced as 'your') anus'!!

We turned to him.  Daddy was speechless, as usual.  Not wanting to give him so much of attention for saying such horrible thing, I gave him a smack and warned him not to say it again.

Lesson from the kid is they can be creative in the wrong way, at times.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

My kid's latest favourite food

Roti tisu (literally called tissue bread) which is available in most mamak stall, is Wyng's latest favourite food.  Because of the sweet and crunchy sugary texture, he falls in love with this delicacy when I ordered it for him.  No longer does he have to stick to his faithful roti telur for his breakfast.

I can foresee that he will be asking for the same old food for a while until he gets bored with it.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

He hacked into my computer again

I almost could not believe my eyes.  As soon as I turned on the computer, a Facebook page appeared and the screen looked different to me. Thoughts of my computer being infected with virus started to flash in my mind.  But then, upon closer look, it was my kid's FB wall.  No wonder the screen looked different, Hoe used Google Chrome to open his FB. It's faster, I remember he told me.

I remembered precisely I shut down the computer the night before.  So, no way he could log in using my acoount unless he hacked into my account.  The truth began to surface.  He hacked into his Daddy's computer account, I later discovered.

For control, my husband and I each have an account to access the computer.  I know he must have tried hacking into my account but failed as I don't put any hint (Microsoft allows a hint to be shown when the user forgets his password) knowing fully well that Hoe would 'abuse' it and might try hacking into it.  Daddy unknowingly put a hint which gave Hoe a higher chance of success of hacking.

One weakness of his is he does not log off properly most of the time after using an application.  This was when Mom discovered his 'illegal' antics.  Upon interrogation, he admitted he hacked into it.  There was no remorse shown on his face at all. 

A lesson Mom learnt much earlier is not to put any hint when a password is used.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Enthusiasted about reading


"Expecto petronads"
Wyng's enthusiasm with reading annoys his brother. At eight, Wyng reads most books including Harry Potter.  He borrows these kinds of novels from his school library but each time he can only borrow for one week and he can never finish reading such thick novel in one week's time. And, the library does not allow students to borrow the same book for two weeks consecutively. What brilliant rule is that? He ended up reading part of the novel each time. 



Qo Qo says his brother reads such thick novels just to please his Mom.  But, I doubt anyone will be convinced with what he said judging by Wyng's engrossment in his reading.  Just to test if he was reading or just browsing, I asked him to tell me what he had read.  He said, "Expecto petronas". He spelt it as the petrol station 'Petronas'.  "Who said that?" Mom asked curiously. "Harry Potter la," he replied. "What does that mean?" Mom was still clueless. "It's a spell because he wants to save someone." Doubting what he said, Mom quickly did a google search. Except for the minor spelling mistake, he wasn't making it up.

True enough, this boy knows what he is reading.  He was not just browsing.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Mom's own recipe for the kids

Sweet and yummy steamed chicken with potato

It's really not easy having picky eaters like my younger one, Wyng. Bored with cooking him the same old dish for his lunch, I was kind of adventurous and think of a way to vary this fussy kid's appetite.  Potato is not his favourite. Anyway, this kid's appetite can be really erratic. In fact, he doesn't fancy french fries. Neither does he eats the potatoes in the ABC soup (potatoes and carrot soup) Mom boils.

Steamed chicken is his regular menu since steaming is so much healthier than deep frying which most kids love including mine.  And steaming is cleaner to the kitchen, leaves no trail of grease on my kitchen wall.  Instead of adding ginger (which Wyng doesn't like), I vary the flavour of steamed chicken and experimented with potatoes.  I adventurously added strips of potatoes knowing that potatoes are known to sweeten soup and porridge.  Since potatoes are not his favourite, I didn't expect him to eat the potatoes.  I just needed the sweet flavour.

Surprise! Surprise! He loves the potatoes and the chicken.  True enough, the steamed potatoes are so tender and sweet. Mom likes it too though she's not a potato lover. This dish is Wyng's favourite now. He not only gobbles the potatoes, he loves the 'sweetened' gravy to go with his rice.

Mom's lesson from the kids is 'It's worth the effort when the kids love something you created for them.'

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

He helped Mom saves some money!

 

Wyng's milk teeth seldom dropped first before his permanent teeth grow.  So far, I'd taken him twice to the dentist to have his milk teeth extracted to make way for the proper growth of his permanent teeth.  This time, as can be seen in the picture here, his two milk teeth were again extracted.  His new permanent teeth have been appearing for a good few months, yet no sign of shaking of his milk teeth.  He got them extracted in his school, for free!  What a brave deed!

So, what made him did that? One evening, he came to me and showed me his small extracted milk tooth. Excited, he told me that he courageously went to his school's dental clinic for a dental check-up (as requested by the dental nurse) and the nurse extracted his tooth.  No pain!  He was asked to visit the nurse again for the two milk teeth on the lower jaw to be extracted.

Two days later, I reminded him to go to his school's dentist. 'Go to your school dentist and save Mom at least RM70, ok?'  Not too much? It's about USD24...

Taa..daa.... he came back, proudly showing me his new set of teeth minus two stubborn milk teeth, much to the pleasure of Mom.

I didn't learn this lesson until last year.  We can save some money from going to the dentist if we visit the government dentist. Better still, the clinic is just in the school which makes it so much more convenient.

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