Humpty Dumpty Mom had a great fall!

This was an accident I posted in my lost blog in 2008.

What was supposed to be a normal evening after dinner turned out to be a minor 'mishap'. After dinner, I took the kids for a stroll at our condo. Trying to add some fun to a dull evening, I thought of a wild idea to play hide-and-seek with Wyng. I gestured to Hoe who was behind me to hide from Wyng's sight when Wyng was a few steps ahead from us.


In another 30 seconds, we went to the original spot where we parted from Wyng. He was not there! Panic overtook me. The next thing was we heard Wyng screaming for 'Mommy!Mommy!'. Sending Hoe to one side of the condo to locate his brother, I went to the opposite end.

The clumsy side of me had almost lost her sharp senses of her surrounding. Not noticing the few flight of steps in front of me, I almost lied flat on the ground after a few balancing tripping steps forward. I landed on my stomach with my left hand stuck under a door with a rather soft metal door leaf. I felt like one of those emergencies in '911' TV programme.

Any slightest move of my hand triggered sharp pain. I yelled to Hoe which he screamed with echo telling me he's gotten Wyng and on his way. I was groaning in pain, the more I pulled my hand trying to release myself, the worse the pain got. Rescue came when a young lady passed by. She tried to help me lift the door leaf as it was locked. Realising this wouldn't actually help and with all the courage that I could gather then, I pulled my hand away from the door leaf.  I was overwhelmed that I didn't even remember whether I thanked the lady.

By then, my guys were back with me. My hand was shaking and I could feel the pain peaking in the first few seconds but slowly subsiding. Probably, it was because my guys were safe and sound beside me, other pain and discomfort didn't matter anymore so long my guys are safe with me.

I picked myself up and confessed to my guys that Mommy learnt a lesson. No more hide-and-seek next time. Only in the next hour or so did I realise the bruises that I suffered (as pictured) and I could even feel the pain on my knee and joint of both my big knuckle toes. The toes must have been hurt when I tripped on one of the steps. The knee must have suffered from the impact of falling down.

Shall I stop my kid's drama class?

This November marked the third year Wyng's drama classes with Helen O' Grady.  I have a dilemma whether I should continue to let him be with this class or switch over to another one, hopefully somewhere nearer to our home.

The third pair of glasses for my kid

Possessing a terminator's abilities, it is not surprising that he broke his glasses again for the second time. As can be seen from the picture, it was obvious the screw came off causing the lense to fall off from the frame.  As though this was not 'rough' enough of him, he must have sat on the glasses causing the frame to bend in the middle. As usual, he pointed his finger to his friend.

Thankfully, he inherited two pairs of old glasses from his Qo Qo, which were still in very good condition despite being six years old.  Anyway, his Qo Qo wasn't really short-sighted, he just followed the crowd.  He hardly wore them. 

The glasses just needed a change of lenses to suit his shortsightedness and alas! they look brand new.

Starting the holidays with Kumon

The kids were full of enthusiasm when I decided to sign them up for Kumon Maths. Hoe is not new to Kumon, having attended their Maths classes for a year.  He quitted after having trouble completing his daily worksheets alongside with his school homework then.

I have decided to let Wyng try Kumon after quitting his short course in Olympiad Maths. Both were very excited when I enrolled them two weeks ago.  Yesterday was their first class in the centre.  Wow! the centre is packed with hopeful students. 

It was Hoe's idea to join Kumon this time.  Daddy has no problem 'investing' in him. He wants to occupy his time with something useful, it seems. So, Mom is okay with it as long as Daddy is not complaining about the additional commitment. Afterall, Kumon can play a role in instilling discipline and a sense of focus in this boy, not to mention helping him to excel in Maths.

What did my kid say about adults?

Last month, Wyng said something to us, to my annoyance, in the car. It was his reaction to something which his Dad didn't allow him to do.

"Adults are very good at changing subject.  They do that when they don't like to hear something they don't like."

Can I say he's wrong?

Absence from the net

2 and a half days without internet access... what an inconvenience!

Our modem got struck by lightning and thanks to a relative who helped us to instal a new one with a very very reasonable and unbeatable service charge. I hope this modem which has a warranty of 3 years can last us for a few good years without problems.  The old one was less than a year old and so we can probably claim against its warranty.

My kid was infected twice in 32 days

In September, he was down with sore throat, a cough and fever.  As expected, he was prescribed with antibiotics, cough and fever medicine. As a result, he missed school for two days.

One month and three days later, he was defeated again, this time by a different type of germs, according to the doctor.  'His throat is very red' so said the paeditrician. Still having some of the remaining fever tablets, he was prescribed with the 'must-have' antibiotics.  The doctor is right when he gave him 3 days' MC. In my mind, I was wondering whether the doctor was being too generous with giving MC. 

True enough, Wyng was really sick this time. He slept most of the time from day 2. On the first day, he was too addicted to TV that he wanted to 'nap' in front of the TV.  With my insistence, he napped for a few hours in the day time.  On day 2, he was really conked out. Feeble, he was almost bed-ridden, he didn't even ask for his favourite TV.  He could only take in less than 5 spoons of noodles in the morning and a very small portion of porridge in the evening.  I've never seen him in such condition.  Either the medicine is working in him or he just wasn't resting enough on day 1. 

Thankfully, the doctor gave him sufficient MC.  Now, I have no doubt about this paeditrician.  Wyng needed the third day away from school.  Although he's chattier, he is still not healthy to spend the whole day in school.  After 3 days of battle, he's lost so much of weight from the look of his face and tummy.

How to occupy the kids during the holidays?

The year-end school holidays are just around the corner.  It's good and bad news for parents.  Good news is for obvious reasons.  The bad news is the kids would be spending hours in front of the computer. School holidays are the only time they get to have long hours of computer time, so they will not forego this golden privilege.

The problem is there is only one computer at home, they will definitely be fighting to get more computer time. 'It's not fair Qo Qo can play so long', this will be a very common whining from Wyng. 

One activity I have in this adventurous mind of mine is indoor rock climbing.  I wonder whether this kind of activity is really easily accessible to novice like my kids.  Saw this place called Madmonkeyz at Wangsa Maju. 

Outbound camps will be suitable for Hoe,  he can probably join his cousins in their church camps.  Hopefully there will be one this year as they don't have it last year. There are not many holidays camps that I have come across suitable for Wyng yet.  Gotta keep surfing.

My kid's own IQ tester

He's hooked on it, no doubt, ever since his Dad bought him a book.  He will never get bored of asking us (his Qo Qo, Mom and Dad) his collection of questions.

One fine day, as usual, in the car, an IQ question popped out from him.  He caught Mom in the right mood. 

Wyng : What do you get when you cross sports with a book?
Mom :  Any clue?
Wyng : The answer is a thing. And it's 'something' book.

Mom didn't give up as easily as Wyng has thought with dozens of tries, all with a name of a sport or game plus the word 'book' after it. but none were correct.  Wyng was rather impatient that I wasn't willing to give up and I took so long to solve it. 

'Activity book' is the answer. And, after that, he told us that he created that IQ question.

Are kids of this era exposed to the right thing?

It is not uncommon now to see kids, as young as two plus, playing on their iPads. Thanks to Steve Jobs, kids now grow up with Angry Birds, not Sesame Street's Big Bird. I doubt if kids now know who is Big Bird.

So, is there anything wrong with this scenario? Parents who want the best for their children know the answer.  How often do we observe such sights nowadays?

* a child playing an educational toy such as Lego or even a toy gun or those detachable toy pieces.  Toys are essential in a child's life, no doubt about this.  It stimulates their mind, it occupies them in an intelligent way, they discover their own strengths and weaknesses in the process of handling and playing the toys and a host of other benefits. I used to occupy my kids with toys while we were out on trips, while on waiting line etc. Now, you hear deafening shooting sound coming from a 'book-like' digital gadget.

* a child reading. With the hoo-ha about how little Malaysians read, what are we, parents doing about this phenomenon while our kids are still young? Do we now see parents reading together with a child, while waiting for their turn in banks or clinic or any public places?  Sadly, what can be seen are situations where the mother is 'watching over' a poor kid 'struggling' to complete her homework. This is more common.  Or, kids glued to a rectangle gadget while the parent is busy surfing on his iPhone.

* how about just a mother-daughter's or father-son's small talks? Communication is important, what more in this society where everyone seems to be so very busy with their life, pursuing, most of the time wealth or others which ironically doesn't benefit the children so much. Lack of communication or bonding with parents is said to be a factor for juvenile delinquence. Yet, we find this becoming so rare, especially in this IT era.
Kids talk but to their friends via a digital gadget using broken language, they write in acronyms only they understand on the web with all their friends. Four letter words are so commonly used on this era's most-loved book, Facebook.

Parents are well-aware of the danger of exposing young kids to excessive television or computer games and yet you see parents bringing along the 'must-have' iPad when they go out with kids. Isn't this bringing the computer games closer to them? The only difference is iPad is mobile whereas the computer is sitting at home.

Kids are now fed with iPad time, seen as a norm now to occupy them with this 'in' gadget. Kids gather, not to talk or chat or 'fight' their kungfu stunts. They crowd around an iPad, shooting pigs. What a smart game!

Understandably, our family doesn't own any iPhone or iPad.  A second-hand older version of iPad is very much within reach and it's rather tempting to be part of this current trend of technology. However, we opt out in this aspect.

My kid is testing my intelligence

Always wanting to win Mom, Wyng loves to test me with 'his' IQ questions. He had completed his final year examination recently and managed to achieve As in most of the core subjects.  Proud that he had done well and achieved the targets set for him, Mom then asked him who had helped him to do so well.  Looking bright-eyed at me with his sheepish smile, he assuredly replied, "Half you, half Yeh Lao Sher". Yeh Lao Sher is his tuition teacher who tutors him in BM, English and the other Chinese subjects.

It seems that Wyng doesn't want Mom to be smarter than him and that's why he doesn't want to say that he has Mom to thank for his good results. This was what he told me when I talked to him. Realizing this, Mom assured him that he would be smarter than Mom as he grows older.  Right on the spot after I said those words, he challenged me with his 'mind-boggling' questions.

Here are some of his so-called IQ tester:

Is wood stronger than steel?
Is kitchen waste top quality fertiliser?
What can suck away dirty blood?
If you fold a piece of paper into like a paper fan and place an empty pencil box on it, will it crush or still be like a fan?
Can you fold a paper 9 times?

All seem like a breeze to Mom except for the last question which made me pause for a while.

He reads everywhere

This post appeared on 22 December 2008 in my previous blog.  Here is a reposting.

Wyng was 5 plus then

At any bookshop we frequent, on the bed, in the car, at the music centre and anywhere where he can lay his hands on books. He got the hang of reading sometime middle of this year. Since then, reading is no longer a struggle.

He seems to be hooked on it!

My kid threatened me

My sister told me it's normal. All kids do it.  My kid did it more than twice to me.

We were friends on Facebook.  Well, it was a break and make 'friendship'.  After realising that I know too much of what he did or did not do through his postings, he unknowingly removed me as his friend.  And of course, I sensed his 'absence' from FB and confronted him.  He was made to add me as his friend again. I believe adding me as his friend earlier was his most regretful thing he had ever done in his life. 

Things went on as usual until one fine day when I was again curious about his inactivity on Facebook, I questioned him what had he done to his FB account.  After probing, he admitted that he had set some privacy settings to 'block' me.  "All my friends do that" was his excuse. So, it's peer pressure again.

Needless to say, he reluctantly reset the settings to normal.  Life went on and again today I interrogated if he had changed the setting again.  Mumbling some inaudible remarks, he tried to evade the topic.  As I was on the computer, he was 'forced' to restore the settings there and then.  Guess what! He asked if he could do it other times but I relented. 

Without doubt, he must be trying to remove some postings from FB which he didn't want Mom to see.  He was lucky that I was on the phone then that I did not stop him from deleting those 'confidential' posts.  Still not learning from his lesson, he threatened that he would be quitting Facebook and opened another account on Google Plus. 

When being questioned reason for doing it, he rebelled, "I just want to join another social network."

It seems that all kids set privacy settings to their mother who are friends to them for obvious reasons.  But, at least my nephews dare not do that to my sisters.

He destroyed three bags in two years

His first school bag , a trolley bag, when he was in Standard One met the end of its life in less than six months.   His second bag (a backpack) was slightly luckier, it met its death only after about more than a year.  Well, the reason is very simple.  He couldn't drag this bag like a trolley which he did to his first bag.  Having his classroom located on higher level made things worse as he ignorantly drags his bag down steps.  It is understandbly why kids do that judging from the tonne-like bags they carry. 

His current bag was transformed or rather salvaged from being a trolley bag to a backpack. (as shown on the picture).  Actually, Mom had earlier wanted to remove the handle to convert it into a backpack after realising that the books are just too heavy for Wyng's back, much to Wyng's annoyance.  As it's not easy to 'break' or 'remove' the handle without damaging the bag, Mom just left it as it was. 

Come one day Wyng brought back another surprise.  He came back with a 'handicap' bag, as shown in the picture.  Mom was overjoyed but a little stunned how on earth the handle could have broken.  Glad that the bag naturally converted itself to a backpack, Mom questioned Wyng what happened to his bag.  Twisting and turning his words, Mom couldn't get much sense out of the story he cooked up.  As always, Wyng pointed fingers at his friend. Everything, including the base, was broken too.  So, Mom removed the handle and the base and Voila! the old bag is given a new life!

With the trolley bag being destroyed, he now carries a backpack. This will last him until end of the year before the school holidays begin.  Beginning Year 3, he will be owning his fourth bag, a record-breaking event in the family.

My kid cooking up a dish

Hoe was finally allowed to demonstrate his culinary skills, cooking one of the easiest dish to prepare, Japanese curry chicken.  As Mom hasn't really tasted this dish before, it really depends very much on Hoe when it comes to buying the ingredients and its preparation.  Now, buying the ingredients was a bit of a hassle as Mom and Hoe argued on what type of chicken to use.  Learning to cook this dish in a church activity, he was quite certain that chicken fillet was used but Mom was adamant as Chinese prefer boned chicken.  We finally settled for the latter, much to Hoe's agitation.

The most important ingredient

Vermont curry was the one we bought. There are many in the market, I realised only after helping to cook this dish.  Mind you, the price for one pack isn't cheap, RM12 if I am not mistaken.  Oh yes, this is only available in supermarkets such as Isetan or Cold Storage under the Japanese products section or other retails shops which sell Japanese products.

Carrots and potatoes are part of the dish

As this is supposed to be 'his' dish, Mom chose not to interfere and allow Hoe to have free hand in the kitchen, well..some free hand, actually. Afterall, who will clean up the 'aftermath'? None other than Mom. Hoe prepared everything including cutting the carrots, potatoes and garnishing.

One thing Hoe learnt from this cooking activity is that the carrots and potatoes are supposed to be cut in similar sizes so that they cook evenly ie we won't get potatoes which are too soft or carrots which are too crunchy. 

Hoe, serious when it comes to cooking

Prior to cooking the chicken, Hoe was quite sure that fillet should be used.  He then removed the bone and only put in the meat into the pot, without my knowledge.  So, what's cooking was mainly chicken fillet.

This is what gives the curry its rich flavour

 The best and most flavoursome... Until now, I am not sure whether he had put too much (two packets in a box) into a serving for about four person. 

Does it look mouth-watering? Not so...but wait til you taste it

 It might be too thick and overly rich but for a novice like Hoe, I still think this simple dish was not bad at all.

Japanese curry chicken, the easiest to prepare

Voila! Japanese curry chicken ready to be served.  Daddy gave a 'not too bad' rating. Mom gave 'ok, quite tasty'.  'A little too thick' was Ah Pho (Grandma)'s comment.  Now, even the picky Wyng was bold enough to try this dish and said 'not spicy one and just like the dahl curry for roti canai'.

With all those encouraging comments, Hoe feels a great sense of satisfaction.  He promises to do better next time. Whether the dish turns out great is not important, what's comforting is to know that Hoe is committed and serious when he ventures into something.

What small talks are the kids indulging in?

When they are in good terms, you will find them engrossed in talking about their stuff.  So, what do a fourteen-year old and an eight-year old talk about?

* a computer game where they were discussing how best to play to win or what are the best ways to attack some targets.
* a movie, be it a comedy or a science-fiction thriller which they have just watched. What the actor had done to escape or defeat the villain, accompanied by sound effect from the weapons used in the movie.  What the foolish actor had done or said in a funny movie and what follow would usually be laughter and mad giggles.  Mimicking the comedy actors is also part of their conversation and this part is the most amusing and boisterous.  Often Mom has to step in to stop the unruly chattering especially in public.
* a kind of sports, say basketball or football, sometimes after watching a football or basketball tournament on television.  As the Qo Qo, Hoe will be displaying his skills to his brother in attempts to show that he is more superior.  Wyng would innocently listen and tried to be as good as his Qo Qo. At times, our study room turns into a football field, much to the annoyance of Mom.

Wyng: I don't think it pricks to touch this.
Hoe: Yeah, it won't hurt you. Just prick harder.

Whatever the kids talk about, as long as they are not immoral and they don't turn uncontrollably boisterous, and no exhibition of superiority by Hoe, Mom is perfectly fine with it. Afterall, what other time can they bond if not by chatting or playing?

He's luckier than his older brother

This was posted on 13 November 2008 in my previous blog. Here is a reposting.

This is his second trip in less than 3 months. How lucky is he? His first excursion was to High 5 bread factory in Shah Alam. When he came back, he told me lots of bread-making stories. His animated gestures amuses me.


Yesterday, I allowed him to join his school to Aquaria,KLCC. He told me a little fish story, not too much though. But, I think he enjoys the trip. None of us in the family has been to Aquaria yet. So, he's very fortunate. By the way, when I asked him again about his adventure to Aquaria, he told me dissatisfactorily that his friends pushed him away and wouldn't allow him to watch the fish.

Compared to Wyng, Hoe wasn't as lucky. When he was at Wyng's age (he's 5 now), I'd never allow him to join any outdoor trip organised by the school. He was our 'jewel of the eye' then. And, we just find him too petite and fragile to be allowed to venture out of school compound even though we were assured of security and what not. I don't take any risk at all with Hoe.

Hence, he had NEVER joined any trip in his kindy days. He was green with envy knowing that his little brother gets to visit all those places.

Why can't they be happy birds?..for the sake of positivity

Out of the blue, this character is becoming so popular among kids, ranging from those in early teens to those as young as three.  Even Wyng who I hardly allow much computer time knows this character. Kids are owning pencil cases, bags, tee shirts and what not with faces of this angry bird, even cakes are now 'architectured' using these faces. 

But, why can't these birds be called happy birds? Yeah, their eggs got stolen by err...pigs.. So?

With the kind of immense popularity that this bird enjoys, I doubt if any kid still remembers Sesame Street's

Big Bird.

Mom's first attempt at baking muffins

And what a failure! First, I forgot the oil. How can this happen when oil is one of the most important ingredients? Second, I didn't sieve the flour using a proper sieve. And lastly, I should have used butter instead of olive oil!

Despite the failed infant attempt, the consolation is I had a very enthusiastic helper in the kitchen. In fact, prior to the baking session, I had ambitiously assured him that he could be having muffins as his snack the next day.  And, he was convinced that Mom can really bake edible muffins. 

The recipe seems simple enough. I thought this shouldn't stop a novice from making nice muffins, what with Mom who used to bake banana cakes umpteen years ago.

This was what we used to sieve the flour.  I thought this would be better than not sieving at all as I had totally forgotten about buying one.  Sigh....

As Wyng was the one who beat the eggs for me, I had carelessly forgotten about adding oil or butter into it before mixing the egg and milk mixture into the flour.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the egg mixture into it. Stir well but do not overmix.

This is the result of the batter. Wyng enthused and pointed eagerly at the recipe book that the batter looked exactly the same as that in the picture.

Separating the batter into two portions.

Instead of cocoa, I used Milo to make my chocolate marble muffins. Wyng had such thrill just by mixing the Milo into the batter.

The batter, separated into two portion, one portion with Milo, one without, was to be spooned alternately into the tray.

It was only at this stage when the muffins were being baked in the oven that I realised, OMG! Mom had forgotten something!

Look at the flat muffins. See how dry and unappetising they are! They look so different from the glossy and mouth-watering muffins in my recipe book.  Not wanting to give up, I made another 6 more muffins, this time I didn't forget the oil but I used olive oil because that's the only type of oil I have in my kitchen. 

Sigh... Probably because I was using the healthy olive oil, the muffins weren't moist at all and they didn't rise! The recipe did say sunflower seed oil or butter. So, I figure olive oil will do the job.

Oh no, and I thought making muffins was easy. My 18 muffins turned out to be rather flat, dry and hard. The hardness is similar to 'nien gao' when it's not cooked.

Should I sell the piano?

Now that Hoe has taken his Grade 5 piano exams and would not be attending music classes (not until he has decided whether he will commit some time to piano), the piano seems to be a white elephant at home. Not only that, it reminds me (and Daddy) of the hard-earned money spent on investing for a piano for the kids.

It is almost a month now since his practical exam, and the piano is still untouched! Dusts is thickening day by day.  My reminders to play the piano (play just for fun) fell on deaf ears.  Probably a sterner reminder is called for. Or perhaps a threat will work better. 

Wyng is not musically-inclined to want to even learn the piano. So, there is no hope on him to even touch the piano.