The 3 of us in the car, heading to my sis's birthday dinner. I was the driver, while J and Wx were seated at the back.
Wx: So how? Which way to go?
Me: Wait, I think I know. Next to Capitol right?
Wx: Huh? No............it's at Beach Road.
Me: U sure? Isn't it next to Funan Ctr? (getting irritated)
Wx: No!!! It's near to where we went last week (raising his voice)
J: STOP FIGHTING!!!! USE THE GPS!
Monday, September 09, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Children Cancer Foundation (CCF)
Friends and relatives will know Singapore's Children Cancer Foundation has a special meaning to me. 8 years ago, my family lost my niece (aged 9) to Brain Stem Giloma, a very rare brain cancer with no known cure.
While at the hospital, a volunteer approached my brother and sister in law, and asked if there was anything they could do to help fulfill my niece's dream. It could be anything, a Disney vacation or a day being a "president". Nobody wanted to speak to her. We were not rude to her, but kindly rejected her kind efforts. To us, accepting CCF help felt like giving up and death was imminent. I remember the girl, visiting my niece weekly despite our refusal to speak to her. But in her little ways, she had made my niece's stay in the hospital abit more bearable. She loan us a portable DVD player, and would come with different DVDs and story books. Towards the end, there were talks of flying my niece to HK Disneyland, but we ran out of time. I know some of you will be thinking why so sturborn? Why refused the help?
My answer: It was not easy for us to accept a child's life was slipping away, especially someone close to your heart. We didn't want to give up hope, we didn't want to lose faith.
2 Saturdays ago, J's childcare had a fundraising event for CCF. We went and in a tiny way, I hope we helped.
While at the hospital, a volunteer approached my brother and sister in law, and asked if there was anything they could do to help fulfill my niece's dream. It could be anything, a Disney vacation or a day being a "president". Nobody wanted to speak to her. We were not rude to her, but kindly rejected her kind efforts. To us, accepting CCF help felt like giving up and death was imminent. I remember the girl, visiting my niece weekly despite our refusal to speak to her. But in her little ways, she had made my niece's stay in the hospital abit more bearable. She loan us a portable DVD player, and would come with different DVDs and story books. Towards the end, there were talks of flying my niece to HK Disneyland, but we ran out of time. I know some of you will be thinking why so sturborn? Why refused the help?
My answer: It was not easy for us to accept a child's life was slipping away, especially someone close to your heart. We didn't want to give up hope, we didn't want to lose faith.
2 Saturdays ago, J's childcare had a fundraising event for CCF. We went and in a tiny way, I hope we helped.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Our first official family meeting
We have been having HUGE problems getting Jarrett to wake up in the morning during school days. He has no problem waking up on weekends and usually wakes up much earlier than we desire. But on weekdays, it takes a lot of effort to get him to get out of bed. It takes alot of shouting, screaming and crying (J, not us) before he makes his way to the toilet to brush his teeth.
Another problem we have is him getting his piano teacher all rile up by the end of a lesson. His teacher is relatively young, unmarried and doesn't have much experiences handling a 5 year old, mischievous boy. J tends to get way too comfortable with her and tries all his tricks to make lesson "easier"for him. He seriously tests her patiences at times, and in one of the most recent lessons, I told her to be more strict, if not J will be walking all over her. Well, she didn't heed my suggestion, and got really really pissed one night when J refused to listen to her.
So...we have been cracking our brains on how to improve the situations. In the end, I thought "Ok, maybe giving him more say and responsibilities may help". I called for an official family meeting.
We started with giving him choices and let him decide what time to get up and when to go to bed. He picked, 7am and 945pm.
Next, we asked him if he wants to learn how to play the piano. He said yes.
And then we asked him, what he should do to learn better and he listed the below (wrote it all down by himself too)
1. Concentrate and listent to Teacher Lynn
2. Practise hard
3.Play Practise more of on playing with my little finger
4. Practise more finger drills.
Will it work? We don't know..but so far so good! =)
Another problem we have is him getting his piano teacher all rile up by the end of a lesson. His teacher is relatively young, unmarried and doesn't have much experiences handling a 5 year old, mischievous boy. J tends to get way too comfortable with her and tries all his tricks to make lesson "easier"for him. He seriously tests her patiences at times, and in one of the most recent lessons, I told her to be more strict, if not J will be walking all over her. Well, she didn't heed my suggestion, and got really really pissed one night when J refused to listen to her.
So...we have been cracking our brains on how to improve the situations. In the end, I thought "Ok, maybe giving him more say and responsibilities may help". I called for an official family meeting.
We started with giving him choices and let him decide what time to get up and when to go to bed. He picked, 7am and 945pm.
Next, we asked him if he wants to learn how to play the piano. He said yes.
And then we asked him, what he should do to learn better and he listed the below (wrote it all down by himself too)
1. Concentrate and listent to Teacher Lynn
2. Practise hard
3.
4. Practise more finger drills.
Will it work? We don't know..but so far so good! =)
Friday, August 16, 2013
Staycation for the little one
HB & I recently went on a couple trip. To make it up to the little one, we went on a staycation when we returned from our retreat. It wasn't some grand plans, just a simple day, away from home, away from rules, away from work, away from all our responsibilities. So what if the floor is wet? So what if Jarrett spends more time on Cartoon Network?
The boy has grown up!
At 5.5 yrs old, Jarrett has his first playdate at home. The first time he invited someone to our house!
Where did that screaming, brawling baby go? I know this is no big deal, having children over for playdates but this is the first time, he has done it all on his on. I wasn't the one who asked the neighbours to visit. Jarrett was the one, shouting across from our house to theirs, asking them to pop over and check out his piano. Well, it has been more than 20 mins, and they are still out in the living room, battling over Beyblades! And for a few seconds, I tried to imagine having 3 boys...shudders...not bad, just can't image having all that noise and energy in the house 24/7.
Where did that screaming, brawling baby go? I know this is no big deal, having children over for playdates but this is the first time, he has done it all on his on. I wasn't the one who asked the neighbours to visit. Jarrett was the one, shouting across from our house to theirs, asking them to pop over and check out his piano. Well, it has been more than 20 mins, and they are still out in the living room, battling over Beyblades! And for a few seconds, I tried to imagine having 3 boys...shudders...not bad, just can't image having all that noise and energy in the house 24/7.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
my little koala bear
a few weeks ago, J tried all sorts of tricks to sleep in our bed. Nothing worked until he said he wanted to try sleeping on me. so the little chap squeeze himself into bed, used my tummy as a pillow and my thigh as a bolster. The funny thing was, he really fell asleep hugging my leg!
Friday, July 12, 2013
3 more days...to J's Primary 1 Registration
Education is serious business in Singapore. This is the country where parents are capable of all sorts of "tricks" to get their children into reputable or popular schools. This is also the country where parents have to do volunteer work, to get a chance to ballot for a vacancy in their preferred school. In recent 1-2 years, it has gotten so bad, that even brand new schools with no established reputation need balloting to get a vacancy too.
Primary 1 registration can be a tears and sweat inducing exercise. Sweat when you have to put in 44 hours of volunteer work, doing things like acting as traffic warden and then the tears come, when despite doing so much extra work, you may not get the 1 vacancy you need.
On my husband side of the family, we have a cousin (not filthy rich) who recently spent all his money on a 30 year old property which cost SGD1.9 million, just to increase his chances of getting his children into one of the most talked about school in the country. Poor chap spent all his cash and had to take multiple loans to finance his new house renovations and furnishings. Even the TV was bought on loan.
So anyway, to cut the story short, this is the year where we have to play victim to the system.
We didn't do any volunteer work, nor join any alumni (not without trying. Pei Hwa does not have an alumni) so all we can do is to keep our fingers and toes crossed and hope J gets into my primary school. Will not hurt to pray!
Pei Hwa..we are coming for you!
Primary 1 registration can be a tears and sweat inducing exercise. Sweat when you have to put in 44 hours of volunteer work, doing things like acting as traffic warden and then the tears come, when despite doing so much extra work, you may not get the 1 vacancy you need.
On my husband side of the family, we have a cousin (not filthy rich) who recently spent all his money on a 30 year old property which cost SGD1.9 million, just to increase his chances of getting his children into one of the most talked about school in the country. Poor chap spent all his cash and had to take multiple loans to finance his new house renovations and furnishings. Even the TV was bought on loan.
So anyway, to cut the story short, this is the year where we have to play victim to the system.
We didn't do any volunteer work, nor join any alumni (not without trying. Pei Hwa does not have an alumni) so all we can do is to keep our fingers and toes crossed and hope J gets into my primary school. Will not hurt to pray!
Pei Hwa..we are coming for you!
We checked out the sharks and dolphins!
Little chap got lucky and took a day off school to check out the sharks and dolphins at the new (okay..not so new anymore) Aquarium at Sentosa.
Baby Sharks!
Giant Fish!
Jarrett, My Son
The hubby screwed up my layout and has been banished to his own blog land.
He can be found here: Jarrett, My Son
So family and friends, all weird posts here are wholly mine and all there ( Jarrett, My Son ) totally his. =P
He can be found here: Jarrett, My Son
So family and friends, all weird posts here are wholly mine and all there ( Jarrett, My Son ) totally his. =P
So the daddy has spoken
J's daddy has spoken. He said "mama, maybe you can start to write your blog again"
Apparently, WX shares the same thoughts that many lovely memories get lost along the way...but he doesn't understand that there are so many things to do in a day that writing here often gets forgotten. So he came up with a brilliant idea. He is going to write too.
So from here on, if you see a weird entry with different style of writing, you know it's not me, and it's not spam. It's J's Daddy.
Apparently, WX shares the same thoughts that many lovely memories get lost along the way...but he doesn't understand that there are so many things to do in a day that writing here often gets forgotten. So he came up with a brilliant idea. He is going to write too.
So from here on, if you see a weird entry with different style of writing, you know it's not me, and it's not spam. It's J's Daddy.
Wednesday, February 06, 2013
I love you lots?
On the way home from a wedding dinner .
Time: 11:30PM
J was exhausted and trying not to nod off in the car.
Me: J, you can sleep in the car if you want to. Papa can carry you home.
J: Really? I can sleep?
Me: Yes. Come, find a comfy spot and try to sleep
J snuggled up to me, and wrapped his arms around my waist (from my right).
Awww....heart melting, so sweet of him to want to hug me to sleep.
The next morning. Me with a happily melted heart asked:
Me: J...why did you want to hug me when you were trying to sleep in the car??
(Grining like mad)
J: Hur? Oh......hee......................
Feeling a little suspicious...
Me: You did so becos you love me or???
J: My bloster wasn't around.
Splat!
Time: 11:30PM
J was exhausted and trying not to nod off in the car.
Me: J, you can sleep in the car if you want to. Papa can carry you home.
J: Really? I can sleep?
Me: Yes. Come, find a comfy spot and try to sleep
J snuggled up to me, and wrapped his arms around my waist (from my right).
Awww....heart melting, so sweet of him to want to hug me to sleep.
The next morning. Me with a happily melted heart asked:
Me: J...why did you want to hug me when you were trying to sleep in the car??
(Grining like mad)
J: Hur? Oh......hee......................
Feeling a little suspicious...
Me: You did so becos you love me or???
J: My bloster wasn't around.
Splat!
Andy & Nicholl's Wedding, 19 Jan 2013
Hiatus
It's time.
It striked me the other day, that by taking a long hiatus from recording J's journet, I am actually losing precious memories of him.
Lots of funny, hair pulling incidents had happened since my last entry, and I am sad to admit that I might have forgotten many of them.
So I'm back, recording J's little growing steps. I want to leave him lots of memories and things which we can reminisce when the hour is late.
It striked me the other day, that by taking a long hiatus from recording J's journet, I am actually losing precious memories of him.
Lots of funny, hair pulling incidents had happened since my last entry, and I am sad to admit that I might have forgotten many of them.
So I'm back, recording J's little growing steps. I want to leave him lots of memories and things which we can reminisce when the hour is late.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Smoking hot
J was playing with his cars and trucks in the living room. He picked out a white truck and said to me:
J: Mama, this is for you!
Me: No..I want a hot car.
Looking at his toy cars, he picked out a red model with flames printed on the side.
J: Mama, this one is very hot! See got smoke!
J: Mama, this is for you!
Me: No..I want a hot car.
Looking at his toy cars, he picked out a red model with flames printed on the side.
J: Mama, this one is very hot! See got smoke!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Mooncakes
J's teacher left a note last Friday to remind me to pack a lunchbox on Monday (Mooncake Festival) so that J could bring his self-made mooncake home.
So on Monday morning, I spent some time nagging him to bring back the mooncake so we could see what he's doing in school.
At 5.30pm, the little one called.
J: Mama, can I watch DVD?
Me: Ok. Did you bring home the mooncake?
J: HUH? What mooncake?
Me: The mooncake you made in school today.
J: No...NO Mooncake!
Me: But Tr. Catrina said you would be making mooncakes in school today.
J: Oh.......that mooncake. We had a party in school today, Mama, and I ate it!
Me: WHAT? But I told you to bring home and show me. I just want to see what you have done.
J: Oh Mama, it was so ugly, so I had to eat it.
Me: ..................................
So on Monday morning, I spent some time nagging him to bring back the mooncake so we could see what he's doing in school.
At 5.30pm, the little one called.
J: Mama, can I watch DVD?
Me: Ok. Did you bring home the mooncake?
J: HUH? What mooncake?
Me: The mooncake you made in school today.
J: No...NO Mooncake!
Me: But Tr. Catrina said you would be making mooncakes in school today.
J: Oh.......that mooncake. We had a party in school today, Mama, and I ate it!
Me: WHAT? But I told you to bring home and show me. I just want to see what you have done.
J: Oh Mama, it was so ugly, so I had to eat it.
Me: ..................................
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
J's first movie
For the first time, in 3.5yrs, J was treated to his first movie. Sure, he has watched stuff on TV, like Ice Age etc, but never at the cinema. The little kiddo was so hyped up about the whole thing. He "invited" the whole family and even his "gf" from school, though we only had 3 tickets. It was quite adorable to see how excited he was.The days before the movie treat, he did (almost) everything we told him to do. He brushed his teeth with no fuss, drank his water when asked, he was practically a little angel, all because he wanted to see PANDA!
On the "big" day, we picked him up at 5 from school, had an early dinner and found our way to Suntec Eng Wah to collect our complimentary tickets (from our very nice financial advisor), got the pop corns and got seated. Figured out we should get him settled down first. The little guy was munching quite happily on his popcorns while waiting for the movie to start.
10 mins into the show:
J: I am not ok. I am not ok at all.
Mama & Papa: Why? What's wrong?
J: Why are all the lights turned off? Why is it so loud? I don't like it (pouts)
Mama & Papa: Errm...but it's like this in the cinema. You'll get used to it. Shh....don't disturb others ok?
5mins later:
J: I don't like it. It's too loud.
Mama: Eat ur popcorn.
half way into the show, with no more popcorns.
J: I want to go home now.
the scene where panda's Mama got killed:
J: ah.........(brawls) sob sob...........I WANT TO GO HOME
Papa & Mama: WHY?
J: Cos Panda lost his mama....sob..sob...sob...sob...
Papa: Ermm..why don't you close ur eyes and sleep.
J: OK! (snuggled up in Papa's arms)
So it wasn't so great, the experience. J didn't enjoy the movie, hated how loud it was in the cinema and got really upset with how Panda lost his real parents (he had a nightmare that nite). I guess there will not be any movie treat any time soon. LOL
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, April 04, 2011
The result of too much WordWorld
Taking a walk up Bukit Timah Hill. J: Look Mama! Big spiderweb! All of us walking nearer and J crouching down for a closer look. J: Why is there no "W. E. B" on the web?? LOL Well, at least the little one's getting his spelling right
It's been a while....
So it's been a while....and as the saying goes, time heals all. Well, at least we feel normal and life goes on. I still hate it when someone tells us to try again. Don't, ok?
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