by Wendy on January 8, 2008
Little fellas can be so trying at times and so cute at others. He had us in stiches yesterday with little conversation.This took place when we were out shopping after we picked him up from school.
Little fella:Wait, Daddy Wait!
Daddy.. Stood still in his tracks and asked: Wait?
Little fella: Wait.. wait… Patience…Be a good boy…later Matthew buy ice cream for you.
Daddy:Do you have money to buy ice cream?
Little fella:Have..money is in Matthew’s bag.
That had us all in stiches because he said it so earnestly and all in good timing because we were approaching the ice cream shop. Minutes ago, he had asked for an ice cream and he probably reckoned that if he bought one for Daddy, he could eat it too.
And this was coming from someone who is all but 2 years and 4 months.
Later at the supermarket, he decided that he wanted some colour pencils and paper.So we let him browse through the racks and choose the ones he wanted. And boy is he a fussy little one!! He tooks some tens of minutes just to choose his colour pencils and sketch pads.Looked at thin pencils, fat pencils,short ones, long ones…exercise books with squares in them, lined ones, plain ones and finally he made his choice. Think even at his wee little age, you can see how he uses his decision making skills.It is interesting just that it took a long long time.
And perhaps this is the character formation stage where the little fella is no longer just one who relies on us for his basic needs but also has the capacity to think/demand his rights. Am sure it will be an interesting journey/lesson for us as we see him grow more and us, learn more so that we can teach him the correct things.
by Wendy on December 10, 2007
It has been a really busy month with work as usual and stuff on the homefront. Work has been busy as usual and it has twarted my body clock as well. Cos I stay up for late night calls, I am now such a nocturnal creature. And on the home front, the little fella just recovered from gastric flu. And like any other parent would say, it is the most tiring when little kids fall sick. And really most of the time, you are wishing that you are the one sick instead. He had it quite bad this time around and it took him a full week before he was finally OK. Anyway…all is well now and I can only pray that all will stay well especially since Christmas is round the corner. I do want to celebrate it this year since we gave last year’s a miss cos of the Pox.So fingers crossed…all will be well.
Last evening, we went to this Korean restaurant in West Coast. Can’t remember what it is called…food was all right but what I liked was the play room for kids. It was a ‘ball room’, pretty much like the one at Ikea,just that it is shallow-er and more suitable for younger kids.And the little fella was so happy in there, throwing the balls, swimming in it etc etc. I was just thinking how nice it would be if we had a play room like that too. Am sure the little fella would love it to bits. Well…maybe when we shift to the bigger place, he could have a play/activity room. He enjoyed himself so much that he did not want to come out for dinner or to rest. Just wanted to play ‘a little while more’.
He is now learning to bargain with us. “A little while more”..”Last one”…” 5 mins more”.. Cute but also got to teach him his boundaries already!
by Wendy on November 7, 2007
Its now official and I work from home on alternate days. Works out well for me cos I dun get any distractions and can focus on my task at hand. I reckon that for what I do, I just need blocks of time that I can sit and just work away without the phone ring, chattering etc etc. I get mixed reactions when I tell people that I work from home certain days. Some say it is great for its flexibility and all but most think that it is the perfect excuse to laze at home. And I tell you…I really hate that. I hate the quizzical looks that people give me when I say I work from home.Say things like even if you sleep/watch telly/dun work ..no one will know. Well..theoretically yes..but won’t it mean I will miss all my deadlines?!?! I have given up justifying my work and well..as long as I know I am doing my stuff, it is OK. Just a couple of days ago, told my BIL that I was working from home and as usual the quizzical looked popped up. He exchanged this funny and knowing look with my mum. So they said the usual things..I defended by saying that people do know when I am at work cos I log in. BIL then said..well..you could always set your PC to automatically login at a specific time. Also said that with wireless, I could be on a holiday and no one would know. Hmmphh…So decided after that. I was not going to say anymore.
Suppose it is the working culture but why are people so hung up on where you work from? Isn’t it more important that you finish your tasks and deliver what you are supposed to? I could very well be physically in office but yet not work. Anyway..I have decided that people can pretty much say what they want and I will try not to be bothered. But it would be nice if people were more supportive.
I love working from home cos it pretty much means that my time is mine to manage. I can work more after the little fella sleeps and take a bit more time in the am to send him to school etc. With my 11pm/12 midnite conference calls, it is good that I have the flexibilty of managing my own work day. Much as I have all the time to laze, watch telly etc etc etc…I am bounded my work ethics. I always think..since I am given such a privilege and flexibility, I better not abuse it.So there..that is my stand on working from home.
by Wendy on October 22, 2007
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.
by Wendy on October 18, 2007
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.
by Wendy on October 16, 2007
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.
by Wendy on October 16, 2007
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?
by Wendy on October 13, 2007
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!
by Wendy on October 11, 2007
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……
by Wendy on October 11, 2007
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.