Over the weekend, we brought the little fella shopping and as usual, he would want to sit on his kiddy rides. Though only 2, he has a mind of his own and certainly knows his preferences. So..there we were queueing for the ride he wanted. He was really good, just stood there waiting for his turn. When he turn came, he very happily climbed up the ride. He was probably in there for less than 10 secs and had not even inserted the coin. Then came along with 2 boys with their parents..The boys were quite big..probably about 5 and  3 or 4 years old…neither did they wait for their turn nor did they bother asking if they could share the ride, they simply clamoured onto it and badgered their parents for a ride. They acted like no one else was in the ride and just toyed around with the buttons, steering wheel etc. And all these while, the little fella just sat there and looked on. I did not want to say anything initially cos I wanted to see if the parents had the decency to get their kids out or something. But no…they did not do anything except to urge the kids out. Eventually, I asked if the kids were going to get out cos the little fella had not had his turn yet. And he was already looking like he was on the verge of tears.

 So, when i asked the mum of the kids, she just took her kids out and said “let’s go”. No apologies nothing…I was a bit annoyed but I was thinking more of how uncivilised she was and what sort of an example she was setting for the kids. I am certainly no supermum but at least I know how to teach my son basic manners like waiting for his turning and not clamouring up a kiddy ride when someone else is on it. The little fella is rather good, whenever the ride finishes, he will not fuss and will just say “Kor Kor/ Che Che/ Mei Mei’s turn…” Whoever he sees in the vicinity waiting. He is quite funny, the minute the ride stops, he will just spring up. :) 

Of course, after I was grouching to Iz after it all and he commented that Singaporeans were all like that. Wonder though if it is a Singaporean thing or human nature. We are Singaporeans too but I/we are certainly not like that and we are certainly not holier than thou. So perhaps it is human nature, tampered by societal values….And like I always say, it is the extent of things make the difference. Mebbe then those people were more affected by the negativities of society.

Posted: October 22nd, 2007 under Observations, Parenting.
Comments: 2

Spent the night tossing and turning, thinking about this and also during my ride to work this morning. Basically started cos Iz said that he wanted to go for a fren’s birthday dinner on Sun. Took it to mean that he wanted to go without me and the little fella so I wasn’t too pleased. I wasn’t really happy because I see weekends as family time. Not that we don’t do that on other evenings but it is different when you get to spend the entire day as a family. I do see the importance of personal space and time and perhaps I am being selfish, but I really don’t like either of us going off on our own during weekends except for work, of course. As a rule of thumb, I wun do it myself. Of course, then it would also mean that I have to handle the little fella on my own. Already Iz is working on Sat so I got the whole afternoon with the little fella and then now Sun evening as well. Dun mean to make the little fellla sound like a burden but it is not easy handling a very active little one. An extra pair of hands really really help.

But then again, am I being too selfish? Too demanding? Making a mountain out of a molehill? I really  don’t want to be accused of being petty or whatever else. In anycase…will go with whatever Iz decides. Just dun want this to become a point of contention between us… There…I have said my piece and this shall be the last of it.

Posted: October 18th, 2007 under Family, Marriage.
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We recently discovered that Mana Kor Kor seemed to be having problems with his eyesight. He is unable to see bits of food even if they are placed in front of it. He cannot see the step down into the toilet and as a result, he stumbles and falls. He is a really resilient fella though, sniffing his way around. Somehow, I reckon though that he is not as happy as he used to be. He seems to growling a lot more and looking a lot more grouchy. Perhaps it is because he is older too. He sleeps a lot more these days too. I really want to spend more time with him and all but sometimes the little fella preoccupies me. I remember..when I first delivered, I felt so guilty about not spending time with Mana Kor Kor that I kept having nightmares. Dreamt that he ran away from home, committed suicide etc etc

I don’t like not being able to give him my attention too but sometimes he is so so naughty. But I try…..hope it is not too late now though.  Like I was telling a fren sometime back, aging pets scare me…it is not something I want to face. It reminds me too much of Terry.

Posted: October 16th, 2007 under Family, Parenting, Pets.
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Over the last weekend, we caught up with some of my uni frens. It is  amazing to see, how after a deacde, some things haven’t changed. The likes and dislikes of people..their habits..It is something I have known all the while but yet when you really think about it, it is funny how people are all intricately linked in the human web. Like how my secondary school teacher is now my mil, like how my uni fren was also Iz’s secondary/JC friend. Weird huh?!

 Meeting up with old frens always brings back such memories. Though a decade has passed, it did not seem too long ago that we were in school and doodling away during lectures. And of course, in all conversations, our infamous garden with th tall, tall weeds would always be talked about. I think about those days even more now because I suddenly ‘met’ so many people again via Facebook. And I realised that half or more than half of the Singaporeans in my batch are no longer living in Singapore. I wonder when it would be my turn…really can’t wait to relocate. Though things may be iffy for us, I think if we both take that step of faith and walk hand-in-hand, we will be all right. It is a gigantic adventure that I sure am looking forward to. Afterall, if we don’t do it now, when will we ever do it?

Posted: October 16th, 2007 under Family, Marriage.
Comments: 1

We had such a taste of ‘great’ customer service that I decided that I just had to blog about it. We went by the tailors’ in the evening to collect the pants that Iz tailored about a 3.5 weeks back. When the receipt was produced, the lady there just explained that it was nearly a month back and there was no way the pants could have been there. She just kept on insisting that we must have collected the pants already and were just out to pull a fast one on her. Throughout our wait there, she just said that there was no way the pants could have been uncollected after so long. After listening to her rant for a while, I could not hold back at her already and simply said that we did not collect the pants and that was that. There was no two ways about it. So eventually she went to the shop and said she would check with the factory. Basically, gave her a piece of my mind and said that she should be doing that instead of just insisting that pants were collected already. If the conversation was not in Mandarin, I would have scolded her more. I simply have no patience for bad service.  And if it was not dramatic enough, in the middle of it all, there was a power trip. Calls to the factory led to no results either..so said she would check further and call us back.So insisted on knowing when she would call us back. By this time, my patience had really gone out of the back door already. Was telling Iz that he should just forget the pants and get back his deposit. And of course, Iz, being the ever patient one, was peeved but nowhere as ruffled as I was. Whilst we were shopping, lady called and said that the factory had delivered the pants to the wrong shop and it was sitting in the Jurong shop. And again…she insisted that the people there had been trying to call him all these while. I mean…what the &*@#$? Surely, we would know if calls had been made.

Anyway…was telling Iz that when he goes to collect the pants, he should just tell them that the service there is appalling and this should be the last time he would be making pants there. There is just no reason why we should put up with the bad service. If there were some higher up authority that we could have complained to, I would definitely have done so. In times like this, I feel like such an aunty but I really have no patience for bad service. I do not feel like the most gracious person around but me thinks..why should I when I get crap service???

Good thing the rest of the evening went well and spending time with Iz and the little fella just soothes it all…Thank God for good-natured husbands and charming little sons!

Posted: October 13th, 2007 under Family.
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The little fella is sure growing up fast. Now he does not look as baby-ish anymore though I still love to cuddle him and sniff him. Often he says that he is ‘big boy’ :-). He has passed the phase of “what’s that sound?” and now he is in the “where?” phase.  He is a very inquisitive boy and learns a lot through observations and by example. I went with him to the Childrens’ Garden at the Botanical Gardens last week. He definitely liked it and enjoyed exploring the surroundings. What I found interesting was that when he came to the huge water play area, he said ” I want to sit here and watch.” instead of going to play with the water. He was quite happy to go touch the water shooting out of the jets but he did not really want to go play in the water. Found it strange because I thought most kids would have rushed into the water but not our little fella here. I think he is just more cautious and happy to observe first till he is really sure of what lies ahead. Hmm…perhaps this is already an indication of what he is like as a person. He is also a rather shy boy or rather he takes quite a long while to warm up to a person he is not familar with and/or a new place. He can be very quiet but once he warms up, there is no stopping him.

 I think he is developing very fast in terms of language abilities. For a boy of 2, I think he speaks pretty well and has quite a wide vocab. Sometimes, he says things that surprises us too. He can hold a conversation too. Can string words together to basically tell us about his day in school. Now he is picking up some Mandarin too from his lao shi. Though it still sounds funny, I reckon

My little bb is growing up……

Posted: October 11th, 2007 under Family.
Comments: none

I am tired of writing about how busy I am and how tiring it gets. To me..busy-ness is now a constant so I shall not gripe about it any longer. It shall be me just coping with it and taking it as part and parcel of work of life, in general. Some random thoughts  that have popped into my mind the last couple of days:

• Am I a good wife/mother?
• What exactly is it that holds a relationship together?
• When will we ever get to move?
• What will Matthew be like when he grows up?

These are thoughts that I had when waiting for the train,when waiting for the system to load up etc etc. Not sure if I have the answers to all of them but like think they are still interesting to think about.

Posted: October 11th, 2007 under Family, Marriage, Parenting, work.
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