A Hectic Week

Never in my life have I imagine that so many things can happen in a short span of a week. I am truly drained of all energy, both emotionally and physically.

The week started fairly uneventfully with the usual lessons in school and then on Tuesday I was on childcare leave as Meryl was not feeling well and had to go to the doctor's. On Wednesday, Kyle also had a short bout of fever in the evening which was rather sudden. As usual he demanded the usual pampering, such as massaging his tummy, applying vicks on the sole of his feet etc. Thankfully, his fever subsided and he was up and going the next day. On Wednesday it was my turn. I suspect that the virus was going around and my throat was again first to succumb. I had fever on Wednesday night and had to forfeit my weekly badminton game and stayed at home to rest. I made myself many kinds of flu tea and the fever subsided and I resolved to go to school the next day as I had planned some remediation lessons with my classes. But fate had a different plan for me.

On Thursday morning, I was awakened by the vibration of my phone at 4.40am in the morning. It was to be the most shocking news of the week...to be continued..

Meryl's Massages

If you ever have a chance to piggy-back Meryl or carry her in your arms, you can always request for one of her massages as payment. She is Great at it!

This is how it goes; She steps on your back and uses a variety of 'steps' to ease your aches away. (she uses the ledge of our platform to steady herself while doing it)

Her routine includes, 'marching steps', 'walking on heels', 'the twist' (latest)'tippy toes' and a funny one that she stands on one leg and uses the other to 'pound' on the opposite side. I love her 'walking on heels' most as the effect is so good especially on all the vital acu-points.

She has perfected her 'art' to the extent that she can read her books while giving one of her 'foot' massages to me or her daddy!

Night time. Bedtime. Both kids sleeping over in room with me. Meryl started coughing and it was phlemy. I asked her to roll over and kneel down so I can pat her back to loosen her phlegm. After patting, she turned over and said this to me.

"Mummy, tomorrow you remind me to massage your hands ok?

So thoughtful.

Kyle's request

Tonight, I showed Kyle my blog about them and read to them what I wrote about their antics. I wanted to acquaint him with blogging as I told him that I would like to start a blog for him whereby he can also try and write about his day's events. He was tickled pink to read with me what I blogged about as he could still recall the events vividly, especially the day when he gave me his $50. Meryl came in halfway and listened to what I read and laughed at all the right places with me. I even verified with her what she said to me that night and she was able to tell me again, verbatim.

After that, he said that he would read me 3 Chinese books (as I had just read him the entry on him making the promise to me) and he did it very well. Then I put them to bed. As I said the goodnight prayer with them, Meryl started doing somersault while repeating what I said. Then Kyle started doing the same thing. I immediately took the cane and told him that I would not hesitate to use it on his buttocks if he does it again.(btw, the canes have all become white elephants as there was no real need to use them)

He asked, "What did I do wrong?'

I told him that he is talking to God and he is being most disrespectful by doing gymnastics in the midst of praying. He then apologised and we finished our prayer without much ado.

Before I left their room, he requested that I 'write it down' in my blog. I ask him, 'Write what?' He replied to write about what he did wrong down. So here I am writing this blog entry!

The Choice

Their uncle and aunt brought the kids out for dinner tonight and the parents tagged along! We had a meal at KFC and then walked around a bit and the kids had ice-cream. Then when we gave the kids a choice, as to where they want to go next, surprisingly, Kyle chose Popular Bookshop over Kiddy Palace! He went straight to his Ben 10 section to browse through Book 9 which was opened by some others ( I had already bought this book but he has yet to earn it from me). Meryl also settled down very quickly on the floor with one of the Princess book for a good 20 mins.

I left them to entertain themselves and browse through the adults non-fiction. I came across a book titled, 'A gift to my children: A father's lessons for life and investing' by Jim Rogers. I had happened to watch an interview given by him that very afternoon on Channelnews Asia while having my lunch at 4.30pm. He is a very successful investor, fund manager and had made enough to retire at the age of 37. He had since penned a few books on investment but this book was a collection of wisdom that he hoped to pass to his children. It struck me that the he uses a lot of his life experiences as examples to teach important values for the young. It was vaguely similar to my hubby's nightly 'Thinking Game' ( a term that Kyle coined for the time the dad spend with them before they sleep) with the Duo. Every night they will 'talk' about a topic and the hubby will ask them questions and they have to 'think' and then answer. The Duo loves this 'Game' and looked forward to it every night. They also compete with each other to see who can 'think' faster and come up with the 'answer' faster. More often that not, they have to explain their answer before the dad is satisfied with it. So as I thumbed through the content of this book, I thought that the topics Jim Rogers touched on would provide a more structured guide for teaching the kids 'Character Development'. The Content includes topics such as 'Swim your own races: Do not let others do your thinking for you', 'Focus on what you like', 'Learning to Think,'Good habits for life' etc.

I bought it as a gift for my hubby hoping that it would be his gift for the Duo.

On Monday night, I lost my cool when my girl took extra long time to get in bed despite it being way past their bedtime. That night we allow the Duo to stay up till 11 to watch Survivorman on Discovery, as it was Kyle's current favorite show (and only show that he can watch on TV besides Man vs Wild). The girl, as usual, refused to sleep any earlier than the brother. By that time, she was already showing signs of tiredness but was trying to keep up a strong front. So when the show ended, I quickly whisked them to bed but the girl was still trying to prolong the bedtime. By this time, I was getting impatient especially when she whined and insisted that I repeat the prayers as she wasn't paying attention. She took an extra long time to climb up her bunkbed and I refused to start the prayers over again and lost my cool with her. She burst out crying and her dad came to her rescue. I went out of the room to collect myself before going up her bed to explain to her why I was angry with her for wasting time and how it is already so late and that it would affect their rest for the next day. She was appeased and went to bed. After my hubby settled the Duo, we went to do our own things. About 10 mins later, she called for me. I went in, prepared to lecture her again. Instead I was surprised by her.

"Mummy, I want to tell you something.'
"What is it this time, Meryl?' I asked her impatiently.
"I'm sorry I was so rude to you just now." she apologised.
"It's ok, but try not to do it again ok? Mummy is sorry that I shouted at you too'.

At that, she suddenly burst out crying. I realised that it must have taken a lot out of her to apologise to me but I was glad she did. At least she was reflective and realised her own mistake.

On Wednesday night, the dad was out of town and the kids requested to sleep in our room. I agreed and the Duo bunked in with me to 'keep me company' whilst the hubby is away. I was dead tired that night and was in bed by 10 as I did not take a nap in the afternoon. Before sleeping, we talked a bit about the day's events. The I told them no more noise. Meryl turned to me and cuddled my hands and commented that my hands is always 'so nice and warm'. Then she said something really sweet to me, out of the blue.

'Mummy, thank you for everything that you have done for me. I love you sooooo much.'

Of course, it brought a big smile on my face. I have no idea what brought upon such a remark and I have no idea if she really understood what she was saying. All I know is that she one expressive kid who is in touch with her feelings.

Kyle's Penitence

Our library books were overdue and we needed to make a trip down to Compasspoint. The Duo immediately settled down on the ground, pouring through the books they found. It was without much hassle that we chose the books they liked. Kyle chose a book by Dr Suess, 4 books on Berenstein bear and a pictorial fantasy. The only problem we had during check out time was that we had 2 books too many.

After that we proceeded to the Kopitiam foodcourt to have some dessert. That was when Kyle's 'nonsense' started. He wanted to go to Popular bookshop to browse through his Ben 10 books and was very impatient. He started whining and then insisted on playing with my handphone although I gave him strict warning not to. The whining did not stop even after we got to Popular. He discovered that his daddy had gone for a haircut and he whined that he wanted to have one as well. I immediately set him in a corner to tell him off. He wanted Popular in the first place and now he changed his mind. He grouchily submitted and turned his attention to the books. He was soon engrossed in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. He asked to get it and I agreed on condition that he reads 3 Chinese books for me per day. He agreed and I bought.

At the hairdresser's, he met his dad and sister and he again whined that he wanted a hair cut despite our telling him that we will bring him to his usual hairdresser which costs only $7 compared to $10. He made a big fuss and said that he will pay with his own money. By this time, both the hubby and I were of the same mind that we needed a talk with him. He was to stand and face the wall once he reached home.

Once home, we told him what was it he did that upset us and how it had spoilt the outing. Then we spoke to him about the value of money and where it comes from. He is aware that we have to work for every cent we spend. He also claimed that he has worked for his own money by swimming and doing work (written)and has a right to spend it (btw, he had earned about $50 to date). I then told him that that is a reward that the daddy gave him and the dad still has to work for it. With that we let him go.

Minutes later, I was at the table writing a cheque for his insurance policy. I told him how much it cost and that I have to write another cheque to pay for their school fees as well. He stood there for a while and then he made up his mind. "Mummy, I'll give you my $50." he offered graciously. I accepted and thanked him. Following suit was Meryl who wanted to give me her $10 but her brother told her to give me her $2 instead since he had given me $50 already. Of course both were praised for their generosity.

Footnote: Just before sleeping, he asked me how much his Transformer book cost and I told him $10. Then he commented that he gave me more than what I paid for the book, almost regretfully. I then reminded him that his insurance and school fees came up to more that $2000 and he hurriedly nodded his head in agreement!

The Reading Family

Both the Hubby and I started on the 'Belgariad' by David Eddings sometime in March. It was one of our favorite fantasy epics which we both read during our late teens. In fact my hubby claimed that his English only improved after he started reading the series which consists of 5 books in "Belgariad', 5 books in 'Mollareon' and another 5 in 'Elenium (too bad he only started reading after his 'O's). There were also branch- offs from the series on specific characters from the book. So by his standard, that's a LOT of books he read then! Both of us decided to re-read it Again (3rd time or so for me and him too)! Every night we will commence reading time before bedtime and everyone of us will pick their own books and do individual silent reading, Meryl included. We will then spend about 15-25 minutes reading before lights out. (Btw, I am almost done with the 10th and final book of both Belgariad and Mallorean !)

For Kyle, I introduced him the Ben 10 comic series (currently Book 11) knowing that he prides himself in knowing everything about Ben 10. It was also because he was aware that the books that we were reading comes in a series. Thus when I told him about the Ben 10 series, he was very excited and couldn't wait to collect all ( like mum and dad). However, he has to work hard for it. It was a form of reward for him when he does something well, such as Abacus, swimming or taking initiative to do his work without prompting. It worked Wonders!! He is currently at Book 7 and still needs to earn Book 8 and 9 which I had already bought. Every night he'd pour over the 7 books he has, scrutinising the pictures and reading the words in the dialogue boxes. In fact, more often than not, he would refuse to go to bed until he finished going through the selected books for the night at least once. He seldom bother us when he is reading and is happy to be on his own. Now he has also acquired the habit of bringing along a few books whenever we go out!

As for Meryl, she is into her Princess books. It started when I played them an audio CD of 'The Little Mermaid' in the car. They enjoyed it so much and was able to follow the narrator so well that by the end of 1 week, both could recite the story. I then went on to buy a few more such as "The Lion King', Snow White and the 7 dwarfs', 'Cinderella', beauty and the Beast', 'Thumbelina' etc. Meryl loved to be able to pick up the books and look at the pictures and make Many comments on them. She also loved to just sit there and listen to the cd, lost in a magical world. There are times, when I would play the cd in her room for her and there are times, she was just thumbing through the books during our reading time, on her own. Like her brother, she also insists on bringing books out with her. I am comforted to know that I have managed to impart my love for books to them and inculcate in them this habit of reading.

The kids have an assortment of books ( about 3 shelves full of both English and Chinese books) that I salvaged from book fairs and Popular in JB ( I LOVE Book Fairs!) There are also certain authors that I have introduced them to with a wide selection under their belt, such as 'Curious George' by Hay Reyes, Tony Ross, Dr Suess, 'Berenstein Bears' etc. It helps that they are familiar with the characters in the stories and sustains their interest. I have found it an effective way to keep them asking for more as they are curious to find out what else the characters in the series do. Kyle started with 'Curious George' at about 2 plus and he is now able to read it on his own. There are periods when they are obsessed with certain things and we will then go library to borrow more on the subject. One example was when both of them were fired up about learning the different functions of the body. Books on 'Digestive System', Respiratory System', 'Nervous System' were then hunted down and they poured over it.

One of my favorite place when I visit JB is Popular Bookstore at CitySquare. Here is where I buy All the Chinese storybooks for the kids. They cost about half the price in Singapore! They also have bundles at times which made it even cheaper. For some reasons that I do not understand, the cost of Chinese books (those with big pictures and one sentence below it) is ridiculously high, sometimes between $3-$6. The kids love the bright, colourful pictures and the words are simple enough for them to understand. There is another series that comes with dialogue boxes and the children are suppose to role-play. It was definitely a good way to engage them in reading Chinese. I LOVE it! I usually buy about 3-5 books per trip and then add on to their collection with every visit.

If you ever have a chance to sit in our car, you will notice that the pockets of the seats behind are overflowing with books. This is where I read most of the Chinese books to them when we are travelling from place to place. This is where they listen to their CD( when their mom is feeling lazy) and follow the narrator in telling the story. This is where they Fight most of the time over books as well. Now that I am blogging on this, I am thinking that actually most of their learning to read took place in the confined space of the car, since they have nothing better to do!! In fact, last week, we took a ride from a friend in their car and the 1st comment that Meryl made when she went in was, 'How come you have no books in your car?? Where are all your books?'

Both the kids know that their mummy will not buy toys easily for them ( in fact, hardly ever now) but when it comes to books, she will part with her money willingly...provided that it is not too expensive lah!

Meryl's school report (1st semester)

I had a pleasant surprise waiting for me when I reached home after a long, long day at work. Meryl's progress book! She received mostly Good for all areas such as Intellectual Devt, Self help, Motor Skills, Social Skills, Reading Skills, Writing Skills and Numeracy Skills. What surprised me was the number of Excellent grading she got! I must say that I have lower expectations from her than from her brother thus I was pleased to see that she was excelling in some areas. They were Emotional Development, Language and Literacy skills (speech, hearing and story) and in area of Creative Expression. I showered her with praises and at the same time told her of the areas that she needed improvements in.

Later that night, Meryl's teacher had a tele-conversation with me over her progress in school as I was unable to attend the Parent-Teacher meeting last Saturday. She told me that Meryl was an articulate, expressive and sociable girl in class and was the 'Little Helper', making sure that everyone packed up after class, keep their chairs etc. She was also a 'trend-setter'among her classmates. According to the teacher, Meryl has been singing "Ponyo on the cliff' ( a Japanese cartoon I brought the kids to watch and thereafter they learnt the song on Youtube) everyday and her classmates had caught on and they were also trying to imitate the Japanese cartoon characters and how they walk. However, she will also talk ten to the dozens in class whenever she does her work thus resulting in her always being the last to finish in class. In fact, the teacher mentioned that this was one of the problems she has; lack of focus as she only wants to talk and talk! The only time she can complete her work on time is when the teacher sits next to her.

Recognising words was another area of concern I brought up to the teacher as at her age, her brother was already reading independently with minimal help. Her teacher claims that she is progressing well although she discovered some of her 'tricks'. She will always choose to be the last to go through the guided reading with her teacher and on the pretext of being gracious, let others go before her. But instead of playing while the teacher is busy with the rest, she will be furiously going through the book and trying to catch the story in snippets from where she was, hoping to remember the words when it comes her turn (btw, she has a fantastic memory and can recite her audio books of 20 pages from 1st to last page). That was how she managed to score 9 stars in her recent Wordbank Booklet. No wonder when I tested her at home, she was unable to read some of the words!

The teacher also praised her on her leadership skills (!!! btw she is the shortest in class!!!) Apparently, she will help to issue instructions in class and makes sure that everyone follows suit. I have seen her in her element at home, trust me, she can be very determined and aggressive when it comes to certain things! According to the teacher, she is a natural performer...ha ha...seeks the limelight, will relish every opportunity to sing/act.( I recounted to the teacher a time when we were at Malacca and Meryl saw people performing on a stage and she insisted that she wants to go up to sing her 'Hokkien song'. It was only after much persuasion that we managed to get her to drop the idea. Phew! So far, she had taken part in 3 competitions, a Toddler contest where she came in 1st Runners up , a RC- organised talent song where she got 1st and a fancy dress cum talent show where she sang a medley of songs on stage without any signs of stage fright in front of a whole hall of audience).

Now my job at hand is to help her read better and learn to be more focused when doing her work!

Return of the 'CANE'

The cane has been conspicuously absent from my home for the past year as my hubby was all for alternative punishment (see earlier posts on corporal punishments). I remember times when my temper went amok that I went combing through the whole house for something even remotely similar in its function to a cane. For a short while, I found a substitute using the balloon sticks but atlas, it usually could not withstand the force of my anger. And the kids are not SCARED of it as the pain inflicted is too minimal!!

Of late, I found the need for one again. The Duo are getting way out of hand; not responding when called, taking their own sweet time eating their meals (and everything else), fighting (verbally and physically), throwing temper tantrums and being disrespectful at times. My endorsement came from another mom with 3 daughters. Her cane RULES!

Actually I have been threatening to buy one for the longest time but each time, my hubby will talk me out of it. Finally, last Sun, I bought 2 but lost one even before I reached the house. That cane which costs 50cents only lasted 1 use. Either I have super strength or they don't make canes to last nowadays.

I explained to the kids the 2X rules. If I call them and they do not respond by the 2nd call, they will recieve one stroke. If they play with and do not 'respect' the cane, they will also get 1 stroke. I hang it in the kitchen where they can see.

The next morning after I bought the cane, Kyle tested me out. He was to be given 2 strokes. However, when it was time to be caned, he bargained with me on how it was to be executed (how many percent strength i was going to use, to have his pants on, not wanting to pull his shirt up etc) It was really testing my patience and I added 1 stroke each time I counted to 2 and he was still not by the wall. It totalled 8 when he asked me to 'Shut up' and that made it 9 and then the 10th stroke was when he hit the wall with a massager. I really saw red by then and as much as I wanted to keep my cool, I lost it. The cane broke into half on the 1st stroke. The rest of the 9 strokes came in quick successions using the other half.

The next day, I stumbled on a medicine shop which was selling all kinds of stuff and bought another 4 this time (not taking any more chances with flimsy canes). That night, Kyle got 2 strokes ( in his underwear) and this time, he did not dare to bargain and stood by the wall for his punishment. He cried and I told him that I only cane using 10% of my strength and that this will increase with each punishment. My girl recieved 1 stroke but did not cry. Thankfully, all 4 canes are still intact!

June Holidays so far

Our 12-day trip to Australia was cancelled as the hubby did not want to run the risk of the kids getting infected even though we were heading for Cairns and not Melbourne. My effort at planning an alternative trip to either Redang or Tioman fell through as ALL were fully booked! The hubby was not keen to go Vietnam or Kuching and hence we were all STUCKED in Singapore. These are some of the things I did, with and without kids. Some are totally self-indulgent but justified .(Hey, I missed out on my holiday okay! I deserve a break.) BTW, I'm blogging all these while sitting through a 3-hr hair perm in JB..haha

Not in sequence, just what I can recall.

• Work review
• English remedial (2 days) and prata outing with students
• Oral exams
• Tree-top walk with 2E6
• Picnic cum kite-flying, frisbee at Anchorvale Link
• Children Art lesson (New)
• 7th wedding anniversary celebration
• Downtown East Explorer kids
• Playdate with triple E sisters, Double Q sisters and Zac
• Zoo outing
• JB shopping with Meryl and QQ
• JB day shopping with girlfriends
• Massage at the spa
• Foot reflexology
• Bowling at SICC
• Morning cycling sessions with Q and Q
• House viewing
• Grand nephew's 1 month old celebration at East Coast
• Swimming date with Chin Min's kids
• Swim Date with Victoria and Velarose

In the pipeline

Night Safari
One night hotel stay at Waterfront Copthorne

Too funny not to blog

It was bedtime for the kids and I had just spent 5 minutes with them and then left them to sleep on their own in our bedroom. It was expected that they would talk and play a little before they go to sleep. But after a while, my hubby and I could hear a heated argument going on and he went to give them a scolding. This was what I heard after he went in:

M: Daddy, kor kor hit my head.
Kyle tried to explain and then burst out crying as he had also been hit. He had hit his head while they were playing.
M: Who asked him to play the Jedi, fighting and fighting. If you want to play, then don't cry. You are not 1 year old okay...so shameful...I also never cry when you hit me..

Kyle continued crying while trying to describe to their daddy what happened. Meryl continued to lecture him in her most righteous voice while I was doubling up with laughter outside listening to her.

Kyle's 6th Birthday

This is going to be Kyle's last year in Ascension. This is also likely to be the last year he can celebrate his birthday in school with this classmates as he'll be progressing to primary 1 next year. Moreover, his birthday coincides with the Primary and Secondary mid-year exams which makes it even more difficult to celebrate in future. So despite the fact that I had 6 classes of papers to mark I decided to throw him a mini party at home on top of the one in his school.

I took leave on the big day and rushed down in the morning to Golden Landmark hotel to get some party supplies, kids' toys/games. tattoos, decorations etc before heading to Bugis to get his cake, some mini donuts from J Co and Chewy bites and cheese sticks for his party. After that the hubby came and picked me up to his school.

We arrived early and waited for his lunch break. The party packs, all 25 of them for the children were already delivered to school earlier on by the school bus. (cannot remember what went in to it except a packet of milo, a box of cereals, wang wang rice cracker and some other stationary. But definitely no sweets!) We took the chance to peep into Meryl's class and saw her sitting right in front, watching a video oblivious to the surrounding and our presence. We informed her teacher that we will 'borrow' her for her brother's birthday celebration later.

At about 1, Kyle and his class returned from the library and the teacher started organising them for photograph taking and then singing of song and cake cutting. Then they were seated in their various groups except for the birthday boy who was tasked to give out the cake, together with the jelly and donuts. After their lunch they had computer class. Instead of whisking him off like last year for a movie or some outing, Kyle chose to stay. Apparently they all loved the computer class. So my hubby and I left for lunch and then I headed home to prepare for the party in the evening.

We invited about 15 of his friends living in our 'kampong' (realised they were mostly girls!). I decorated the place whilst my maid cooked dinner. We prepared beef stew, beef bolognaise and cream sauce to go with pasta, thai dessert of glutionous rice with mango, hotdog stick with quail's eggs and marshmallow, jelly, fruits etc. The kids had fun with the tattoos, foam aeroplanes, helicopter toy and sand art. As usual, the birthday boy was the last to finish his dinner. We had to wait for him to finish, play a bit then cut his cake. The whole party ended at almost 9. I was dog-tired but was glad I did it. At least he can look back and say that he had his share of birthday parties even though it was not done on an elaborate scale like his sister's (whose birthday happens to fall in Dec and one week away from Christmas).

May-nia

May was a month of frantic activities, from mid year exams to Kyle's birthday parties to mother's day celebrations etc. I was so busy rushing from activities to activities, day to day chores to get down to any blogging. So here's a summary of what happened, as far as I can remember since it's been almost 2 months now. Would have posted up pictures if not for the sad fact that I cannot download the photos from my nokia phone to my Imac.

• Velarose birthday party at Park green
• Busy marking exam papers - 6 classes of Sec 2E compositions and 3 class of Sec 2NA History paper
• Preparation for Kyle's birthday celebration at home and in school (this itself requires a new post which I'd update later if time permits)
• Celebration of Jon's birthday at SICC - dinner cum bowling
• Mother's Day celebration at Waterfront Copthorne buffet lunch
• Ascension Kindergarten Open house
• Hotel Stay in Orchard
• Ah Chor's Birthday Bash
• Kyle's roller blading stint
• YH Wedding lunch with Meryl

On top of these were our weekly routine:

Tues - Drum and Chinese ink painting

Wed - Kid's swimming lesson

Badminton session

Fri - Kid's swimming

Sat - ballet and abacus

Grocery shopping at Giant

Sun - Dinner at Fil's place