Look what I’ve found underneath my pillow!
Given to me by my Sweet Valentine! But I can’t open it til 14th Feb. ???
When I asked her about it, she coyly whispered, “Mommy, it’s a SECRET!”
Little things like these brighten up my days.
My lovely 宝贝, if you happen to read this one fine day, I just want to tell you, “I love you lots and lots!!” ???
If you have been following my blog all these years, you will know that I’m not exactly a kid lover. Unlike some of my friends who go child crazy whenever they see one, I don’t. In fact, I try to keep my distance from them.
I was mightily happy with being able to take off whenever and wherever I wanted to. I wasn’t a bad person, just very self-centered. (There! I’ve said it! I hear some sniggers! ? you are supposed to disagree!)
Until one fine day…. I had a bee in my bonnet and decided that, “ok, perhaps it’s time to have a child.” Waaa! A lot of people bought 4D that day…
And she came along… On this very day, 6 years ago. 17 September 2009.
She was a textbook baby! Easy going, good temper, gobbled up everything, slept on the dot. Good fortune I have!! I must have done a lot of good deeds to deserve her!!
It was the best decision in my life, to have her. Being a parent has made me a better person. I used to feel very strongly against some issues but they now seem minute and petty. I think twice now if I want to do something bad (looks around furtively). Even if no one knew that I did it, but I know it and with that, I would have lost the right to teach my child the right thing to do if I can’t even do what I preach.
I also found that I could give up a lot of things for her. And I never knew that I was the self sacrificial kind. But hey! Maybe I had it in me all along! ?
I used to love working so much that I spent 14 hours at work a day. Madness!!! Now I can’t wait to spend 14 hours with her!
All my priorities have shifted. Money doesn’t seem as important anymore. Heck! I was even cutting back on work to spend time with her. I started reading parenting books, cooking books, any book that had to do with her. I even started cooking!! It’s a wonder that I haven’t poisoned all of us yet. (My Home Econs teacher must have been praying for me all these years after I almost poisoned her during food tasting in class. That’s another story altogether.)
She’s the total opposite of me; she’s whatever I’m not. Sweet, sensitive, empathetic and utterly devoted to all of us. I’ve been constantly reminded of that by my friends and colleagues. (you know who you are!) (although I’m sure I’ve those qualities, waiting to be discovered).
brother arrived. The ever devoted sister and self designated teacher to her little brother.
Today she’s 6 years old. And I love her to bits!!
Happy 6th birthday my darling 宝贝！I don’t know where I’ll be if you haven’t appeared. You are my miracle.
It all started because of this.
Me : Let’s chat! How’s your day?
宝贝 : Mommy, I’d like to finish reading my book first. (In a sternly reprimanding tone)
Gosh… For a while, I felt like I was the wayward daughter. ?
Sigh…! With the no gadget rule, I had nothing to occupy myself with. I had to resort to eavesdropping on the conversation at the next table. Well, not exactly eavesdropping because they were rather loud and expressive.
Son (probably in secondary school) : What’s this in the jug?
Mother : That is the salad sauce to go with your salad.
Son : Can I drink it?
Mother : Don’t be STUPID!! That’s for your salad.
By the way, the poor woman is surrounded by stupid people and things, namely her stupid phone, her stupid husband, her stupid son etc. And she announced to the whole restaurant about them. My heart goes out to her. I can’t imagine myself surrounded by so much stupidity…
Son : Ok!!
I imagined if I were her, I would probably tell him, “Yes! Drink it! Make sure you finish the entire jug!”
Oh well, that’s just me.
Ok, you are right… I was indeed, very bored…. ???
We have a no-gadgets rule when we are around the children at home. I can totally understand the agony a drug addict goes through when he goes cold turkey. Thank goodness it’s not for the whole day. Initially, when the children demanded my attention, I would be thinking,” Aiya… Hurry up! Go and sleep! So that I can get back to my cyber life on the phone!” Bad Mommy here!
The good news is, it only takes a few days of conditioning before I was weaned off that attitude. They grow up so very quickly. My little 宝贝口水妹 will be attending primary school next year and my 小小宝贝 has already turned two! Where has all the time gone!? 小小宝贝 giggles and rolls around when I tickle him. It’s still a novel sensation for him. 宝贝口水妹 pushes me away and glares at me, “Mama! I don’t like it!” She used to giggle and roll around when she was a tot. Sigh…!
So now, I treat every experience like it’s the last, because they outgrow it so very fast!! One day, he will stop caressing my face and pepper with it with kisses. He would probably say,”Ewww…! That’s so sissy!” Or something like that. Soon they will be too big for me to cuddle and hug, they will probably tower over me in a few years. Not a difficult feat, considering my dwarven size…
When I came across this poem, it felt so apt! It’s not fantastic in grammar and neither does it look very “chim”, but I’m sure all the parents can appreciate it. So, taking the words from Robin Williams’ Dead Poets Society – Carpe Diem!
The Last Time
From the moment you hold your baby in your arms,
You will never be the same.
You might long for the person you were before,
When you had freedom and time,
And nothing in particular to worry about.
You will know tiredness like you never knew before,
And days will run into days that are exactly the same,
Full of feedings and burping,
Nappy changes and crying,
Whining and fighting,
Naps or a lack of naps,
It might seem like a never-ending cycle.
But don’t forget,
There is a last time for everything.
There will come a time when you will feed
your baby for the very last time.
They will fall asleep on you after a long day
And it will be the last time you ever hold your sleeping child.
One day you will carry them on your hip then set them down,
And never pick them up that way again.
You will scrub their hair in the bath one night
And from that day on they will want to bathe alone.
They will hold your hand to cross the road,
Then never reach for it again.
They will creep into your room at midnight for cuddles,
And it will be the last night you ever wake to this.
One afternoon you will sing “the wheels on the bus”
and do all the actions,
Then never sing them that song again.
They will kiss you goodbye at the school gate,
The next day they will ask to walk to the gate alone.
You will read a final bedtime story and wipe your last dirty face.
They will run to you with arms raised for the very last time.
The thing is, you won’t even know it’s the last time
Until there are no more times.
And even then,
It will take you a while to realise.
So while you are living in thee times,
remember there are only so many of them
and when they are gone,
you will yearn for just one more day of them.
For one last time.
~ Anonymous
I’ve been a “single mom” for the last 2 weekends. I was running out of ideas to bring the kids out to places where they can be tired out in the shortest possible time. (ko so that I can have an afternoon of peace). I was toying with the idea of going rock climbing but 小小宝贝 couldn’t take part in it as he’s too young. I vaguely remembered from Shimian’s blog that there’s a trampoline place in the east.
Easy peasey. Did a google on it and yes!!! They allow young children into the trampoline area as long as they are able to walk, under the supervision of a parent.
So Amped Trampoline Park it is! I tried to book slots online but wow! It was full on sat! This place is really popular! So I settled for Sun morning.
And there’s free parking right beneath it!! Also a kopitiam on 1st floor. But it’s hard to starve in that area. It’s surrounded by good food.
As instructed in the website we brought along socks. Socks are sold at $3 for forgetful people. I was tempted to buy a pair for myself. They are non slip socks. It’s hard to find non slip socks for preschoolers and adults.
The 2 宝贝s couldn’t wait to get started. It’s a chore to get 2 excited kids to pose beautifully. Sigh!
As soon as we went through the net, 宝贝 abandoned us and bounced around happily on her own…
The next time I spotted her, she was drowning happily in the foam pit. I was so tempted to bounce around myself. But parental duties first. I had to shadow Mr 小小宝贝 around.
Initially he was upset that he couldn’t walk properly as everyone bounced around him and he lost his balance. He figured out that the easiest way to move around was to run along the adjoining blue strips. There he went!
Then he got a little bolder and started venturing onto the black trampoline surfaces.
Finally he couldn’t resist it and started jumping on it.
There he was! Landing with finesse after a baby jump.
And surprise surprise! Guess who we met there! My brother!!
His first time there too!!
I was conked out after 40 mins of running after 小小宝贝. Meanwhile I only saw flashes of 宝贝 hopping around. She sure has good stamina.
Conclusion : instant success! 宝贝 is already asking when I’m bringing here there again. And she wants to go with Jiu Jiu who can teach her tricks as he used to be a gymnast.
Proof of result :
✌️Peace reigns! That’s why I’ve time to blog now!
We are 100% going again! Anyone wants to come along??!!
Amped Trampoline Park
369 Tanjong Katong Road, Singapore 437126
(Level 2, above the kopitiam
*Entrance is up the staircase at the back near the carpark
*Free parking at location
Tel: 8669 4894
Email: info@ampedsingapore.com
Website: www.ampedsingapore.com
This feels like a déjà vu. When 宝贝 was around her brother’s age, we used to have bedtime talks. But nothing as violent as sumo wrestling, just pure talking.
Now it’s 小小宝贝’s turn. My children are all born chatter boxes. They started talking before they could walk.
We just started putting both of them to bed in the same room. Whilst 宝贝 is a wonderful sleeper (thank goodness!) who doesn’t wake up unless there’s an earthquake, 小小宝贝 doesn’t go to bed on time, gets up early and hates to sleep unless he’s forced to bed.
宝贝 has already fallen asleep. I was pretending to be asleep. 小小宝贝 was lying on his bed with his sister’s rabbit soft toy (named zhashi) which he has abducted and proclaimed that it’s his henceforth.
Deciding that he’s bored and not the least bit sleepy, he suddenly sat up with the rabbit in his arm.
“Zhashi is climbing up. Window is dirty. Zhashi clean window.”
I peeped at him discreetly.
The rascal was standing on his toes with his bunny at the window grills. He’s staging a “play” which revolved around a rabbit cleaner. ?
“Zhashi climbed high high. Aiyo! Zhashi fell down. Zhashi is pain pain.”
Then I heard sounds of mock crying. Waa..! Still have sound effects! At this point, I almost laughed out loud. It was so difficult to pretend to be sleep, keep a straight face and not laugh at his antics. He was rubbing his eyes, pretending to cry…
“Zhashi is tired. Zhashi sleep.” He gently put the bunny down on his pillow and covered the bunny with his own blanket. And laid down beside it.
Oh great! Finally he’s finally going to sleep!! ???
Within 5 mins he sat up again. Argh!!!! *pull out hair* ????
宝贝’s arm was dangling down from the side of her bed. He’s sleeping in a pull out between the wall and her bed. So her arm was practically beside his face. Too tempting!
He put his own hand in her hand and shook her hand. And laughed to himself. Then he started playing with his sister’s fingers. “1,2,3,4,5….” Then giggled to himself for reasons unknown to me. Then he started getting bolder and started tugging at her and pulling her hand.
Sigh! Why me!!
I sat up. And he stared at me in horror and screamed, ” no no! Mama sleep!!!”
“No! YOU sleep!”
With that I brought him down in a sumo hug, legs scissors crossed over him while he struggled. After 5 mins of screaming and struggling (amazingly, 宝贝 slept through the ruckus!), then all was quiet.
Mama 1 小小宝贝 0
In the car, on the way home. The sun was shining in our faces.
小小宝贝 : Mama! Hot hot!
Me : oh! The sun is on your face. Where are your hat and sunglasses??
小小宝贝 : (in a piteous voice) Forgot…
Wow! Although it’s not in full sentences, we are able to hold a decent conversation. 19 months old and already a chatty toddler.
Soon he’s going to wear my ears out with his incessant chatter. I can’t wait for that day to come!!
Me : (one hand lifting 小小宝贝’s poo-encrusted bum off the soiled diaper, the other hand trying to pull a stubborn wipe from its container) 宝贝 can you come and help me with this??
宝贝 : (very obligingly) ok. I’m coming. (As she was holding on to the container so that I could pull the wipes out) Mama do you know why it’s so difficult to pull the wipes out??
Me : no, why? (Expecting some scientific revelation)
宝贝 : (in a parental reprimanding tone) it’s because you lost your temper this morning and you threw it across the room. That’s why it’s like that. You must stop throwing things.
Me : (feeling very guilty and much chastised) orh. I mustn’t do that again.
宝贝 : It’s ok Mama. Just don’t do it again.
Ha! Caught you! Ya.. It’s a tale of the mother being reprimanded by the daughter. I need to keep a rein on my temper. Aside from that, 宝贝 has the makings of a top grade mom.
宝贝 had a slight temperature in the afternoon so I dosed her with paracetamol before her nap.
Tossing and turning on her bed…
宝贝 : Mama, I’ve a very BAD headache!
Me : Really?! (Took her temperature with the thermometer) no. It’s only 37.0°C. No fever.
宝贝 : (giving me a very agonized look) but… I have a headache! I need the pink medicine.
Me : (looked at her suspiciously) you can’t drink that unless you have a fever.
宝贝 : It’s my favourite medicine!!! (She wailed)
Me : It’s not fruit juice ok!!! Ok ok, I’ll take your temperature later. If it goes up, I’ll wake you up to drink the medicine.
宝贝 : What time are you taking my temperature? (Looked at me hopefully)
Me : 12:00
宝贝 : so late?! 11:00 ok ok???
Me : =.=”
Did she think that I’m a 3 year old?! Her intention was so obvious!
Don’t understand why she’s so gian Peng to drink the fever medicine…. ?
Sunday. Rain. ?cool weather.
Lounging at the dining area, watching the raindrops ? splitter splatter on the balcony, when we spotted a brown patch on the wall.
It’s huge! Check out its size in proportion to the plastic milk bottles on the bottom of the picture!!
There were lots of squealing and exclamations ⚠️⚠️. Because we are a bunch of suaku urbanites. Even though my childhood was spent catching tadpoles, grasshoppers and other-unnamable-bugs in the gardens, I haven’t seen such a huge snail. The ones I’ve seen were usually half its size or flattened ones.
Check out a close up shot of it! What a beauty!! Ok ok it’s not exactly a masterpiece shot. I was carrying a wriggling 小小宝贝 (who happens to weigh 11kg and was excitedly waving his arms and gesturing at the snail) with my left arm, and trying to snap Mr. Snail from an awkward angle so that it’s not against the light. So, ya, that’s the result of it.
One of the little things to appreciate in life. Taking time off to smell the roses and snapping snails.
Coincidentally, 宝贝 and I are in the midst of reading this book – the snail and the whale.
A fine good read by the same author who wrote the award winning “Gruffalo”. Beautifully illustrated with a simple yet thought provoking storyline and wonderful rhyming words. How a whale brought a little snail on an adventure around the world and how that tiny spelling snail eventually saved the life of the huge whale.
Moral of the story : Spelling is important. Every creature counts, even small little ones.