Road trip

3 more days to our road trip and there is so much more that needs to be done! Most importantly is the roadtax for the van! I hope Iskandar sorts that out by today. I'm still chasing this maid agent for our refund. I hate how they are always trying to delay the payment, when if its the other way round, they will not give you an extra day's delay in paying up. Bastards really.

Anyway, I'm so excited for this trip and can't wait to get on the road. It's been many many many years since I've experienced xmas at Singapore and I still remember how beautiful it was!I know, i know its not really much of a "dream vacation" but mostly, I'm just glad to get away with my little family. It was a pretty last minute decision too and Singapore seems like the best and closest destination.

We plan to stop by the JPO to see what its all about, since its along the way anyway. I'm only aiming for the Ferragamo outlet je. perhaps get some stuff for the kids too. They are outgrowing their clothes so fast!

BUT, until then, there's a lot of things on my plate i need to clear. I have another survey at KLIA and Cyberjaya. not forgetting the pile of ironing that needs to be done...sigh..seems like I've been on laundry duty FOREVER.

Just so you know

It’s been a while since the last entry. Honestly, there hasn’t been much happening lately other than the usual maid dramas, sick kids, travels, school problems ..normal stuff. But I think for the sake of keeping the blog current, let me just briefly cerita the significant going-ons in my life since the last update..

Went for my first offshore platform visit which was awesome! The anticipation and anxiety leading to the trip was so nerve-wrecking though, since it was scheduled to be right smack in the mid of the stormy monsoon season. It rained heavily at the airport all morning and the flight was postponed several times. But in the end, the journey there and back couldn’t be more smooth. Perfect weather, perfect flight, everything went perfect. The platform itself could be better though. To quote James who came with me, “It’s like living in a house with a 100 teenage boys”.

Imran’s school dilemma. We took Imran for a second meeting with Mutiara Intl school, this time it’s Imran alone with the principal. The meeting went well I suppose, the principal was quite entertained with the meeting. While waiting for him, I sneaked around the corridors, just to see the kids and the classrooms sessions. And the difference between this and what I went through in school was tremendous. Maybe I’m just not used to seeing kids being so vocal and loud, confident too. They speak with their slangs and all and you can tell that these kids come from very, very rich families. At that moment I sort of fear on what this could do to a simple Malay boy like Imran. The parent in me is sort of torn between the Western style and the local style of educating. As much as I want him to be a bright, confident child, I do need to make sure he is well educated and can fit in wherever he goes. The kids at Mutiara I saw were 99% foreign kids and it worries me that Imran will be trapped in a clash of cultures and peer pressure. No doubt the curriculum is fantastic and they do make sure kids have a healthy balance of class, arts & craft, sports but at the end of the day, we still live in Malaysia and our culture and theirs are two separate worlds. I fear that Imran will have a tough time adapting to the differences, being so young. And with the staggering fees the school demands year upon year, it is just not worth our time worrying. So after much thought, we decided to stick with the public school and perhaps enroll him into creative classes outside of school, whatever interests him, just so he mixes around with the local KBSR kids as well as the other middle/upper class kids at the private extra classes. I do hope we made the right decision coz I still feel tak sedap hati..

The next week onwards will be interesting for all of us. Imran will be going on a school camp for 3 days which I hope he will enjoy after being stuck at home for the past coupla months. I’ll be traveling a bit to Kedah and for the weekend, we will all pack up n go for a quick getaway to PD..and the week after that we will drive further down to Singapore to spend the Christmas hols. Yes..quite a lot of spending is anticipated and hopefully we will have enough in the bank to last til the next paycheck!

Home away from home

I'm away from home, again. In my hotel room, again. Alone, again.

Last Sunday I had a bit of a meltdown over the finished butter for my usual brekkie (like, wtf right!) and drove out in a dramatic rant to the nearest mamak for an hour's binge session of roti canai + nescafe tarik.

Now that I am finally alone in a different state from all that chaos that is my household, I feel homesick as hell! I miss my two munchkins and bapak munchkin too and would do anything to go back to that Sunday - I would've taken them out with me to the mamak just for that extra moment with them :(

Anyway, I'm only away for 3 days. And it's already end of Day 1. Takyah la over2 drama kan.

So to drown my sorrows tonite, I am bargain hunting online :D hehhehe..Joy. Fashionvalet.net is such an evil site i tell ya! hahahha! Serious damage on my visa this month. But that kaftan was SO worth every penny :)))

Sorrows drowned indeed.

29th Ramadhan 1432

I am one of the handful few at work today. The towers feel so empty and deserted with most people off for the long raya break. Having both sets of parents within the same postcode / street sorta makes raya planning much less of a hassle, in terms of splitting our time between both houses. As usual, will head to Kemansah for buka later, and non-stop stuffing our faces while the kids go crazy with the bunga apis and firecrackers, courtesy of my brother, the pyro expert. An annual event which I so look forward to every time.

So since everyone else in my dept are traveling out of KL for the hols, I felt it appropriate for me to stay in and hold the fort, so to speak. Not that it's that much of a chore, really. The phones haven't been ringing since 8.30am and emails are non too important rather than the normal Raya greetings. Basically, I'm just vegging here looking at the clock..sooo bored!

This Ramadhan is no different than the last, I suppose. Just a little hiccup here and there when the kids fell sick but other than that it's been just normal, long and boring. I'm quite pleased with myself for being able to dodge the many2 buka puasa invitations this year tho! I only went to one at KLConvex which was so disappointing. Makes me sound like a total ungrateful person which is so not the case. I think having gone to SOOO many hotels all around town over the past Ramadhans has made me sorta buffet-savvy, hahaha! So when the food is so-so, I feel like it's a total waste of time and money (not mine thankfully, but that's not the point) no matter if the buffet spread goes about 1km long. I'd rather be home with my husband and kids, eating whatever Mummy tapau-ed for us and enjoying each others' company, any time. And without having a maid at home, this means having to do all the house chores myself, usually I'll be off with the laundry basket, mop and broom after prayers, only to be done by about midnight, if I'm lucky.

Yesterday we did the last of our Raya shopping, got Imran his shoes, songkok and butang baju. Had chicken and salmon teppanyaki dinner at the newly opened Tokyo Street at Pavilion which was SUPERB!! Can't wait to try the Japanese sweets next. Forgot what they were called, they look like mini kuih paus with sprinklings and come in many different fillings and look so so pretty! They were sold out when we got there so they must be really good too. I hope they are open during Raya!

Attack of the Rotavirus

The kids and Iskandar were down with rotavirus last week. Yes, yes, the kids’ paed would be laughing at us now for not taking the rotavirus vaccine jabs for the kids he tried so hard to push us to take. Its just that the vaccination costs a bomb and rotavirus is such a foreign disease to us, therefore we take for granted that it will not get to our kids. But it did, and big time! All my nieces and nephews had it, sis in law and bro was down too. Worse, my mum in-law, BIL and the maid was also infected. Poor things! All of them had the same symptoms, V&D, nausea and mild fever. Thankfully I was spared of all the “action”. My body, I must say has been quite “robust” for me in that I rarely get tummy aches like this, touch wood. Some ppl would say I have “lining perut besi” hehehe.

Everyone has recovered from it. Imran still acts as though he has it, purposely refusing food and stuff and blaming on his tummy when he’s perfectly fine (I can so tell when he’s pretending so please don’t think that I’m not taking him seriously). He had a bit of a tumble last Monday and we had to rush him to TTMC to get his forehead fixed. The gash was big and deep, I feared that he would need stitches but the “pretty doctor” (imran’s nickname for Dr.Ellyza) said that they will just fix it up with glue. Wow really! He was really brave throughout the gluing process, thank God. I told him that the pretty doctor is fixing his head with a laser so he can be like Ben10. Saja, just to distract him a bit. He was so proud of having been “laser-ed” on his head and was happily showing off the “Ben10 laser” mark to his friends at school.

But my Mia is having the worse time, what with the rotavirus and then she contracted the flu pulak. Vomiting and coughing away all day and nite and refusing food and milk. Not her choice to refuse but she knows that she will start coughing and everything she ate will come out again. Vomiting really hurts so she end up not eating anything at all except for a few nibbles of cookies and bread. I insist that she finishes her dinner every night just so she has some sustenance. But as for milk, she’s totally not taking any at all.

This was how she looked like when she had rotavirus, my poor baby.


So yeah it’s been a little crazy at home, with the sleepless nights and cleaning/mopping/cuci tilam sessions in the middle of the night. She looks better this morning though so I think we made it through the worst part.

I’m still not taking the rotavirus vaccination for the kids though!

Bye-bye Kat

Our beloved Kat died on the wee hours Saturday. Part of me died with him too. He was much loved by us, ever since he came into our lives as a baby kitten 3 years ago. He ventured out some nights though I’ve warned him many times not to. His love for the outdoors never seem to be hindered with all our efforts to keep him in the house. And it was during one of his nightly escapades that he was killed.

When I checked his body the next morning I couldn’t find any cuts, bruises or injuries that would give me a clue as to how he died. I just hoped and prayed that death came quick and did not hurt this beloved Kat of mine. I could not contain my tears as I wrapped him up in his favorite bath towel and laid him in the grave Iskandar dug, in our backyard where he liked to run around while I hang the laundry.

The day went by so slowly and I kept tearing up as I cleaned his food bowl and kept away his treats and canned fish. I missed him terribly in the afternoon where he’s always sprawled on the floor, sleeping or just cuddling up to me when I take my nap on the couch. I miss Kat and I wish I was kinder to him when all he wants was an extra bowl of fish..a cuddle..or just to hang out with me. I know he’s in a better place..and Robin is showing him the ropes up in heaven where he can do this all day...

Thank you Kat for loving us..we all miss you.

* this entry was actually written about a month ago..but I only managed to put this up today. A lot has been happening in our lives lately that's been keeping me from updating my blog.
More to come.

Good evening Saigon!

My daughter turned 2 today. What a special day for this special little girl of mine..and how miserable I am to be thousands of miles away from her on this special day. sigh..I hope she doesn't hate me for being away so long this time. And more so coz I'm not with her to celebrate her birthday. I do hope she understands and forgives me for it. And I do hope to be lucky enough to be able to spend future birthdays with her. Even when she's 30 and I'm errr..a 100? :P

Anyway, I'm in this lovely city of Saigon..taking in the sights and sounds of the streets from my overly big hotel room at Sheraton. I can get lost in a room this big! I'm here for 3 days, on a survey at one of the plants down in Vung Tao. I hope i spelt that right hehe. I can't wait to get work done and over with so we can get on to the fun part -- SHOPPING! From the hotel, I can see rows upon rows of awesome shops to be explored, bargains to be made! so exciting! I just hope the guys I came with don't mind chaperoning me while I work the shops.. I'm not berani enough to go on my own. But, worse comes to worst, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do rite!

Ok, gotta hop in the shower now. Meeting the boys for dinner in half hour. I'm kinda looking forward to trying the famous Vietnamese beef noodle or pho while I'm here. Not sure if there are halal ones though. Anyway, maybe I shouldn't be too adventurous in picking my dinner tonite as we have an early morning call tomorrow for the plant meeting..the cars' coming to fetch us bright and early at 6am! yikes!

It's the end of an era!

My husband that sneaky old man recently swapped my good, trusty, mobile phone with a smartphone he bought while I was upstairs napping on an unusually rainy Sunday afternoon. The nerve! It was so annoying trying to type a simple text msg as I keep on miss-spelling my words! Those bloody touchscreen keypads are so frustrating! Grr..next thing I know, he signed me up on a basic data plan and started downloading all these strange things called “apps” (?) on to the phone. I’m slowly learning to swipe the screen to scroll and type (the trick is to use de tip of my nails!) and I have to admit, this new little gadget is starting to grow on me – gasp! Sorry, my darling Nokia! You have served me well but you do understand that our beautiful relationship has to somewhat..end right?

One of my girl besties got married recently and last Saturday was the reception at Eastin Hotel. OMG it was such a beautiful wedding! The setting was so romantic with pastel colors blended with silver and dangling crystals just gives it a magical effect. I remembered her weeks before the day, stressed and overwhelmed with all the wedding preparations plus having to pacify and satisfy the preferences of her family and the would-be inlaws (didn’t we all? hehe). But wow did it all turn absolutely perfect. I wish I took pictures from the night but yeah I was still using my old 2G camera-less phone hehehe. I can’t wait to see the official wedding photos.

Few years back when I revived this blog, I wrote about the funny baby words/pronunciation created by Imran.
Now, it’s Mia’s turn to create her own vocab;

Apam = Abang = Imran
MIIIYAAA = Mia
Tumi = Tokmi
Loon = Balloon
Toti = Roti
Tanana = Banana
Sisa = Lisa (her baby cousin)
Atin = Drink
Sayam = Salam
Cads = Scared (when she hears the sound of thunder)
Tars = Star
Tiak = Ketiak (her favorite body part)

Kiki Yau = Mickey Mouse


On to other developments – the inlaws are moving to their new house this weekend. YES. Enough said.

SuperHotMom is back!

A month of being without domestic help, I must say we’re doing quite alright. Despite the exhaustion from running around, feeding the kids, laundry, making sure Kat is home from his daily adventures, sweeping, clearing the dishes and tucking the brats in bed, I feel quite happy and satisfied that things are still well under control. I don’t miss having a maid around at all, except for during the occasional trips out with the kids and both decide to be hyperactive and restless, therefore we end up being back home sooner than we’d like for fear of being arrested for public nuisance. But that also doesn’t happen often and most of the time we survived. I also noticed that I’m spending (wasting) less money on random shopping binges after work as I now have to rush home every day to fetch the kids from Mummy’s.

Most nights I only get to sit down and have dinner past 10pm when everything is sorted. But my day doesn’t end there, as I would still have to sort out the kids stuff for the next day and cleaning up the dining and kitchen before I shower and call it a night. I can hardly keep my eyes open through a full episode of House which is so upsetting as I’m loving the Huddy storyline this season!

Thank god I have the most helpful and handy hubby around to help with the heavy stuff. Like mowing the lawn, rubbish duties and Rainbow-ing the house. The Rainbow is a superb cleaning machine but its so bloody heavy to lug around. Iskandar does a great job with it.

The only thing that still needs to be worked on is getting the kids back on their routine at Tokmi’s house, which I think is quite impossible. They pretty much get to do/eat/watch whatever they want and of course that means eating junkfood, watching sinetrons, and skip their daytime naps. Which on some days can be hell to me as the kids will be too exhausted and super hyper by the time we get home at night to:- have a proper dinner / do homework / brush their teeth / be normal. Nothing much we can do there which is so frustrating..

One night the screaming madness got so bad that I ended up sending both kids off to bed with a scolding, without finishing their dinner. Imran was quite happy to escape a meal but Mia cried and cried until she vomited! I can’t remember ever scolding her that bad before that night. After the kids have both quiet down and settled to sleep, did it finally hit me how terrible I was to them. I forgot my vow to them that they will always come first no matter what, but that night all I cared for was that the kids are off to bed so I can move on with my chores! The realization knocked me so bad and I cried until Iskandar had to come home as he was worried about my little breakdown :P

It’s much better now that I have a “contingency” plan for these kinda situations. Things have been much more fun and I so look forward everyday to coming home to the kids, screaming and all.

I can do this!

The day my heart stopped

2 weeks ago, at about 1.20pm, I had the worst experience of my life. In fact, I almost died.

It all started with a phonecall from my Dad, asking if anyone’s at home. They were outside the gate, to send Imran home from school. No one answered the doorbell, they rang and call a hundred times. Something wasn’t right so I called Iskandar. He confirmed that MIL didn’t take my daughter and the maid out, they should be at home. My mum called after that, saying that my Dad spotted a bunch of keys near the plants and suspected something wrong so he climbed over. Tried to open the door with the keys but couldn’t. Our house was dead quiet.

I tried to keep calm but inside, my heart just stopped. My daughter was left with the maid at home that morning and usually she will come running to the door to welcome her brother home. Something was terribly wrong here. I quickly jumped on the train and headed home. That’s when Iskandar called to tell me that my Dad had managed to open the grill and found the maid gone. Mia was apparently still sleeping in her room, safe and sound. When I heard my phone ring and it was Iskandar I almost didn’t want to pick up coz I was expecting the worse, i.e. the maid took my daughter with her and that I would never see her again but thankfully I found the courage to answer the phone and with such relief, knowing my baby girl is safe and oblivious to what was going on.

For some reason, Iskandar and I both found ourselves not discussing as much on this sudden escape of the maid. In fact, we moved on almost immediately. Got ourselves together, cleared up her room, threw away all her stuff and went about doing the household cleaning as usual. We did not bring the topic up at all, except when family members called upon finding out. That too, we only gave out straight answers, non-speculative. No what-ifs, whys.

On my part, the reason why I chose not to talk about this was because of the feeling of HUGE, ENORMOUS fear that I could have lost my child forever that day. I do not want to recall that day as it would bring back how horrible the feeling was and especially how terrible I felt for failing as a mother to protect my child. It was the most stupid mistake anyone can make, leaving her child with a non-family member, a stranger. No doubt the maid’s been with us for almost 2 yrs and had told us that she intended to stay and work with us for another year. She was, almost family to us. ALMOST. STILL A STRANGER.

Another reason was that I was so shocked at her betrayal of trust. It brought out this deep hatred, and raging anger I’ve never felt against a person, in my lifetime. And I know that talking about it will make the rage and bitterness surface again, and I do not want to waste a single second of my life with such negative emotions. What more on someone as worthless as a maid.

I swear I will never let such things happen again. Never again.

Another milestone for Imran!

One of the reasons I dread coming home from work lately is doing the piles of homework with Imran. I know, it’s for his own good bla, bla, to practice his reading, writing, mathematics skills but sometimes after a long day at work, the last thing I need is the added stress in guiding Imran to write properly, count correctly and color within the lines (biggest challenge!).

I expected the teachers to be understanding to us working parents and leave homework for weekends only, but NOO... So every night, I sit patiently with him, helping him through his homework, which usually turns into shouting screaming sessions when Imran gets frustrated for having to re-do it over and over again, not getting it right, or there’s just simply too much to do, too close to his bedtime. My poor son.

And then last night, I checked his homework to find three pages of reading and writing homework to do..ugh :P..so I set up the table and Imran took out his color pencils and pencils and started right away. And to my surprise, he was doing it on his own!!! My baby boy is READING on his own!! I was so so thrilled but tried to suppress it so as not to distract him with my tears of joy :P but inside, I am bursting with pride. He easily finished the reading assignment and matched the words to the correct pictures within seconds, like a pro. And thanks to that, we finished homework within less than 5 minutes, record time! But most importantly, scream/shout/tear-free :D So clever, my Imran!

So I guess all that stressful hard work did pay off finally. I’m gonna start buying more simple storybooks for him to practice. Thanks to Aunty Dorrine for making us do all that homework :D

Lat

Last Thursday I took my parents out to watch Lat – Kampung Boy the Musical at Istana Budaya. It was my mum’s birthday the day before so I thought of doing something different with her other than the standard birthday card and cake (which I still gave her anyway! From Bisou, no less). Iskandar also took Papa out to watch it coz we both feel that he needs some time out from the chaos of the house renovation and erm..Mummy hehe.

Anyway, it was such an awesome show!!! I was so so impressed, especially with the boy who played the young Lat. What a talented bunch of actors and good singers the cast were. And not forgetting Douglas Lim, whose dancing got me laughing till my sides hurt. And I must say, this is the first time in my life that I’d say this, but that Awie sure is funny, and is such the perfect person to play the adult Lat. My only complain, which is nothing really, is that I wish the show was shorter coz I had a bit of a struggle to keep my eyes open – it had been a long day at work for me and I was exhausted by the time I reached IB, no thanks to the traffic jam. And I wished they elaborated a bit on how Lat “lured” Pa’e to return to his kampong with the kids, after the huge fight with Pa’e at the hospital when Lat missed the birth of his 4th child. She just turned up at the kampong with all the kids, which is totally strange given how angry she was with Lat.

Most of all, I’m glad that my parents and Papa all enjoyed the show, it was so hard to get the tickets as they were sold out to the last show next week!

My daredevil daughter

I was awaken in the wee hours of Monday to sounds of Mia screaming her lungs out. Literally jumped out of bed and scrambled out our bedroom door, only to find Mia standing outside, tears streaking down her lovely eyes, screaming. As I quickly picked her up and cuddled her in my arms, it suddenly hit me – how the hell did she get out of her cot???? The cot gates are pushed up to the max highest level and I thought it would be impossible for a 21-month old baby to climb out. I mean, seriously. I don’t think even Imran can climb out of the cot, it was THAT high. I prayed that somehow the cheap Ikea rug cushioned her fall a bit, but I searched her head and body for bumps but didn’t find any. Thank god. She calmed down after a bit of cuddling and I gave her a bottle of milk which she finished happily afterwards. She couldn’t sleep again after all that excitement and since my alarm clock is due to go off in about an hour I decided to let her cuddle with me in bed for a bit. Until today I cannot comprehend how she managed to climb out. Anyway, I’m not taking anymore chances and I’ve laid down a thick comforter with pillows on the carpet next to the cot in case she decides to be adventurous again. At least until I can find a nice decent toddler bed for her..for now, I’m just thankful that my little munchkin is safe and sound despite her little mishap.

Quick update!

Since our camera went kaput we have been forced to minimize taking photos of the kiddies and stuff we did, limited by the memory space in our camera phones. Which is really unfortunate coz it means not being able to capture the moments they cross their milestones. Imran, has become quite a pro at going to the toilet nowadays. No more tears of protests, he just goes without being told and does his thing, and the washing afterwards (hands only lah, I still have to help him to wash his bum). I won’t forget that day when he came up to me and said “Mummy, can u hold my Sugus please? I want to go pangsai”, and conveniently plops a half-chewed Sugus in my hand! He does a lot of things on his own actually, come to think of it, from switching on the PC to find his online Ben10/Spiderman/Batman games, brushing his teeth, dressing himself, getting his snack from the fridge to fixing his car seatbelt. Eating is still a struggle but much, much better than those days. You can see he quite enjoys food and has acquired a taste for mamak food!

As for Mia, wow, I’m so so surprised with how fast she’s growing! She’s turning into quite the character, diva-like, sometimes, not that we mind coz she’s so cute and all, with those big eyes, demanding us around! Yes, she gets what she wants, this pretty princess. Lately she’s becoming more demanding, making me stay with her in the room at bedtime until she falls asleep. She screams bloody murder the second she sees me trying to sneak out, which I did anyway, but magically enough, settles back to sleep when I don’t come back in to soothe her. Very auta! She’s very chatty (in her own language) and I can imagine having to layan all her “But why, Mummy?” questions when she’s old enough. Oh and don’t she love to dance!! Put on any music and she’ll start bopping up and down, shaking her little diaper booty n all!

Together, they drive us crazy sometimes, fighting over toys, lollypops, anything! But I know Imran adores his kid sister and enjoys teasing her and singing with her, esp. her favorite song, Twinkle2 Little Star and they both are Bieber fans!

These two “monkeys” and my gorgeous husband is such an enormous blessing in my life and to ask for more would be just plain greedy. But I know rezeki di tangan Tuhan and I can only hope for the best for my family.

Life is good :)

One step closer

to that elusive bikini bod!!yes i've finally dragged my lazy ass to the gym and signed up. thanks to my colleague who agreed to be my gym partner. love u syaff! anyway, i started yesterday with just a light workout and learning to work the weights with the gym instructor. felt so good after that i decided to be brave and join the step aerobics class today.. AND DAMN it was GREAT!! no doubt the steps were tricky to follow but soon enuf i was bopping up n down w the rest of the class. it was awesome! sweat buckets!i can't wait for next week's class but i hear its gonna be cancelled coz of the long CNY hols..boo!!

anyway, with all the gym excitement, i did a major boo-boo..forgot to tell iskandar that i need him to do the money transfer thing for the maid by today..coz apparently the lazy banks of cambodia will be closed until after CNY and her family needs the $$$ to buy stuff. he was SOOOOO upset with me coz he alredi told me much earlier today was gonna be a crazy tight day with meetings n de big interview after lunch. i dunno lah, lately my memory seems to be slacking quite a bit. i remember the littlest detail but miss out on the major important stuff.

another thing he scolded me about is how it seems to him that i'm always forgetting my priorities when it comes between the kids/maid and work. NOW THAT I CANNOT ACCEPT. i forgot one thing and it means i don't pull my weight in this family?? that's just bullshit! BUT..at the risk of snapping and saying things i will regret later, i shall bite my tongue and say nothing. agree to disagree, right? sometimes it's just not worth the time arguing. ill just let it go, like water under the bridge.

just tucked my little angels into bed and gonna tuck myself in next. it's been a long day.

good night world.

Notorious I.M.R.A.N.

Argh!!! it's been another crazy night w imran again! lately he's been testing our patience to the max! earlier tonite, as usual he took close to 2hrs at the dinner table and when i went upstairs w Mia, he took his bowl to the kitchen and dumped the food in the bin! I was so pissed upon finding out but even more fired up when he flat out denied doing it! So for another night, I sent him up to his room for early bedtime, not before giving him a smack.

Days like these i wish the kids are all grown up so i can have some peace and quiet at home. They say it gets worse and i can't imagine what's worst than a 5-yr old imran. a 6-yr old imran??

Anyway, on to the positives now. I bought Mia a shape-block toy today, you know, the one where you're supposed to match the block to its right shape hole. and to my surprise, she got it right less than an hour of playing! she's so smart. sometimes i forget she's only 1 and a half. i'm teaching her shapes now and she's learnt star (her favorite) and circle. She picks up the blocks one by one asking "o-this?" as in "what's this". It's so adorable melts my heart every time :)

Just by writing this post it must be clear to anyone reading who my favorite kid at the moment is. Don't get me wrong, I love them both to bits and it's a horrible thing to think it, let alone write it for all to see. I just wonder which part of parenting did i get wrong or is this normal for kids his age. I'm limiting his tv watching and have stopped sending him to Tokmi's house after school, when i noticed he'd picked up bad language from hanging out w de bigger kids over there. But so far I see very little progress. I do talk to him about this negative behavior and it seems at that time that he understood how much this upset me. Seems like he's forgotten his promises again. I hate to repeat myself over and over again like a broken record. But he's only 5 and maybe he needs more "positive reinforcement" instead.

Ok, I'm gonna look up options on "positive reinforcements" now before I call it a day. Hope it works.

Wish me luck.

Good nite.