I was going through my elder dd’s homework yesterday and saw this worksheet marked by her teacher.

It was an assignment where she was supposed to fill in the dialogue by a cat burglar in some pictures.

First Picture
Burglar going into the house

She wrote: Wah! No one in the house sia!! Good, man! 

I, like, wanted to die on the spot.

I asked her, why did you write like that?! Since when do we ever speak like that?!

Her calm reply: He is a cat burglar, mum. Cat burglars talk like that.

I am ALL l “I don’t know what to say”.

Chocolate Fudge Cake from Secret Recipe. Very nice! I promised the girls to make their birthday cakes the next time (after the Kitchen Aid arrives from US).

With her classmates

Photos taken by Big who brought her cake and the Hello Kitty gifts for her classmates to school

Happy!

With good friends.

*Very picture-intensive post!*

Yesterday we celebrated Germaine’s 10th birthday at Build-a-Bear (BAB) as per her request. She had originally wanted a pool party at our new place, but she finally opted for the BAB party after many a change of minds. The move, packing, unpacking, cleaning on top of working full time and running the business had just about drained me, although I would organize the party; food, logistics, entertainment etc, if she had still wanted it, just to prove to myself that “I can do it”. That is how crazily sadistic and “siao” I am.

I think it works out well this way because we are doing a cosy little housewarming party in September anyway, and are also planning to do a laid back BBQ/ beer party by the pool with our friends.

It’s funny how things always just works out well for us. Very Ah Q.

I am glad we got to do this BAB party for her birthday. All her birthday guests had so much fun! And I like that the children got to go back with a bear (with clothing! It’s like Barbie, only with bears) of their choice as a memento.  

With her good friend, T, who is such a lovely and well mannered little girl.

Happy girls Read the rest of this entry »

Happy 10th Birthday Germaine! It seems like yesterday when you were a wriggling feisty baby, out of caeserean because you were too naughty to turn. And now, you are too smartypants for your skinny pants, and your Mummy is ageing before your every eyes.

And even though you drive me up the wall with your horridly senile ways (more forgetful than I am!) and your mouthiness (but Muuummmmmyyy it’s so hard to be good), I still love you as much because I know you are a good girl at heart.

**

I played hookey yesterday to pick up yesterday to pick up the huge ass chocolate fudge cake and party gifts (ALL 40 black/ pink goth Hello Kitty pouches) for her party in school today. Also dropped by Build-a Bear to pay the deposit for the party on Sunday. Thank God this year, she wanted to do it at Build-a-Bear. If she had wanted to do a pool party as planned, I would have to organize food, games, pinata, pool, clown, magician etc). So big phew for BAB. And honestly, I don’t know if the other parents can stomach the thought of me hosting the party in a skimpy bikini. OK, stop tsk tsking, I was just KIDDING. 

**

Having the flexibility of working from anywhere that he wants toBig brought the big ass cake and big bag of gifts to school during Germaine’s recess, and helped to do the lighting candles, cake cutting, photo taking etc. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside when he does stuff like this.

OK, I am not that old. Lest those of you who are older zap me with your evil eye.

But I AM old at heart, I swear.

As the years or months go by, I find myself behaving more and more like an old biddy.

Frowning on people who smoke and drink. Clucking away like an old hen at heavily tattooed backs (of females, no less!). Disgust at people who don’t know the simple courtesy of social etiquette.

Arranging my money notes by order and facing the correct way. Putting away my receipts and bills in segmented files. Believing in home-cooked food for the children, and thus making my way home after work to cook dinner.

I scarily sound more and more like my mom. Eww. Hahahaa!!

I brought her out for hi tea last Sunday and we will be doing the daddy, mummy, aunty, Big, me and kids thing this Sunday. Woo.

**

Ger just presented me with a porcelain tea cup and spoon for Mother’s Day. Actually I am not big on Mother’s Day. It’s just a hyped up commercial day like V day. But I couldn’t hurt her feelings by dumping my cynical worldly crap on her so I accepted the gift with grace.

Ah well. Better the child who cares than the child who cannot be bothered, no?

who doesn’t know how to play.

There you have it.

I don’t know how to play. It’s true. I never had Barbies as a child. I preferred doodling on my activity books. And now as a mother, I don’t know how to and don’t like to play. Kiddy games bore me to death and I always encourage the children to play by themselves, entertain themselves.

Yes, bad mum in a way, but I’d rather they have lots of fun on their own, than that I patronize them by zoning off when “playing” or simply tolerate the boredom. Please don’t get me wrong, I really adore and love my kids to pieces, but I have never found the thrill in engaging in baby or cutesy voice games or playing with toys. On the same note, I cannot stomach the thought of running around and chasing each other on the beach under the scotching sun while a nice little picnic under the shade while building sandcastles are so much more enjoyable. I would much rather make something with them; think baking, beading, painting, sculpting etc than to engage in play that leads to no where (to me).

Is this the pragmatic Singaporean in me wrecking its havoc or is it simply just me?

**

Being totally incapable of playing with the PSP/ PS3/ X Box 3/ arcade games etc, I make it a point of dating Germaine on “Germaine dates”. That is, we leave Gean with my parents and take only Ger out with us. The last date was a movie outing and we went for The Spiderwick Chronicles. As a child, I was enthralled by The Never Ending Story and I wanted to share the magic of a fantasy adventure and make believe with her. The Spiderwick Chronicles was pleasant for the adults and the children alike, but honestly a far cry from the The Never Ending Story. It really lacked the magical fantasy, far flung imaginations and mythical flight of the The Never Ending Story.

But we did enjoy ourselves. It’s the company that matters. We also did have a personal joke about watching the “Pork Chop goes to Town” (!!) instead and had a few good giggles about it. OK there is no such movie title and don’t ask how the hell it came about and left us in stitches. I don’t know where to start the explanations. All I can say is, I am absolutely evil.

**

Speaking of evil, I swear kids these days can be such miniature Cruellas. The whole cliquish and Gossip Girls situation in primary schools these days? Vicious. Or so I hear from from Ger in our own Gossip Girls sessions. Do you remember as a child, there is always this uber cool and exclusive group of kids, the one that had their own code names/ special words and rituals? I do, and I listen to my child talk about her friends with a mixed sense of relief (that she is not ostracized or an outcast), a weird sense of aversion and fear (I do remember that I was never part of cliques and indeed, still as anti social today) and a strange feeling of having my little girl grow up into this streetsmart smartypants little mouthpiece who actually knows about snarky rebuttals, turning one’s back on manipulation and being being different and yet being comfortable in being her own self.

My girl is growing up so fast that it feels very spacey and oddball for me.I laughed hard at her anecdotes and I teared a little when I thought about the time when she shared so poignantly that she felt different and that she didn’t have many friends.

Yes, we have come a long way, baby.

Today I came back slightly earlier than usual as my back was killing me. We were moving office today and the packing for the last few days coupled with the coordinations today had simply taken its toll on me. At an unearthly 8.30pm (!) I retired to the bedroom with Gean to rest for a while.

I was shocked to see tears in her eyes. I asked her why she was crying. She softly answered that she loves me and she feels very sad that I am hurting.

Ger is also like that. There was once she overheard me talking with Big that I was afraid that I might be paralyzed from spinal cord complications and she started sobbing, to my chagrin. Sometimes I forget that the kids are very alert to our conversations..

There was once during our mother and daughter sharings that I told Gean that I was a little sad when she went out with her father. To me, it was merely conversational.

She started tearing up. I got a wake up call to being sensitive about what seems perfectly conversational to me might make the kids feel sad, and it’s very sad at that.

Now, lest you think my kids are whiny and crybaby kids, they are not. If you had been following my blog, you would have guessed that Ger is a sporty, spunky and outgoing kid, while Gean is a bubbly and sunshiny child.

Their only weakness is a very soft heart. And it’s not a bad vulnerability to have, don’t you think?

We went away during the CNY for a short weekend trip to KL, thus missing the potluck get-together at Ratna’s place on the 9th. So many places to go, so little time! LOL.

I promised the children that I’d bring them to Sunway Lagoon again, as seeing that it drizzled on our parade during the last trip in December. So KL it was to be. This trip also was very special as it was the first time I ever travelled with a girlfriend (told ya I was a loner! :P) and what’s more with her son and hubby in tow too.. Joshie’s a superbly well behaved and easy baby to hit the road with, and my girls adore him to pieces. I have to be admonished to the hilt for my lack of photo taking responsibility as I totally forgot to take pictures of the girls with joshie and of our lok lok pigout at Jalan Alor! Armed with the nifty little Canon Big bought for me but always forgetting to use it when need be. Dreadful.

The girls at the hotel Read the rest of this entry »

Genting pictures at last!! LOL.

Misty and deliciously cool..

Queueing up to get tortured. Read the rest of this entry »

OK we had travelled to several other places already and I still had not uploaded the Cameron Highland and Batu Caves pics from last year. *blush*

BATU CAVES

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