Sex education in school

Just when I was wondering if such education is too young for him, today after school he told me there was no lesson in school but an entire day of 'syarahan' by staff from the Family Planning Department from the government. It was an eye-opener for him.

The talks were in the national language. Issues talked about are varied including masturbation, reproduction and even oral sex! I felt relieved that he is exposed to such information from a proper channel. This saves me stress of finding out the right way to tell him or thinking of whether he should know all these.

He even told me that one of his teachers,male of course, (whom I think ought to be dismissed from the school) 'added' to the talk and told them some obscene things which shouldn't come out from the mouth a teacher.

Some of his 'smart-alec' friends were so attentive (those who almost doze off in other subject such as History). They even boast to have known about all those spoken.

A schoolbag's life

Short life...that is.. A branded schoolbag, not an ordinary one, but lasted only six months before holes began to show on the base of the bag. It must be the rough dragging on steps, tarmac road, you name it.

Yet, six months is just way too short for a schoolbag. If it is just the normal X brand, I wonder if it can last for even two months. Only for poor bags belonging to owners such as Wyng.

My new Alza for my peace of mind

My kids love it, my other half feels comfortable driving it... what can I say? New things, nobody will hate them. The fresh leather smell, the cosy feel of the new and spotless seats, the 'solid' feel of the entire car (no more loose and annoying sound here and there,everything seems intact), the smooth cruise behind the wheel... Most importantly, no more stress about breaking down half-way. Peace of mind...

My kid's rollercoaster

One of Wyng's drawings. He would love to ride on a rollercoaster. But, can he? with his height?

My kid's bonsai plant

An art piece I found while packing Wyng's school bag. Got to ask him what gives him the inspiration to draw this plant and where could he have seen such plant as we don't have one at home.

According to Wyng,his Arts teacher in school drew similar picture on the blackboard and students were supposed to draw any kind of potted plants. And, he drew exactly what the teacher drew.

Is my kid too young for these?

Do you know that a butterfly can fly .......? How many seconds are there in one hour? One tonne equals.... How many are there in one trillion? and the list goes on and on... I wasn't really keeping track even though I should be proud of him. The fact is I am not too proud that he has been throwing such questions to me on and off recently. It may sound 'intellectual' but after a while, when his questions centre around the same old dry stuff, I begin to have doubts. What if he is 'too' logical? I mean for his age. He is going to be eight this year. All those are mostly facts, statistics which can be such a bore for conversational purpose and definitely not interesting for social occasions. Way, What way to go, Wyng?

Close Facebook

This was what claimed on 16 January 2011 in a local newspaper. And, I believe many are going to be making a big issue over this.

Building a mosque

He incorporates so many details in this drawing. And I wonder why he drew a picture of people building a mosque and not other building. What inspired him? Let me find out more from him, if I can.

Excited on the first day

Instead of having tears and resist going to school, he was excited and looked forward to school, even though he denied liking school on the Sunday before school reopened. It's obvious from the picture that he missed his classmate.

Like all doting parents,we (W's daddy actually took leave to make sure he witnessed his son's first day (even though on his second year) at school) sent W to school. Taking him into the school hall for assembly, W insisted that I didn't hold his hand. But, when Daddy persisted, he relented.

Why would he feel shy that Mommy held his hands? But when Daddy held his hands, it's alright.

I am glad we stopped our kid from being active

Hoe managed to get into the top class this year. I can only say that he is one lucky boy as I notice that this class consists of a mixture of top students and other above average ones. Apparently, streaming this year is done on random basis.

Whatever basis is used, I am glad that he can still be in the company of bright students this year to motivate and challenge him. He feels the stress but this is definitely healthy for him,the indisciplined one. Now,I don't feel so bad for forbidding him to join his camps in his Scouts movement and from being too active. I got strong objections from him but we were insistent and did not give in to his grievances. This 'inactivity' means he may miss out on the opportunity to lead his group this year. Academics is still given the priority by us. So, he has to learn to accept this.

One of his Scouts mates who is of the same age devotes so much of his time to Scouts that Hoe and I strongly believe his commitment to Scouts affected his academic performance. Due to his active involvement, he got promoted to a higher rank which Hoe was aiming for and unfortunately, missed. This friend of his ends up in a very weak class this year,in fact a demotion.

What a difference!

One seems to grow 'vertically' and the other 'horizontally'. You don't need me to tell you who is who.

Hoe can eat like a horse most of the time. One who sees him gobble his food would be so happy that he has no eating problem. He loves pork and rice. Pork cannot be excluded from his meals.

Wyng is the picky eater at home.  He will only take familiar food ie food he has eaten before and has no interest to try new food. 

Mom hopes Hoe can grow taller. "Come on Hoe! Play more basketball and stop those computer games." She also hopes Wyng can be a little meatier.

Drama school for the kid

This was what we have been waiting for since last year. After so many weekends of sacrificed sleep and long distance travelling, this is it. Not to mention, the days of FUN for W.

This certificate should be good enough as a stepping stone to build his language proficiency and confidence. Despite this, we are bidding farewell to Helen O'Grady as Daddy feels that Taman Tun is too far just for a drama class.

So,Mom gotta search for a nearer place for W.

A big letdown

I bought a 1.5 recipe Indulgence birthday cake from a so-called lifestyle cafe at Ampang.

It was a big letdown that the outlet did not have the right sized box for the big cake. My husband had to wait for more than 30 mins at the outlet for the staff to 'mend' two boxes so that it could fit the big cake. Not only that, while putting the cake into the small box, the cream at the side of the cake was smeared. So,the staff had to 'fix' the cake and put cream and what not on the 'damaged' cake.

When it reached our home, the cake was 'smeared' again as we opened the box. I was so disappointed that the company with such reputation could deliver such service.

Here are pictures of the 'damaged' cake.

What a creature!

These are found on the floor next to the wall

These are 'collected' in a container under the kitchen cabinet

It seems unacceptable! It was just slightly less than a month and I get an unwelcomed visit from these intruders. (On the other hand, I wonder if we are called intruders of nature by these creatures..) They first appeared alive in a number of about more than ten at first on my kitchen table top under the cabinet. The sight intimidated me and was so disgusting. Anyhow, I learned to live with them, with less freaking, in about a day as we collected them in a container as evidence that they are still invading our residence. We cursed the pest control company for not being able to eradicate these mighty creatures before we move in. Why should we share our home with these creatures? Calling the pest control company was the next course of action. Believe me, I have a strong feeling that I would be living with these creatures for some time. They will definitely make more appearances in my life.

Wyng's art piece

This post appeared on the 10th of Nov 2007 in my 'lost' blog. Here is a reposting.

'Me and my family at the Orange Garden standing. We cannot pick up the oranges as they are not ripe.'

This is the exact words said by Wyng, according to his teacher when they are asked to express by drawing anything. I haven't figured out in which occasion we actually went to an orchard or farm and wanted to pick fruits.

Or it could be Wyng and his wild imagination. Sometimes, he could be saying things beyond truth and even shocking at times such as 'Qo Qo kick mommy's spine' just because I've told my guys that I had epidural where the doctor injected into my spine before I gave birth to H. Strangers who heard of this might think what an abusive child I have.

I've learnt that kids can be very imaginative. Their minds can think of the unthinkable by adults, though unrealistic sometimes. But, it's pleasing to know that their minds can really be 'stretched'. Ever since having Wyng, once in a while I do encourage them to imagine. Afterall, 'thinking out of the box' is the in-thing and should be strongly encouraged among kids so that they have this habit in them until they reach adulthood.

School Holidays Soon

This post appeared on the 14th of Nov 2007 in my 'lost' blog. Here is a reposting.

This week will mark the end of schooling for government schools. What does this mean to me? It's more sleeping time and less stress, of course. I can sleep for an additional one and half hours more.

What's the most heavenly is I can say goodbye (for 7 weeks, good enough) to my nightmarish nights of the weekdays. Temporarily gone will be the rush back from office, literally pouring down my dinner to my digestive system, dashing straight to the bathroom to take my 5-minute shower. My screaming for my two guys to assemble in the room for their homework will be unheard of for awhile. Tension will not be felt so much. Instead, there'll be more laughter.

Oh! I am looking forward to the school holidays as much as H. Well, my duties are not taking a break though. I have to think of productive activities to occupy my guys. I've got a few lined up for H. I need to think of a couple of activities for W to enjoy too.

Assessment report of Wyng

This post appeared in my 'lost' blog on 14 Nov 2007. I am posting this same one in this blog. Happy reading!

I met Wyng's school teacher today to collect his Progress Report. Here's extract of the report:

Personal/Social/Emotional Development

Wyng is a very affectionate and pleasant child. He's independent and always seeks friends to play with. He has excellent rapport with all the teachers and communicates easily with his peers. However, he shares his toys only when persuaded. He is a very helpful child and loves to help the teachers tidy up the toys in the classroom.

Physical Development/Music/Creativity

He is an active child and enjoys being outdoors. He is left handed and has well-developed pincer grip.

W is a very imaginative and creative child, loves to pretend play. Enjoys Arts & Craft very much and drawing too especially his daddy and mummy. He enjoys music and movement but needs to be reminded to sit down and listen at times.

Cognitive Development

He is a fast learner and able to grasp what is being taught. However,he seems to have short attention span at times. He 'dreams' while doing his paperwork and has to be reminded not to disturb other children. Able to rote count from 1-20 and he is able to write 1,2,3,4,7 and 10 confidently.

W identifies all the colours, even the lighter and darker shades. He is able to write his name confidently and can identify all of the alphabets confidently.

Language Development

He speaks simple English clearly enough to be understood and sometimes speaks in expanded sentences.

General Comments

He is a happy child, is gentle and caring. Sometimes, he gets upset seeing other children cry and would try to comfor them by giving them tissues or by just sitting next to them. He can be quite sensitive at times but feels reassured when given a hug and a cuddle by the teacher.

Home Sweet Home

This post appeared on the 10th of Nov 2007 in my 'lost' blog. Here is a reposting.

We are back home from our short holiday.

W's routine need to be reset. It's the second day home, W is still catching up with his lost naps in the 3D 2N holiday. He is still not that tuned in yet to his normal routine. Hope he will be fine comes Monday when school is back to normal. H seems unchanged. Still his usual playful boy. That's him. In fact, he enjoys his activities today.

What else are there awaiting me apart from loadfuls of laundry, unpacking and unpacking, unwashed bottles and containers that need washing. Housework still exist no matter what,where and when. How I wish I have a maid! They can really lighten a lot of load. Kinder to my cracking hand.

Well, I shouldn't be complaining. If there's no work, there's no reward. Comes in a package of having a family.

Eating fruits

This post appeared in my previous 'lost' blog on 1 Nov 2007. I managed to salvage a copy and here it is.

H was not picky as W with fruits. Now, even though not very adventurous, H takes a few types of fruits such as apples (his favourite), bananas and grapes. That's about all. W sticks to apples only. He used to take bananas but recently rejects them.

This eating habit was in a way developed from young and partly my fault. When H turned 6 months, being a first-time mother and very conscious of nutrition, I fed him fruits almost on a daily basis. I even went to the extent of varying the fruits that I fed him hoping that he would be able to enjoy different vitamins and take a liking to a variety of fruits when he is older. I started off with apples (the safest to start with as the Chinese believe that other fruits such as bananas and oranges will promote formation of phlegm, watermelon is too cooling for the young). Later, papaya is introduced. Each day would be different fruits such as kiwi fruit, plum and grapes. I tried to give him orange juice and mix with water. Somehow, H didn't prefer it probably because of its sour flavour.

As for W, not many attempts were taken to feed him fruits. I only fed him apples, and even then, I only did so not until he was one plus. With H's growing demands for my attention to coach him on his studies, I had less time to care for W's nutritional needs.

As a result, W does not take much liking to fruits. And,it will depend on his mood too. H is crazier for apples.

I tried to make it up. Apples were given daily to them when W was in pre-school. I've learnt that eating habits must be developed from young. How I wish I can turn back the clock and start all over again for W? But, late is better than never. Both are still growing, and their eating habits may change over time.

Detained at 7!

He is breaking a new record in the family. Not just our family but in my extended family as well.

H was detained for not completing his homework while he was in Year 3. Now, W was detained for making too much of noise in Year 1. Last Friday's detention was his third time. According to him, he was punished because he walked over to his classmate's desk to talk. And he was detained together with 9 other boys. This one seemed to shock him the most as he was in tears as soon as he got into my car. After some coaxing, he told me that the teacher almost closed the classroom door while the boys were still being made to stay in the class.

His first and subsequent detention were due to his monitor copying down his name for talking.He was whining that he was just talking 'a little' and that the monitor was too mean and strict.