Hand, Foot & Mouth

One week before Di-Di's birthday, his kindie's headmistress called up. Di-Di got ulcer in his mouth & she suspected it was Hand, Foot & Mouth.

I was thinking, she's darn good le. Can tell from only ulcer in mouth!

When I got home from work, Di-Di looked fine to me & I almost too skeptical & ah... lazy to take him consult the doctor. But then, people are generally more sensitive nowadays...with H1N1 la, HFM la, so I thought better move my ass...

But really strike lottery, it was HAND, FOOT & MOUTH! Ahhhhhhh.............!!!!

The Doc said he got mild one only, but he might have fever & may be blisters on his hand & foot. And he would have to be on MC for a week as HFM is highly contagious (thru saliva, sinus, etc). Ahhhhhhhhhh............!!!!!

Kor-Kor would be having final exam for the next week or so le...And I had already planned a small birthday celebration for Di-Di at home that weekend & at his kindie on his actual birthday le. Darn, darn, and I had actually bought all the party packs & stuff.

The next day, I informed the headmistress & casually asked whether any other kids in his school got HFM. Only then she told me about the other 2 boys, both in Di-Di's class & one of them is his playmate in the after school daycare.

I was shocked & pissed...the other 2 boys actually got it earlier & have not been attending school for 2 days already.

I was shocked & pissed...she could have told me earlier. I almost didn't take Di-Di to the Doc le since I thought it was only ulcer mah...

I was shocked & pissed...she told me that it is not the school policy to close the kindie even if more than 2 students contracted HFM, as the other parents who are mostly working parents would not know where to place their kids.

At least she could have told us mah, especially those whose kids stayed back for the after school day care.

The silver lining was Di-Di got a mild one only & did not pass to Kor-Kor.

We also teased Di-Di about it..telling him he got a disease (with emphasis on the.. sease) & he would show us his angry face. Grrrrr!!!!

It was also funny that he can't remember the name & called it Hand, Leg, Mouth disease!

Our Lantern Celebration

For the past 2 years, the boys have been going to a neighbouring 'kampung' which would hold a small community lantern celebration. The great thing is they pass out toys & lanterns for free. And the boys would normally get the better ones because Kor-Kor's ex-babysitter is a volunteer at the community centre.

And oh ya...the best of all was all attendees were encouraged to walk around the 'kampung' with their lanterns! With all the kids, parents & grand parents also taking part, it was very 'yit lau' (merry)!

But this year, apa pun tarak, because of this H1N1 thing (I hope it really is this reason & not because S'gor gomen is running out of budget to give out).

So, to continue to uphold & pass on our Chinese tradition (ahem!), I tried to find the boys another 'group' to carry their lanterns with. We drove to 2 playgrounds, but nobody is celebrating. Sigh!

Then, we saw a small group, who seems to be like they are going somewhere. After tailing them for a while, I stopped to ask one uncle whether they are going to any celebration (that I dunno of).

"No la...it's only us..going around for fun" uncle informed.

Ceh...

So no choice, it was only us lo (plus the maid). So, we rummaged thru the store room to find their old 'free' lanterns. Left only the traditional types, the fish, rabbit & aeroplane shaped ones. The paper ones, with superhero patterns, and the battery ones all 'sudah koyak' (torn and broken). The sticks to carry the lanterns also disappeared already, so have to find branches from the playground.

So we set off, holding by the strings only. But due to the wind (or lanterns are not like they used to be during our generation), their candle lights keep blowing out. So have to settle the boys near the park bench to light a few candles, so that it's easier to re-light their lanterns' candles.

As it was really windy, we tried to arrange leaves to protect the candles lighted on the floor. The boys were so amused. And this mommy sorta encouraged them to 'experiment' cooking the leaves!

Initially the boys were scared & would run off screaming when the leaves caught fire. But after a short while, they began to gain confidence & would dare to get closer to the fire.

Then, 'cooking' leaves soon turned into 'cooking' sticks...

Soon, the few candles turned into a small bonfire...

And they got more & more amused when the fire gets bigger & bigger! Especially when they throw a dry stick or leaf in & that thing caught fire...

Only then I started to get worried. Shoot! Now they know how to start something like this when they are in the house.

This mommy so, so clever rite..teaching her kids how to build a fire!!!!

So I have to start the lecturing & nagging, to drill it in that this fire thing is only for one night a year (and may be during Chinese New Year). Only. (Kor-Kor got the message, but I'm not so sure about Di-Di though...mmmm...though I did tell them that I'll skin them alive if they ever try this at home!)

Still... that worrying doubt aside, it was fun! And may be a bit educational for them. Though we did get a bit off track, playing fire instead of playing with lanterns, haha!

And mommy get to re-live her childhood, playing masak-masak with real fires during the lantern festivities!!!!

SIAU

Tomorrow Kor-Kor has ejaan (spelling in Bahasa Malaysia). As usual, I go thru with him last minute (though he got the words like 2 weeks ago!).

But the words for tomorrow is really 'SIAU'!!!!

For 7-year old, they need to eja (spell):-
1. menggelap (wiping)
2. melayari (surfing)
3. menghantar (sending)
4. menaip (typing)

....and last but not least:
5. memfakskan (faxing)

DUH! Why the direct translation again? Why would a 7-year old need to know about 'memfakskan'? And how is one suppose to explain 'memfakskan' to a 7-year old??? Is their school syllabus designed to 'torture' the parents??? (I could almost see the faces of the writers & authors rubbing their hands together, laughing with glee, getting back at us parents for always complaining about the education system in this country!!!)

And that's not the end of it. I flipped thru his text book & found....
'tetikus',
'pengimbas'

Do you know what are those? Take a guess. Actually the first one is not difficult, but wonder why it is not a direct translation this time!!!!
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.
.
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.
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Tetikus = mouse
Pengimbas = scanner
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Just in case you think my B.M is so 'keng chow' (fantastic)...there are pictures next to the words, haha, otherwise I see no road!!!)

Ba-Si Bu-Si

Recently I got to know that my new colleague's 4 year old boy can read (he's now going thru adult section for books on his favourite subject, trains) and can do multiply (his mom says she taught him the logic behind it & get him to put up his own multiply table in a way that he understands...)

Meanwhile, in my Never, neverland, my 7 year old & soon-to-be 4 year old still act & talk like babies.

Like whenever they know I'm going to explode for yelling numerous times to get them to do something...like pick up their toys...or go bathe...they'll 'tabik' (salute) me & say,
"Ok, to the ma sorrr!!!!"

Like whenever they taunt each other with " Neh, neh, ti-ta-yo!!! Neh, neh,ti-ta-yo!!!"

Like whenever they do something silly, they'll call themselves "Ba-si, bu-si!".

I've tried to get them to tell me what these nonsense meant, especially 'Ba-si, bu-si'. A lot. Because they use it A lot. But all I can get out of them is "Ba-si, bu-si is ba-si, bu-si la!" while trying to look at me innocently.

Sigh! I wonder if they can support their mommy's old age travelling and shopping..........

If they join the circus's clown act!

Wonder When He's Gonna Lose His Cuteness

Di-Di is close to 4 years old. He is still cute. No longer a baby, but still yet a kid.

Though I hope he can hold on to his cuteness, I know that one day soon I would wake up and in place is a kid who would run off screaming if I offer to give him a peck on the cheek.

So now I would enjoy all the morning kisses he gives me before I go to work (6 to 9 pecks hahaha!!!). And I would be amused that he would call me to scold me if I do not wake him up to say goodbye.

I would also try to keep it in my memory the way he said "Not me, not me" whenever I asked who messed up the room. And the way he would tap his finger on his cheek & rolled up his eyes (do action like he's in deep thoughts) and answered "Maybe its ghost la" [Dunno who teach him one...]

It's also amusing the way he bites his lips and says "Five!". Must bite lower lips one wor when pronounce 'five'...kononnya his teacher says.

And the way he replies to my "Thought you full already, still got space meh? whenever he wants to eat junk food/biscuits/bread right after a full lunch or dinner, by pressing his stomach & rolling his eyes at me (like why this mommy dunno one), "Still got space...see not harddddd"

Now, how to argue with that!

Twilight Zone

Hi! I'm Lil' Monsters, Inc. And I'm a Korean-drama-holic.

My addiction started about a month ago when I took up a friend's suggestion to watch Boys Over Flowers (Korean version of Hana yori Dango/Meteor Garden). It's therapeutic, she said. And the lead actors are all hamsom-hamsom (slang for handsome)!

Ok, since she said they are so, so handsome, I'd checked it out. So far, I've only watched one Korean drama series, Coffee Prince, because the lead actor is so, so handsome! And not draggy. The others, I cannot take the draggy, the pitiful crying, the staring at each other, repeating over and over again...

But Sheeh! She is right. That lead, Lee Min Ho, is really good looking! And OMG, he's only 23 years old...really make me feel like a Dirty Old Woman, oogling after him.

And so, I was stuck. Sacrificing sleep, averaging only 5-6 hrs. Zombie-ing thru daytime. (But at least, I still remember the names of my boys, hehe!)

Till all 25 episodes were completed. And I actually took more than 25 hrs, because of the re-plays on the interesting scenes. (Though the series is actually quite draggy.)

Then, as if not enough 'torture' to my physical & mental health, I couldn't stop myself from watching Coffee Prince (link here to my fav song in the series) again. For comparison sake, I told myself.

Now, I'm back to Boys Over Flowers!!! Oogling at pretty boys!!!!

This is when I realised I needed help. Help to get me out of this Twilight Zone!!!

Whirlwind

Last 2 weeks was so hectic. Dunno who to take care first.

Firstly new job. First day, my little boss told me, "Sorry, but we need your help on a detailed report, deadline in a week, so u gotta stay back." Sucks! What have I gotten myself into, I asked myself.

Secondly, Kor-Kor got exam AGAIN! Mid second term exam. Why so many, I dun understand. That means they (Chinese schools) actually dish out 4 exam a year! Jialat! And the results from these 4 are averaged for streaming purpose. Streaming? My idea of streaming was when in Form 4, we have to decide whether we want to continue with Science stream or go to Arts stream! Nowadays, kids are actually 'ranked' according to their results & the results will actually determine which class they go (I actually thought the results are for choosing the creme for the top few classes only, how naive!). Thus, streaming wor...

So since I can't coach Kor-Kor in the morning already, I'll need to coach him at night. And weekends. But after making sure he has done his homework, checking his school work & other nitty gritty, there's only so little time for 'coaching'. Also have to split some attention for Di-Di le.

Thirdly, new maid also need attention. For my first 3 days at work, my mom helped out. So I didn't have to worry about a thing. But as soon as our new maid arrived, my mom quickly scurried back to my hometown (she can't stand the lifestyle here), after briefing the maid about cooking stuff for half day.

Poor maid too. On her 3rd day at our household, she have to 'manage' on her own already when I go to work. But Daddy did stay to 'look see, look see'.

So armed with verbal instructions with me, she cooked fried rice meant for lunch for breakfast; 'seong yin choy' (water crest vegi) for soup was fried and served for lunch, thus leaving the soup as 'chicken bone & hong zou' soup only; fish for dinner was cooked for lunch!

I asked Kor-Kor did he eat the vegi at lunch? He said yes, but it was very tough!

And Daddy said she kelam-kabut (unsure) about the boys' schedule.

Sigh!

So after that day, I had to come back, talk to boys for a while (both of them will be talking at the same time), quickly eat, bathe Di-Di (as he wants me to do it) and then:-
8.45 - 9.45: Go thru Kor-Kor's school work with him, especially his Bahasa Malaysia (big time weak). Also have to 'layang' (pay little attention) to Di-Di & force him to do some writing.

9.30-10.30 (with some over lap here & there, thus have to multi-task in giving advice & instruction to 3 people): Instruct & show maid on cooking next day's menu. First 'show & tell' with soup. Then asked her to write down (with Marker pen!) on which vegi/fish/chicken supposedly to be lunch/dinner for next day. Thank god most days my in-laws would ta-pau lunch over, so not so bad.

Lastly, go thru with her on the next day schedule. Not to ask her to clean things, mind you...but this:
7am: Make breakfast for Kor-Kor. (Di-Di don't like to eat anything, just drink milk, which I gave before I go work)
7.30: Wake boys up.
8.00: Di-Di must be ready for transport lady to pick him up.
8.20: Kor-Kor must be ready for his transport lady to pick him up.
10.30 or 11.20 (depending on which day of the week it is): Kor-Kor comes back.
11.30: Lunch for Kor-Kor. Then bath. Wear uniform. Pack water & bread for him for tea.
12.20: Be ready for afternoon school pick up.
And so forth. (In between, of course she needs to cook & clean up)

Besides that, she also need to know, the plate numbers & color of transport cars, remember the auntie faces, etc. Which bags to pack. Which uniform to wear to whom & when. My mom also said she almost pengsan the first day she took over! So thank god, our new maid has not gone berserk on us. YET!

After all that, my mind would go all blank & I had to stand in the shower for at least 15 minutes to clear my head. As well as to go thru everything again in case I missed out anything.

Then sleep. Then begin the whirlwind all over again the next day....