My dad

I suspect he's a problem child when he was young.. :)

That's because he makes me pulling my hair out everytime I take him out for Kai-kai.

Happened not only once. Not even twice. Can't be sure how many times it repeated itself.

He wouldn't be following your footsteps when we go on shopping trips. That's ok.

He wouldn't answer your phonecalls when you want to tell him it's time to get going, it's workday and schoolday the next day. That's still ok.

He wouldn't be trying to look for you and ask if it's time yet. That's...ok.

He wouldn't answer to the pager on the PA system. That's....you tell me.

After searching high and low for him and the legs are numbed, he would still be wandering away seeing we weren't really on the way out yet, just ABOUT to be...I don't know how to deal with him anymore.

He's my dad, much respected and loved by us, but yet, he's like a little child, have to be admonished for his bad bad behavior.

Anyway, I told mom, admonishing him won't do any good. He won't change, accept that fact.

So, I told her, there would be 2 solutions to this problem.

1. Not take him to any shopping kai-kai anymore, unless someone is willing to follow him wherever he goes.

2. Let him wear his phone around his neck with something like this.Or even solution (3)...set his ringtone on some sexy lady voice calling his name, that would surely make him answer the phone before he starts to blush.



Nevertheless, he's still my dad I love who took care of his family well, and who spoilt my mom to bits. What a dad!

What I did for Earth Day

Sometimes it's fun talking to children. My eldest son is rather inquisitive, which is something I would like to encourage him to do. I think I am too used to my own upbringing of "Don't ask questions. Sit down. Accept what I said. Can't understand what it's all about, then just memorize". Seriously.

And I believe it's not good at all. That's why I would like to see my children inquiring more. Though at times it's rather frustrating. No, "at times" is an understatement. It's most of the time VERY the frustrating and irritating. Especially when my mood has not been so nice and he would be buzzing like a bee near my ears, strumming "mommeeeeee.... mommeeeeee...." all the time.
Some of the times, I would be very patient to explain what he's asking. Some of the times, I tell him not to disturb me and play far far. That's when I would also feel terribly guilty, so afraid that one day the table would turn around and I am the one to be begging him to TALK TO ME!!! Yeah, I know eventually, that day would come!

Yesterday, while I was driving them home from school, it surprised myself more that even though I was in a very blardy pissed off mood, I was having fun explaining to him what plants can do for us... really!

He started off by asking me why don't we plant a tree, a fruit tree like papaya tree, but how do we plant a tree exactly?

I said, firstly, we need to get ready with some seeds. Seeds of the fruit we want to grow, of course. Then, we dig a little hole, put the seed inside and cover back with soil and water it everyday.

He asked, what do the seed eat then? How do they grow then?

Oh, we feed them with urine and shit (He goes :( urgh...yucks!). See? Plants take what we humans do not want, and not only that, they breathe carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the air for us humans as well.

Oh, he exclaimed. What is carbon dioxide and oxygen? he asked.

I said, oxygen is what humans need, breathing in the air into our lungs and the lungs would filter it, keeping the oxygen in our body and releasing carbon dioxide into the air.

What are lungs? What are they for??

See? The conversation could go on and on and on... as I explain, he would be inquiring and asking further. That's why these kind of conversations would make me more exhausted than running a marathon.

However the reward is much more than just receiving a trophy. At the end, he would be giving me that amazement look which probably says "WOW! That's how things work? My mom is really a genius! She really knows damn lot of things!" Haha.. (Wait until he knows the truth, huh?)

I guess that still didn't beat the time when he tells his dad "Go and ask mommy la, mommy knows everything one!"

Well, I guess this is parenthood. Though I beg to differ when my mom tells him "Don't ask so many questions. Children shouldn't be asking so many questions", I would be encouraging him silently to keep asking. But don't disturb me, disturb the father please.

So, who says my son is not smart (yes, when both the mom and dad are so smart, especially the mom)? I shouldn't be even disturbed that anyone would call my son not smart enough, especially from that someone who really pissed me off so much that day. I guess they should just go to ...

Anyhow, co-incidentally, today is Earth Day and I was telling him about the works of the greens. I guess that's one tiny little thing I did for this Earth Day, no?

And I am obliged to do this tag by Jo-N as well to "save our earth", since we are in this topic.

Save our Earth...

This site is a sponsored site where every click will generate fund to purchase and preserve endangered land. All you have to do is to click on “Click here to give – it’s free” button and the sponsors would do their part in terms of funding.

The second site contains quiz questions and every answer you provide helps plant a tree. So, if you are curious about it, click here to find out more.

Earth, have a very Happy Earth Day, yeah?

My special guests

What a hectic week! I can't even recall what I had done the whole week.

But what I do remember is playing host to some of my special closest guests over for a 4 day 3 night stay at my own home.


Pictures taken years ago. I didn't find time to take pictures with them on this trip with his little sister, as I was so tired and exhausted after work each day.


He has such a charming smile. Everyone just adores him when he was a baby. But after the toddler years, as like any other children, he's not adorable and cute anymore. Just like my eldest son. Sometimes, you just wish they grow up fast fast and sometimes not.

I would have enjoyed myself more spending more time with them, but this week I was working as a fire fighter, so was busy saving lives, and no time to take a breather, let alone take pictures.

And before I knew it, their 4D/3N vacation in their koo-koo's home was at the end, and I was to send them off to their ah-yi's home.. sigh!

Nevertheless, I really appreciate my sister-in-law for taking them over to stay with us. It's just exactly the thing I love to have,, spending a few days together, sleeping over, better still if the kids can all camp out together (in my living room, that is) and the cousins knowing each other, playing with each other, getting on each other's nerves, sharing new ideas and discoveries, updating and gossiping on each other's lives...

That's what families should do.

CY, PLEASE let her read this. Thankyouverymuch, SH. I meant to take you and the kids off to somewhere nice to eat, but time was pretty short, we do it the next time you are back, ok? I hope you would continue to bring them over to stay every time you are back again. Hopefully, I won't be not as busy then.

TGIF - Movie day

Our normal "short break" from the routine is to catch a movie on a Friday evening, after work, to welcome the oncoming weekend. It's not a must-do, but it works good enough when the workload has been up to the neck for the entire workweek.

Last Friday, we took a few hours off again to "pak-tor" a bit, and to rest our minds. I selected this movie, after reading the synopsis, it sure sounds like a good one, what with my idol, Fatt-ko looking so cool in the poster. In my opinion, this image of his looks cool and smart, similar to the image "Mark-ko" he portrayed.

I was sure looking forward to this show.. with popcorns in hand and Coke in the other. I was thinking we can't catch it in time, having to rush from the office at the last minute work. But we made it to the cineplex... yip yip yooray!!!

When we entered, the show was already showing.. and hmm... how come it looks so weird? The setting doesn't look at all like the synopsis I read, nothing seems to relate to a war-torn China, with communists, guerillas, and all that.

It didn't seem like it's a preview either. After a few mins, I asked hubby to ask the guy sitting next to him how long this show has started. He hesitated for a long time, then kacau the young man next to him. We were told, it started about 15 mins ago. Then, hubby asked if it's "escape from Huang Shi"? I could hear him laughing below his reply "No, this is Nim's Island"...


WHAT??

But can't be, we are very confident we went inside the right place. We double checked out tickets and that boldly said "ESCAPE FROM HUANG SHI" alright. Hmm.. finally! A chance to argue for a free movie, thought both of us! (Funny, we both thought exactly the same thing!)

Hubby then asked to see his new-friend's ticket. When we saw it...both of us looked at each other, don't know whether to laugh or to cry... It said Cinema 1! (Ours read 2)...

Really malunya... first time barged into a wrong cinema! And thought it was technical error and we could bargain for a free pass to another movie pulak! Funny thing is, how come there were just exactly the 2 empty seats in that cinema as well, huh?

So, we sat back, and tried to enjoy the show. It was a romantic comedy, quite entertaining alright, but my mind was upset as I was expecting to watch the earlier show. Well, there's always another Friday, right?

Another "first" for him

One of the many "firsts".


Yes, probably it's not a big deal, I'm just making a big hoo-ha out of this... but, but, but...

HE"S ONLY SEVEN PLUS, not even eight yet. Isn't that a bit too young to be wearing supportive tools to see clearly?

I wore it for awhile, and gosh, I can see the whole world in front of me filtered with Gaussian blurr radius 50 pixels, like how I normally make those special effects with Adobe Photoshop on my pictures. Poor thing, he must be seeing everything so blurry before this, and what a relief to be wearing those glasses on. Well, no point crying over spilled milk.


In any case, he does look rather cutely charming, I guess that might be just the thing that attracts girls to him later on, eh?

Moment of truth

This is the day.

Where we would know our 8 year old has to wear how thick a pair of glasses for a clear vision.

Sigh... I am soooo upset that his perfect eyesight is no longer perfect, like me. Guess I need to hold part of the blame, for not being a good mom, for not nagging him endlessly not to watch TV closely, not to play computer for hours, not to do this and not to do that. I don't like nagging, I try to refrain myself from being a naggy witch (being a witch is bad enough, but a nagging witch??? right?)

And that's what I get, a 4-eye-boy. A pair of glasses to wear all the time, following him wherever he goes, whatever he does.

The visit to the eye specialist has been procrastinated for the longest time, with the mom living in denial, until I can't bear to drag it any longer. It's definitely not good for him.

Opticians at normal optical shops can't read an accurate results for his short-sightedness, as children's vision hasn't stable yet, unlike adults. So, the eye specialist consultation is imminent.

The doctor told me, upon the first and rough check, that he has astigmatism too, if I heard correctly. Anyway, we need to go back and put eye drops on him for 3 days, twice a day, which would open up his pupil to get a proper check. And the consultation fee plus the teeny weeny bit of medication costs RM75. What to do?

Now, the 3 days are up, and today's the moment of truth. Now, I'm thinking what sort of glasses would make my little prince look charming, since I believe it's unavoidable already?

Life's lesson

This the headlines from "the Sun" today.

No fret, I'm not indulging into politics talk.

Just that daddy was reading the morning papers and decided to give an impromptu "evaluation" on his little missy, hoping the money spent since the first 2 weeks of preschool is worth every bit of it.

He pointed at the letter "A" and asked her what that letter is. She pointed to the paper and said..

"Babyyyyy..... babyyyyyyy arrrrrrr......"

Her dad said, "This one la, not the baby picture"...

Little missy said "baby arrrrrrrrr......" Hahaha....

His dad gave up, and commented that she really "ho liao", know how to filter what she wants to see and what not. I said "ya, just like you la, like father like daughter only mah".

An uneventful weekend

Longing for somewhere to go to...

.., maybe just an evening at the playground (not only my kids, I myself miss going to the playground by now!)


..., or a picnic with friends I haven't seen for a long time (everyone seems to be busy as a bee these days)


... or just going for a splash at the pool. But rain...drops keep falling on my head (singing the tune in my mind)...


I miss all those times. It's really not a fun thing to be working on weekends. Even though it's half a day, by the time I get back, I wasn't in the mood to go anywhere or do anything, except to lie down on my soft comfortable bed and sleep.

But today was a good weather day, just good enough to go make a splash in the pool with the kids. So, I forced myself to get my lazy butts up and changed into my swimsuit. By the time I got there with them, the sky was fiercely rumbling with thunder. We had to abort the idea and my mood gotten so sien. Why it seems like the weather was teasing and inviting us to play and then threatening us with fiery zaps to burn our butts out? It did seem like that. Hmm...

Droplets of rain on my bedroom window's pane. Can't believe I was just staring out at the heavy rain for some time today.

And before I could seize any remains of the day, it was dinner time and left a few hours before bedtime. But not before I finally snip my son's hair. He's back to his normal self again, by the way, he was feverish for a day only, thank God.

Jeez... it's back to Monday again already? Oh, suddenly I miss my hometown. Feel like going back to see my dad and to eat all the food I am so fond of. Might just do that this coming weekend.

And, oh, why do I have this craving for Japanese food? I had been pestering my hubby to go for the Japanese buffet.

Next weekend would be better than this...

Virus scare

With all the virus scares globally, I am now more paranoid than before when any of my children gets unwell.

Before, I had been confident to just feed them with paracetamol if they had been feverish, and let them rest, drink lots of water and herbal tea, and then their body would be able to fight off the enemy in them naturally in a flash, while building up their immune system.

Nowadays, I am not so confident anymore. The virus and bacterias has developed and evolved. It's disheartening to see our own flesh and blood getting all weak and motionless fighting the battle in them.

My 2nd son was still active yesterday morning when we was off to his school. By the time I fetch him home, he was looking pale and weak. And it went on, with his body temperature shooting up.
He didn't want to eat anything at all, so I had to nurse him like a little baby again and make him eat something, so at least he can have the paracetamol without an empty stomach.

Last night, I woke up at 5am to check on him and he was running quite a high fever. Almost panicking, I immediately jumped out from bed to get the suppository to use on him. Suppository should work better as he hadn't been eaten much food, and the effect can come on faster as the medicine would go straight into his blood stream.

When I put it in his anus, he woke up in a blurr, and said in a worried tone "Mommy, you broke your finger!" I thought that was rather cute, amidst him all weak and feverish.

From then on, I couldn't sleep tight, giving him a little sponging, and checking on his forehead until I had made sure his temperature dropped back to normal.

After awhile, it was time to get up to send the elder one to school. By the time I was back, I told his dad I'm taking him to see the doctor and will be going to work later. He agreed, hmm..

A visit to the doctor, he became slightly active again, seeing all the toys laid there on the matted floor. The doctor told me his throat is showing signs of inflammation and would be getting worse. So, it's good I have brought him over and to start on the normal medication of antibiotic, cough, flu and phlegm and paracetamol.

We came home and he took all the medication dutifully, counting the bottles and telling me what color they are and what it tastes like, each of them.



Whew! Relieved to hear it's the normal bug. Hope it will pass soon.

This post is not really about him getting sick actually. It's more about how he could light up a moment or tickle us to bits with his funny remark or a gesture.

Just the other day, I bought home some durians. He didn't see me bringng it home but when I opened it, he, sitting on the other side, suddenly blurted out in disgust "Whoa!! Who just farted? That really stinks!" My mom and I laughed till our sides ached.

Like yesterday, his dad came home from work and after dinner, cuddled him to sleep on his side on the sofa. His dad, of all times, kept teasing him and ask him if he wants this or that (the usual stuffs son normally would be jumping up and down for). The boy was so tired to even answer his dad's questioning, that eventually, he used his palm to cover his dad's mouth, obviously a sign to say "SHUT UP PLEASE".

I think I better shut up now too.

Day to fool anyone

I almost forgot it was the day today. That was until I hopped over to kennysia's and saw his "special announcement". Haha.. he really got me there. I was quite believing what he had written right until the end. Good one indeed.

That made me wonder why had I stopped thinking of pranks to pull on the people around me. I guess age has taken its toll. Now, that made me think what was the best April Fool joke I ever had before.

It should be the time when I was in the varsity days. My housemate, a Stephen Chow fan, is the mischievous type. He had, in the morning, put salt into everyone's hot water bottle, and waited to see our reactions on the face when we get up in the morning to make our daily Milo drinks. It was really a day full with laughter, and oh, how all of us ran after him to teach him a good lesson.

This very special day is also my nephew's birthday, the very first grandchild of my parents. So, naturally, he's very much loved by all of us. However, he's never spoilt by his parents i.e. my brother and my sister-in-law, and he is very much well-behaved, well-mannered and smart. Oh boy, he's turning 13 this year, thirteen years passed since he was born! Can't believe that.

KJ, koo-koo wishes you a very happy birthday, and I'm so sorry that I haven't been able to know you better as you are growing up so fast into a young man so soon. Wish we could have communicate more and not growing apart as you are growing up. Wish my children, your cousins, could have a more memorable childhood together like how I had with my own cousins. Wish we weren't living so far apart and couldn't have dinners together every fortnight or going for trips during school holidays or celebrating Christmases together. I just hope you would know I do think of you and your siblings even though I have my own children now.

*sob*