Having Children is A Blessing

You know like when you go to a function of your hubby's friend and you don't know anyone there and you are not bothered to make friends, you can always entertain your kids, cater to their needs and you will not look out of place or a total loser in fact you are seen as a loving and such caring mother.

Or when you take your younger kids  for check-ups and again you are just too lazy to strike a conversation with other patients you can always play with your children, sing to them and you are not labeled as someone who has just lost her mind or a 'weirdo' in fact you are fun to look at and people will see you as being very creative and fun-loving mother to your children.

Or you can watch your kids playing for hours and you are not seen as someone who are lost in outer space and in fact people will see you of having such a loving gaze towards your kids when in actual fact you are thinking of something else, work, housework, etc.

Or the time when you are too lazy to go anywhere you can always come out with an excuse of having to take care of your kids well-being and it is always  a valid enough reason of you to just chill at home with your children.

Or at the time when you are already bored in a gathering or a function, and your husband is not ready to leave yet, you can always come up with a reason that the kids are restless, tired, etc and that is reason enough for your husband to get going.

Or when you don't really feel like talking to your husband, mom, mother-in-law, the kids can always be the messenger to get your message across.

And it's always a good time to have an ice-cream outing when you have kids.

Yeah these are some of the perks of having children when you are just content with yourself and not putting any effort to make friends. Yay to us mothers!

A Plea to All Men Out There

I was just reading a blog of a good friend of mine and the topic is on marital issue and how men tend to easily  forget his responsibility when he is involved with another woman.  It's not something new we have heard it overtimes on how men cheated on his wife and vice versa, but this issue never fails to make people get angry easily, and as woman we do feel for the wife.  The fact that some men who go astray are not financially sound, tends to make your blood boils as these men who are still dependant on the wife to settle some of utility bills, have the heart to find another.  Like a friend said 'ko syok2 sorang and ko expect your wife to understand that this is takdir' is a total bullshit.  I am sorry,there's no nice word to describe what you have done.

Funny enough when I talked this issue with some men, they could highlight it 'maybe it was a small mistake' or 'dah nak jadi bukan dicari'  and they would further broach the topic by saying like 'Inilah masalah perempuan kesalahan kecil suami dia, dia dah tak ingat dah semua benda baik yang suami dia dah buat'.  Kesalahan kecil?  Have a fling for another woman is a MAJOR mistakes in a marriage, tak kiralah suka-suka ke or takde benda ke, but it is definitely not kesalahan kecil.  It is a MAJOR no-no ok? This thing which you think happens to be nothing can get real messy, many hearts will be broken definitely not yours but the family the wife and the kids.  Many people will get hurt, her side of the family and even your side of the family, the one that is takde apa2 and syok is you yourself, you selfish brat! So please don't label it as a small mistake although you have repent, the hurt is just too much, the wound is too deep even time may not fully healed the injury that you have done.

So my plea to all men out there

1.  instead of using your free time -imagining other things that involve sex can you please use your time wisely on how to earn extra money for the family so you can lead a better life for example.

2.  so if you are filthy rich - can you please think on how to raise your kids to be manusia yang berguna kepada agama, bangsa dan negara.  Nurturing it's not suppose to be one sided- it's not the mother's job per se but both the parents.

3.  and if you are not - instead of watching tv and reading newspaper and thinking of the unthinkable can you please make a point to help your wife around the house.

4.  and can you please think on how to be a good or a better husband/father to your wife and kids.  Only then you would want to achieve a better quality life for your family and I believe if you are this type of husband/father you will have no time to think about other women and go astray.

Can you do that please?

Satu Dua Tiga Lekuk

I am in the process of resurrecting my blog, wish me luck! (LOL!).  Anyway, let's start with a short and sweet entry of Dhaniyah and her Bedtime Stories.

One night while putting Dhaniyah to bed, she requested that I tell her  bedtime stories.  I was already bored with the selection that we have wait more like I was bored with the stories that she has chosen because I ended up reading the same 2 stories over and over again, it's always either the Ugly Duckling or When Johnny Comes Marching Home.  So this one night, I decided to tell a story that I grew up hearing it over times 'Sang Kancil dan Buaya' as this time the story is told orally as I had no book to refer to,therefore,  basically the story is being watered down, knowing that I will finish the story within minute, I decided to inject some questions as I go along narrating this piece.  And so I went.....

Pada zaman dahulu, di dalam hutan tinggal seekor kancil yang bijaksana  ....

Ibu    : Dhaniyah tau tak kancil tu apa?
Dhaniyah  :  Tahu.  Teacher Niyah ada satu.
Ibu  :  Hah? Biar betul?  Kancil?
Dhaniyah   :  Ya. Tapi kancil dia tak duduk kat hutan, boleh ke kancil duduk kat hutan?
Ibu   :  Kancil duduk kat hutanlah Niyah, kancil tu animal?
Dhaniyah  :  Bukan.  Kancil tu keretalah Ibu.  Teacher Niyah park kancil dia kat school Niyah.
Ibu  : hahahahaha.....

Ok after explaining to her what type of animal kancil is and after she went ooooooooo.....aaaaaaaa,  I continued the story so in between I asked her some more questions and she kind of followed it well so nothing funny happened there, towards the end of the story when the sang kancil went...

Ibu   :  Wahai buaya2 aku bawa perutusan dari Sultan Sulaiman untuk mengira kamu semua supaya aku dapat memberi penghormatan kepada kamu haiwan yang hebat ni.  (note: not the real storyline, I kind of forget how the story goes but who cares?)  Jadi silalah buat one straight line supaya boleh aku kira kamu semua.  So after the crocodiles have line up in one straight line the kancil jumped on each of them reciting 'satu dua tiga lekuk, jantan betina aku ketuk' knocking each of their head. (Ibu did some action of 'luku'(knocking) kepala Niyah and she started to giggle she finds the action to be ticklish, hmmm... I wonder why).  So the kancil managed to reach  the other side of the river, faced the crocodiles and laughing out loud (LOL?) to the crocodiles 'You guys are being fooled, all I wanted to do is to cross this river without being eaten, Sultan Sulaiman tidak memperutuskan apa2 kepadaku kamu semua sudah kena tipu HA HA HA.  Maka kancil tu dengan happynya makan semua buah yang ranum2 di dalam hutan tersebut.  The end.

Ibu   :  Niyah faham tak cerita ni?  Niyah suka tak?

Niyah  :  Niyah faham, nak jadi bijak kena pandai tipu ye Ibu.

Ibu  :   ???????????????

Alright Dhaniyah from tomorrow night onwards we stick to the usual bedtime stories okay, sayang.

I've lost my blogging mojo

I hope I shall get it back!!!

Demam Raya

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Maaf Zahir Batin!!!


We went back to Terengganu last Monday 6 September at around 11 pm since the kids said it will be tiring traveling while fasting, so it was not too bad but when we stop for sahur the night wind was so cold and crisp it made our mouths chatter.  The journey to Terengganu was stopped couple of times as Dhaniyah vomitted in the car and to make it worse she accidentally barfed on Kakak Nina's hair while she was asleep, so we had to stop at an R&R and both kids had late night shower to get rid of the stench and the vomit.  Memang satu dugaan!  Fortunately Khairina was cool enough despite her hair was filled with Dhaniyah's vomit (sampai melekat-lekat) she didn't kick a fuss.

We reached my PIL's house at around half past 6, after the greeting and prayer we decided to hit the sack sans for Nabil as he was excited to be back to the hometown.  The next day we didn't do anything much, just getting ourselves oriented with the surroundings and later hubby, PIL and kids went to Param (Pasar Ramadhan) to get some juadah for berbuka.  My youngest sis-in-law was next to reach my PIL's house and it was nice to just chit-chat with the two of them and the hubby was darling enough to entertain the kids.  They were a bunch of noisy lots. (my kids I mean).

Hilman first time playing sparklers.

Late night my second sis-in-law's family came and the kids had more fun as she has four children with her, the eldest boy worships Nabil so much that he became Nabil's shadow and Nabil didn't seem to mind as they both enjoy the same thing and both are hyper, full of energy (tak macam orang berpuasa langsung).  My day back to the hometown will not be complete without a visit to the bus station and the famous pasar Payang to get my supply of tudungs and the kids songkok and samping, so we went on Wednesday.  On Thursday we were busy with preparation for Eid and kids having fun with their cousins by playing sparklers.

On Raya eve, Hilman did not actually manage to get a good sleep, he was restless and scratching all around, nothing I did make him feel better, he vomited before bed and I could see the breathing has slightly became unstable, I could see he has some difficulty in breathing and the chest rising every time he took his breath.  The next morning after bath and when everyone has already dressed up to welcome the Syawal, Hilman's condition got even worse, he refused to drink and eat, he was so weak that I told hubby that we should take him to the clinic.  To make things worse, we had to drive quite a far bit as all clinics were closed (yelah raya kan majority operated by Malays).  Not only that, the ER was filled to the brim, we had to wait more than an hour to see the doc, the only doc on call that day.  The doc wanted to take him in but knowing that we are not locals, he decided that we should do nebuliser at least twice today, so we were told to come again at night.

After the first dose on nebuliser, Hilman was slightly better but he was still not fully recovered, at least he wanted to eat but he was still short of breath.  We were discharged at almost 2.00 pm, hubby had to miss his Friday's prayer. When we reached PIL's house the house was already filled with guests, we didn't have the chance to do the proper salam-salam with the family members and this year no family photo was taken. The elder kids were pretty upset that they did not really get to celebrate a proper raya as they were the only kids beraya without parents that day.

Look at my tired face after spending half of the day in the hospital

Nabil finally getting a hang in riding a bike

The next agenda we went to my BIL PIL's house.  The kids were happier to meet up with their cousins and the chance to kutip more duit raya. Then we went to my SIL's house in Marang, the children just love to go here because the have the opportunity to ride on a bike, play swing and tag.  That night Hilman was taken to the hospital again for his second dose.  He showed improvement after that.  Alhamdulillah.

My girls and their cousin Humaira

Hilman and his cousin Haziq

Kids having fun at the wakaf

My children with their cousins.

The next day was spent visiting more relatives' houses and attending open houses and my kids and nephews had started to show sign of fever.  True enough the next day, 3 of my kids were down with fever and cough. My second BIL and family came on the second day.  I truly missed them but we didn't get to catch up much because I was busy packing to go home the next day.  As the kids were unwell, we were quite reluctant to go home that day but I have promised to celebrate the rest of the raya with my mother, so after the zohor calling of prayer we headed home.

We Are Family

The Little Taiwan

Yesterday all of us were invited to break fast in my sis-in-law's restaurant The Little Taiwan located in Solaris Dutamas.  It is quite a rare occasion for my family to do our iftar outside because we prefer to break fast at the comfort of our own home, less hassle, there is no need to rush to eat and pray and furthermore we love to walk to the surau to do our terawikh with our kiddos.  However, last night was exceptional because we have never been to my sis-in-law's restaurant as we missed the launching as the kids and I had school replacement on that Saturday and Nuraina had to go for a choir competition in Subang Parade. So this is our chance to check out the restaurant and eat for free, not forgetting everyone will be there.

During iftar things went a bit kelam kabut with the kids ordering this and that as the selection of foods are not something similar to us something new to the taste bud but we enjoyed them nonetheless, but what made last night special was that everyone was there sans my father, all my parents 12 grandchildren, sons, daughter, daughters-in-law, son-in-law and it was such a joyful moment.  We talked and talked almost everything under the sun from work to family to kids to politics, we were so comfortable with each other that nothing else mattered.  While the elders were busy dealing with adult matter the kids entertained themselves by  playing tag and 'nenek nenek si bongkok tiga' (the girls and the younger children), the boys had fun playing soccer using an empty can, the men chilled by smoking sisha and the ladies did what we do best, gossip.

Hilman as spectator

                                                                   

Boys posing after rounds of soccer

Kids playing human tug of war

I just love this kind of gathering because no one is working hard to make sure everyone is entertained because we know we are related, we are family, we belong, even the children. And the sight of them playing together, shouting, laughing, enough to make the adults hearts swelling with pride.

The men having sisha

My eldest bro Abang Munir

Thanks Abang Munir and Kak Linda for having us!!!!`

Khairina and Puasa

Khairina first started fasting last year when she was 6 years old,  we didn't force her to but she was persistent to do it because she wanted to join the 'jingang' during iftar because if not she will not have the opportunity to sit at the dining table during iftar.  Anyway, last year she managed to get 18 days of puasa penuh, not bad, I would say for a first timer, however Nabil still holds the record of completing the 30 days of puasa at the age of 6 (I tell you that boy is made of steel), even during the fasting month he can still find the energy to play football in his agama school field.  Not only that, he has not missed his terawih yet (not sure where this scrawny boy gets his energy from).

Back to Khairina, her first day of puasa something funny happened, we woke her up for sahur because again she insisted she wanted to fast, she was half asleep as she could not open her eyes, I carried her downstairs, washed her face and told her to rinse her mouth (nasib baik anak Ibu ni kurus, bolehlah nak dukung2 lagi).  Put her down on the chair and told her to eat, she went 'I can't open my eyes', and I went 'Ok Ibu suap, Nina bukak mulut aje, tak yah bukak mata' and she went 'Ok Ibu, thank you Ibu'.  So I fed her and when she said she was full I carried her back to bed.  The next morning (actually it's the same morning), while getting ready for school, she asked me 'Eh Ibu, Nina ni puasa ke?'  and I replied 'puasa' and she went 'Tapi Nina tak bangun sahur pun', and came my reply 'Nina makan sahur, Ibu suap sebab Nina ngantuk sangat' and she went 'Oooooh....jadi Nina kena puasalah kan?' and I just nodded my head.

Off she went to school,  I came home at around 2.30 pm and she greeted me at the door by saying 'Ibu, Nina tak puasa, sebab Nina rasa Nina mimpi jelah Nina sahur tapi Nina tak sahur kan Ibu?  Ibu answered '  'Masya Allah Khairina, Nina sahurlah Ibu yang suap Nina makan' and came her answer 'Ya ke Ibu?' and Ibu answered 'Takpelah Nina, Nina dah makan pun, jadi Nina memang tak puasa ok' and she answered 'Tapi Nina nak'.  Haiyoo... 'Nina terlupa takpe, tapi Nina makan banyak ke tadi?' I just wanted to make sure maybe she ate some food by accident because she has forgotten that she was supposed to fast and she went 'Nina beli satu pinggan nasi lemak dengan air sarsi, Nina makan sampai habis'.  Oh my dear girl itu memang bukan terlupa, itu memang dah tak puasalah and came the whine 'Nina nak!' and she continued to fast refusing to eat and drink after that and she was adamant to join us during iftar because according to her she 'termakan'.  Suka hatilah ko nak oi....tak kuasa nak layan.  ahak ahak.  The subsequent days after the incident, she has been fasting for the rest of the days and so far, she is doing ok and am glad.

Unfortunately, the thing that I can't stand is when she asks the question of 'how many hours more to berbuka?' and after 5 mins she will be asking the same question again and again and again.  To solve the problem, we bought her a watch that she always wanted and my my whaddaya know she seldom bothers us with the question again.  Pretty good trick, I would say.

The thing about fasting month is, cooking has been a fulfilling affair because the are all eager to eat and nothing goes to waste and everything I cook is delicious to the kids (which is an achievement because I'm a lousy cook) and that shows when people are hungry, anything goes.

Say No to Exam

I vote for NO to exam!!!

Is this public exam necessary?  What is a big hu ha of getting straight A's for exam?  Will this exam prepare them for the future? If it does, I bet it's minimal.

Exam kills creativity, exam conforms to uniformity, exam kills passion,  exam is soooo last year!!!!!!!

Exam produces robot, do we want robot for our future generation?  What we should focus is developing a person's true potential.  Someone who does not do well in exam, does not mean she's hopeless, maybe her interest is not there, maybe she is capable to do other great things but we will never know as our education is very examination based.  So this type of person will lose out in our education system and hence jeopardizing her future.

Gone were the days when teachers were our first-hand information, we went 'oooh aaah' discovering new things from them,  learning was fun then because we indeed learn something new in school, we will lose out so much if we don't go to school but today you can get information anywhere and everywhere at the tips of your fingers, so why do we need to test them on what they learn in school when they have learned so much more outside which is possibly more relevant to what they want to pursue in future.

What we need to focus on is creativity, get the kids to produce, design or create some things new, some thing special, some thing extraordinary, do practical things rather than theory.  We need to produce more rounded teachers, teachers that can teach more than what it is now, teachers who are dancers, writers, cheerleaders, poets, actors, chef, web designers, conductors, technician rather than the 'chalk and talk' teacher.  I bet there will be more people interested to become teachers if we offer these things to them.  We get teachers who are passionate of their jobs because they are doing things they love.  Not people who choose teaching as their last resort.   There's a saying 'there is no such thing as lousy students, only lousy teachers'. Only with well rounded teachers, we are able to produce well-rounded students.

I believe if we embrace this paradigm shift, we have less problematic students, we will have happier teachers and happy teachers will create a happy environment to mould  happy students who just love to go to school.  As today's schools do not function as the only knowledge centre and as I mentioned earlier,  kids today can get any information they want as easy as 'A, B C' and  the teachers role is to guide them not to test them.

Some things need to be changed with our education system and I go for NO to exam!!!  How irony a teacher myself  does not believe in exam?  The truth is I've seen many of my students who are super talented but sadly they are not in their teachers good book just because they are different and they do not do well in exam.  In our education system, if you excel in other things rather than academic, you will not go far.  There is not much support in our education system for other things besides academic.  What is sadder is these co-curricular activities (the things that they love to do) often take the back seat once they are in Form 3 and Form 5 just because they want to stay focus on their major exam.  Not because they want too but their parents told them to do so.

I am blessed with potential students, it is sad that we gauge their achievement only by how well they do in their exam. 

Mind you I am not all against exam, students still need to be assessed so that they advance to the next level and assessment or evaluation creates a sense of responsibility and awareness but it should be done school based not the major exam that we have now!!! Public exam for Year 6, Form 3 and 5 is just too much!!!

P/S - To my third former students, if you are reading this, you still have to sit for your PMR exam and it means so much to me if you score all A's in this exam, so stop wasting your time going online and reading this post. Go and study because you people have less than 2 months before the exam (58 days to be exact)!!!

Don't Call Me a Wonder Mom

Truth be told, having many kids don't actually make a person a wonderful mom, and I am uncomfortable when we people judge me to be a super wonderful mom, just because I have 5 kids.

I ain't no wonder mom, I'll tell you why;

First I have a lot of help as I am staying with my parents.  My mom adores kids and she loves my children to bits, so she helps me a lot in the upbringing of my children.

I have a wonderful maid who has been with us for 5 years, she too loves children and a very good cook and those skills that she has have make my life a breeze as you all know I am lousy in the kitchen (totally hopeless!).

I often shout at my kids, I use cane to get my message across, child psychology? I truly suck at that.

Sometimes I feed them junks, I treat them to pizza, ice-cream, burgers, hotdogs anything that makes my life easier provided I don't have to be in the kitchen to prepare them.

I don't make them to do revision daily, my motto is 'if you are done with your homework, I am fine'.  Revision is only done 2 weeks before the exam.

They are allowed to watch tv everyday, at least an hour a day.

I have stock of chocolates and ice-cream in the fridge.

I love shopping and they often manage to fool me to get the things they want.  I just love the feeling buying things for my kids and watching the satisfied look on their face.

Despite all these flaws and shortcomings, I am still the BEST mom for my kids!!!! ahak ahak.

P/S- I have a lot of regret sometimes and I am definitely not proud of myself and I am working to be a better
         mom for my children.

So please don't call me a wonderful mom because I am far from that and  I truly don't deserve it.

The Subway's Challenge

I'm happy to announce i've completed the Subway Today's Special Challenge yay!:- 

What I can conclude is that, my favourite days will be :-

a)  Tuesday -  Cheesy Tuna
b)  Thursday - Meatball Marinara though i find this a bit too mouthful to eat.
c)  Saturday - Seafood Crab
d) Sunday - Chicken Teriyaki
e)  I love all the veggies except olives and onions. Yucks!!!
f)  My favourite sauces are - teriyaki, bbq, thousand island and chilli.
g)  My favourite cookie is the Chocolate chip - a bit too sweet though.
h) my favourite breads are parmesan oregano, honey oat hearty italian- all toasted.
So if you plan to give me a treat in Subway, make sure you choose any of those days listed above, any day is also possible but you have to pay RM3 more than the promotional price.

P/S-  I enjoyed completing this challenge.  So what should I do next before the fasting month?

The Kakis

I am blessed to have such wonderful friends, who not only make me laugh but who stick with me through thick and thin, who believe in me and who will always stand by me.  My usual kakis are a reflection of the One Malaysia concept.

Not only with laugh the loudest, we have the same wavelength too, most of us are passionate in what we are doing and always wanting to do/be the best.  The Teachers' Concert is a prove of how well we have worked together and how we were receptive to different ideas given and how all of us wanting to deliver and do the best considering the kids had to pay to watch us perform.

The whole process prior to the event had been exciting and fun.  A person came up with the idea to do Bollywood dance, everybody got excited, one person said lets do to the song of Jaiho and that further added to our excitement.  We met during the first week of the school holiday to brainstorm and learning the steps, we even brought our kids during practices, while they jumped into the pool, we danced but still keeping an eye on them.  Despite that we had the PTK exam to sit, we still met up after that to learn our dancing steps.

We did not get to meet up after that as everyone was going off for a holiday and busy with whatnot hence I had written all the steps into a piece of paper and kept it inside my handbag.  The first 2 weeks of school, had been  a busy week as we had to finish up marking the exam papers and keying the marks and preparing for Open Day.  We met again 2 weeks before the event and when I took the paper out, I could not decipher what I have written since it was all crumpled up.  Thus we made some adjustments to the steps however this time around we did not manage to get everyone to come for practices as one was busy with her cheerleaders and one had a course to attend to.

We met up after school hours with only the 3 or the 4 of us doing our routine and it was a really good work out as we seldom do our exercises too anyway.  We laughed when we couldn't remember our steps and we improvised on some of the steps so that our booties will move more.  We agreed to rent our costumes and during the fitting session, we were being silly and laughed hysterically at each other.  It was a fun day though one of us was so stressed up for the Hari K the next day.

The week of the event, some of us were busy with the Musical Night preparation but we still made time to practice and we only got everyone to come to practice a day before the Teachers Concert itself, but most of us came well prepared.

On the day itself,we were all nerves as we were worried that we might forget our steps or it will be a blunder, but my team members assured each other that we will be fine and we are good at covering up our mistakes by smiling and continue doing our moves.  We had the cheerleaders to help with our make-up and putting on fake eyelashes and that moment was hilarious too, we got more excited when we put on our costumes and we had one last practice in the Wawasan Room.

We were called to the backstage at 11.30 am and everyone there looked really good in their attire, all made up until we couldn't even recognize some of our colleagues.  Hearing the shouts and applause from the students made us more nervous but at the same time looking forward to get it over and done with.  We requested to perform second so we can watch other teachers doing their performance and enjoying the rest of the show.  I knew my team members depended on me and I was restless, walking up and down the hall way, playing the steps in my mind and suddenly when we were called to the stage I was in my element and we were all out doing our dance.  We called ourselves the 'Pussycat Mommas'.

The response  that we got was overwhelming, some students actually gave us a standing ovation, we were jubilated!!!  We truly enjoyed our moment of glory after that when we discovered that others enjoyed it too.We have been getting positive feedback so far.  Pure satisfaction!!! We loved every moment of it, but to have an encore? No way.  Other performances were equally great too especially the Nobody dance, The Pontianak Dance, the solo singers, the fashion show.  Everyone was a real sport.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for making us feel special and we hope the RM5 was well spent.

                                             The 6 of us!!! The Pussycat Mommas.

How to Make a Woman Happy

 Look what I found on the net.

It's not difficult to make a woman happy. A man only needs to be:

1. A friend

2. A companion

3. A lover

4. A brother

5. A father

6. A master

7. A chef

8. An electrician

9. A carpenter

10. A plumber

11. A mechanic

12. A decorator

13. A stylist

14. A sexologist

15. A gynecologist

16. A psychologist

17. A pest exterminator

18. A psychiatrist

19. A healer

20. A good listener

21. An organizer

22. A good father

23. Very clean

24. Sympathetic

25. Athletic

26. Warm

27. Attentive

28. Gallant

29. Intelligent

30. Funny

31. Creative

32. Tender

33. Strong

34. Understanding

35. Tolerant

36. Prudent

37. Ambitious

38. Capable

39. Courageous

40. Determined

41. True

42. Dependable

43. Passionate

44. Compassionate

WITHOUT FORGETTING TO:

45. Give her compliments regularly

46. Love shopping

47. Be honest

48. Be very rich

49. Not stress her out

50. Not look at other girls

AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU MUST ALSO:

51. Give her lots of attention, but expect little yourself

52. Give her lots of time, especially time for herself

53. Give her lots of space, never worrying about where she goes

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT:

54. Never to forget:

* birthdays

* anniversaries

* arrangements she makes

HOW TO MAKE A MAN HAPPY

1. Show up naked

2. Bring Drinks

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT

3. Leave Him Alone

============ ========= ========= ========= ========= =====

Contradictory Ibu

Kisah Aina lagi....

This episode happened some time back, can't actually remember when. I'm not sure about yours but my kids love to be told to do things over and over again. I'm just not sure why they enjoy hearing the Ibu goes slightly above her normal pitch. There was this one day, I told everyone as usual to take their bath, while I was busy downstairs, when I came up, I saw everyone has taken their bath except for Kakak Aina who was happily watching television only with her panties and camisole on. I then blew my top and started nagging and telling her off and about being a big girl should set an example to the younger siblings yadda..yadda...yadda..

She with her sour face then dragged her two feet into the bathroom, once done, she took her pyjamas and unashamedly dressed herself in front of me and I went 'dah besar...bla..bla..malulah sikit..bla...bla.. you're 10 already..big girl...tut*tut* pun dah nak tumbuh dah...coverlah sikit..bla..bla...

The day after, she wanted to buy ice-cream, I was pissed off because she decided to tell me that once we have reached home after I have driven them around after their co-curricular activities, so I got upset again and she got another shelling for taking me for granted..yada..yada...yada. And then she went why are you scolding me? I can go buy it all by myself, I can cross the street and I don't need you to take me there. And Ibu responded with 'you're still young...bla..bla..bla..it's not safe..bla..bla..remember Nurin...bla..bla..kena culik..budak kecik..yada..yada..yada..

And then she went 'Which one am I Ibu? Big or small? Young or budak besar? Can you please decide? You are definitely confusing me.'(while scratching her head)

Cheh!
Parenting?
When can I ever get it right?

P/S- Aina, you are kecik or besar whenever I want you to be!!!! Your duty as my child is to do what I told you to do. Don't argue.

P/P/S - Kids - you spend the 2 years of their life teaching them to walk and talk and the rest of the years telling them to sit down and shut up.

Aina is back!!!!

So Aina came back yesterday evening and everybody was excited and so happy to see her. They all came running down the stairs shouting 'Kakak Aina dah balik! Kakak Aina dah balik! Yay!' I tell you the house was pretty quiet without her around and everyone went 'When is Kakak Aina coming back? We miss Kakak Aina.'

Kids are funny you know. When the Kakak is around they get into so much fight and Kakak Aina being her nosy and bossy self will start too bicker and sometimes the way she scolds the siblings lagi teruk pada Ibu dia marah and we often tell them to sit down and shut up and suddenly when she's gone, it feels awkward that there's no one to boss around the younger ones and the silence was just deafening.

Anyway back to Aina, she had so much fun camping and she hopes that she will get selected again for the camp. My girl is definitely an outdoor girl, give her anything to do with outdoor activities, she's up to it. Jangan suruh duduk rumah and study and you can see her long face. Why ah liddat? When I asked her how is it like sleeping in the tent, she went cool ibu, can we buy a tent and camp outside the house? Pulak! And according to her the nights that it rained, they camped inside the hall and it was all fun.

Glad that she had fun.

P/S- "Ibu ustazah said if we mandi bogel, malaikat tak akan dekat. So can I wear panty and camisole when I mandi from now on." "But you still young darling, takpe kot mandi bogel." (Ish! ish! I'm ashamed of myself, teruk betul Ibu dia ni) *ada tanduk kat kepala*

Missing My Girl

Aina has gone off for a 'Kem Perdana Kebangsaan' and I am missing her terribly. The fact that handphones are off limit made this separation more unbearable.

The night before the camp, as we were packing her stuffs she told me she is looking forward to this camp as this will be a real camp since they are all going to squeeze into big tents not the usual camp she has attended where participants actually stayed in a hostel and slept on a proper bed.

Before she went off to lala land that night, she cried a bit when she realized she has not many friends with her there. Too many strangers and the only person from the same school who is going with her is a Year 5 girl who she doesn't really know that well. Ironically, she doesn't have much choice as they are only selecting 2 students as representatives a Year 4 and a Year 5 who are AJKs of that uniformed body.

As she is the only Year 4 AJK for that particular uniformed body, the teacher didn't actually give her much choice, on the other hand, knowing Aina dia memang suka benda-benda cam ni. The teacher called both of us begging Aina to go and as Aina pun tergedik2 nak pergi. My hubby said 'bagi jelah' it will be a good experience for her, little that we know that connection to her is almost non-existence except to call the teacher and ask how she is as she is not allowed to use phone there. Sigh!

She went off last Thursday morning and coming back tomorrow evening. And the fact that it has been raining for the past 2 nights has made me worried sick on how her condition like sleeping in the tent. Kesiannya anak Ibu!

How to Win Your Wife's Heart 101

It's very easy actually to win a wife's heart because we women are soft hearted especially to the person we love. It actually doesn't take much of an effort but the correct approach to it will make this world a better place to live in and our home a haven on earth.

1. What husbands need to know is that most wives hope that men will show some compassion without even telling, for example try helping the wife around the house with the household chores and you can see the wife will be sooooooo grateful and a happy person that she no longer feels tired easily doing the same stuff over and over again.
What usually makes us grumpy and then we started to nag because men refuse to be sympathetic and labeled housework as a wife's job. Excuse me, there's no such thing, most couples now are both working, you can't expect a wife to go to work and take care of the housework all by herself. You need to eat too and wear clean clothes right? So do your part in helping out and everyone's happy. It doesn't take much actually just a simple-simple thing like throwing the rubbish without the need to be told or help washing the dishes will make the wife all wide smiled.

2. Allow the wife to have some 'me' time. Maybe a husband can try to care for the kids all by himself once in a while and you can see the positive changes in her. She appreciates you and the kids more.

3. Talk nicely to her if you need things to be done or there is something you are unhappy about, try approaching the subject in a subtle manner and you will see she will respond to it better than blaming her or accusing her for things not done right. If you do it gently she will be more open to change her way or style.

4. Surprise her. It doesn't have to be expensive gifts and not all women like flowers but you will be surprised how they will react to flowers if they are given as a surprise because most women love surprises as there are signs of love, affection and appreciation.

5. Most people say that men are like babies they love to be pampered. Well, well waddaya know women love to be pampered too. A good foot massage or a shoulder massage after a long, tiring day at work, gives us this signal that our husband cares for us.

6. Impromptu hugs and kisses with no hidden agenda and saying 'I love you' daily may seem cheap but they are definitely a way to a wife's heart.

7. Go on a date - just the two of you and it definitely brings back the passion and the fire you used to feel for each other during your courting period.

8. Help the kids with the homework or attend to their needs and you can see the wife is thankful she has chosen you as her husband and the father to her children.

9. Pay for her facial or haircut and she will be truly grateful.

10. Don't be stingy with compliments- do it often and sincerely for her look, dress, the food that she cooks or the way she does her things.

11. Make a point to remember important dates like birthdays (wife, kids), anniversary and make a point to celebrate.

12. Be a good listener - it matters to a woman for a husband to listen to her point her view and take her words seriously.

13. Call her or message her from time to time when you are away from each other.

14. The easiest way and it definitely would work everytime is to take her shopping and pay for her stuff(with no complaint) and you will have the happiest wife in the universe on that day.


Dare to try?
Do it and you will win a lottery!

*Not only that a happy wife contributes to a happy home and a happy home brings out happy children, happy children make happy people. Happy people contribute to a happy society.

Here's to a better world to live in.

Lesson In Life

Read this from Cerita Ibu's blog and I thought to share it here.

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip.

You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series Winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.

These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields.

But the applause dies.
Awards tarnish.
Achievements are forgotten.
Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special!!
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson:
The people who make a difference in your life are NOT the ones with the most credentials, the most money...or the most awards.They simply are the ones who care the most.

Pass this on to those people who have either made a difference in your life, or whom you keep close in your heart.

You are the Sweetest

You are the sweetest because:-

1. When I told you my watch doesn't work and I had to wear the expensive special watch you bought on a daily basis, you brought me to the watch shop and got me another pair, I thought of getting a simpler one but you were very concerned that I am truly satisfied with the choice I make.

2. When I told you, I don't have many jeans to wear because I'm getting healthier and healthier day by day, instead of telling me to exercise or lose weight, you bought me another pair with no question asked.

3. When I told you that I charged the card during my trip to Langkawi on top of the pocket money you gave me which you thought was adequate for my shopping spree, you just asked 'how much?' and nothing else after that.

4. When bibik is not around, you take us all to dine outside just because you know how helpless I am in the kitchen.

5. When you have extra money you always think about what to get me and the kids and not much of yourself.

6. When I say I'm tired or not in a mood to go out, you don't mind handling the kids all by yourself.

7. When I say I would like to go for facial,cut my hair, you don't mind paying for it.

8. When I say I need to attend to my farm, you don't mind putting the baby to bed so I can do my farm with ease. ahak ahak.

9. When something goes wrong, like when I knocked the car couple of times you seldom put the blame on me.

10. You handle all the bills and file everything and I know nuts about all these things.

I'm truly blessed. Darling my thanks can be overrated but I believe I can never thanked you enough for making everything easy for me.

The Langkawi Trip

Ok so the Langkawi trip was last weekend. To me, it was a blast because I was travelling with my good friends and the cherry on the cake was that, we were all roommates, how cool is that?

Anyway from the Langkawi trip I can actually summed up few things. Among them are:-

1. never have I laughed so much in the past 10 years. Oh yeah we had loads of fun.
Travelling with friends makes me feel young again. I'm not wearing any hat,
I was just me, not a mother, not a daughter, not a teacher, not a wife. It was
awesome to lead such carefree life once in awhile.

2. never have I shopped for chocolates that much. The damage? I'm not
telling. ahak ahak. That bad ok, I lacked the self-control.

3. never have I sang in public before, I'm not sure what made me, but I was hyped
up that night and sang a dangdut number. I was terrible but my horrendous
'gelek' made up for my ugly voice.

4. I had a lot of energy, though I didn't sleep that well for the 2 nights I was
there, I wasn't tired. Amazing? I was amazed at myself too.

Now I know what I need to make me feel good, go traveling with the girls. We should do this again.Who's with me?

Me and my girlfriends


Will upload more photos once I get the memory card from a friend, hopefully.

Man with no legs and arms - Inspiring story

This is truly inspirational. Every time, when I'm feeling down or when I think life has been unfair to me, I'll view this video and all my problems suddenly become insignificant and are just minor. It definitely changed me to be more thankful and grateful with what I have and I hope it will do the same to you too.

Good Mothers Don't Do Such Thing?

I was watching Oprah today, tribute on mother's day, how this mother named Brenda left her 2 year-old daughter at the back seat of her MPV for 8  hours and eventually killed her as she suffered from heat stroke, her skin was peeling and her mouth had produced white foam.  How could a mother forget her own child?  Does that make her a bad mother?  Are we the best judge to say that she is incapable of taking good care of her kids?  Apparently not, turned out she is such a loving and a caring mom who was just unlucky that this mishap could happen to her.

Brenda a career woman who leads such a hectic life, on top of her demanding job, she goes home to attend to her 2 small kids, cooks and cleans the house.  That day, there was a slight change to her routine.  Usually it was the husband's job to send the kids to the sitter, however, on that tragic day he had a dental appointment that morning so the duty was shifted to Brenda.  The child was still asleep when she picked her up and put her into the backseat of her car.  As it was way too early to send the child to the sitter, she decided to get some stuff as  she normally did, she reached her workplace, began unloading her stuff and as she held a very demanding job she had totally forgotten the baby who was still asleep, left in the car.  She felt something was amiss but couldn't put what into it until it was almost 4 pm when everybody was about to go home when a friend suddenly came running to her saying that she has left her baby in a car.  She knew then it was too late.  She was traumatized by the whole incident, all the time blaming herself and it didn't help either when society started pointing to her and call her a bad mother.  She then lead a solitary life for a year before she finally agreed to be interviewed by Oprah on what had actually happened on that day.  In her interview with Oprah, what caught my attention was when she said 'good mothers don't do such thing'.

This incident could happen to anybody, am guilty of that too.  Mondays are usually my busiest day,  I usually get home at 5.30 pm after my orchestra practices.  There was this one Monday early this year, I had to attend to so many things, can't remember what they were.  I remember that day being unfocus as my mind wondered to too many things that required my attention.  At that period, Hilman has to undergo a few sessions of therapy on a daily basis.  As the centre closed at 6.30 pm, I rushed to get home to pick up Hilman and my mother.  Parking in that area was horrendous, after making a few rounds I told my mom to get down first.  I think after almost 15 minutes, I found a spot which was about 100 metres away from the centre.  I quickly went down, ran to the centre to secure my son a place when my mother asked me where Hilman is.  I could feel my blood draining as I have totally forgotten about Hilman left on the backseat of my car.  I ran back to the car and I could see him sweating and crying at the top of his lungs. I quickly grabbed him into my arms, showering him with kisses and whispering sweet nothings to his ear.  I was so thankful that he was alright.  But I felt really bad.  I was a bad mother who have failed to protect and to care for my kid.  And when I got back to the centre, I could see people shaking their heads, 'tsk'ing me and went 'how could she forget her own baby?'.  The feeling was awful as I could not defend myself as I was truly guilty.

So when I was watching Oprah this afternoon, I could relate to Brenda, and I believe I am not alone, I bet there are other mothers out there too who have experience quite similar situation too, like forgetting to pick up their kids from school, tuition or the child suddenly went out of our sight.  I am not justifying myself, what I did was definitely wrong and intolerable but actually there are many factors contribute a mother to such act.

Being a mother is one tough job, as she has to oversee to almost everything, people expect a mother not to lack in her job, there is no room for mistake, though many of us try to achieve to be the perfect mother, at the end of the day there is no such thing as a perfect mother.

So to all mothers out there, I advise you, maybe to slow down a little, take time to breathe and we can only achieve certain things at a certain time, we make mistakes, the most important thing is to pick up the pieces and learn from the mistakes we made.  After all we are all human, we are bound to make mistakes.

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

People Change

I was looking at my ex-high school friends photos and I was thinking to myself how I will never fit into the party.  I felt sad (no, not sad, I'm not sure what I'm feeling) but there's this tight knot feeling in my stomach that I cannot actually express what the feeling is.  Am I making any sense here?

You know it is the kind of feeling you get when you remember how close you were with these people, how you laughed, fought, cried, shared your secrets and how so much in common you had with these people, how you used to have so much to talk about and suddenly now you feel that there is a distance in your relationship with them, how these people once you called your good friends are now in a different league than you are.

Now that I am more matured than I used to be, I feel that when some people say they have never changed doesn't really mean good news to me,  because I cringe now when I see my thirty year old friends talk or dress like they are still eighteen, how they still talk about fashion and still get excited about men, how the still go partying at night whereas I mull over mundane things like what to cook for dinner, how to be a good mother/wife or how to raise obedient children. Maybe I have changed so much and I am now no longer a fun person to hang out with.

Just a couple months back, I had the opportunity to bump into another of one my closest high school friends through facebook and how ecstatic I was when we decided to meet over a cuppa.  Here I was jumping to the idea of finally meeting my good old friend but the meeting felt so strange as it turned out that we didn't have nothing much to talk about. We had some awkward moments as we did not have an expanded conversation, the silence was uncomfortable that I just couldn't wait to finish off my coffee and bid my farewell.  I am not sure what has happened to us, but she sounded bitter, she has all the not-so-nice thing to say about other people, the country, the law, the kids school, the husband basically about everything and the injustice that is happening around the world and that just killed my mood. In other words, I cannot utter a single thing without her having some negative remarks to make, in less than half an hour she somehow has managed to change the happy-go-lucky me into a pessimistic, unhappy and ungrateful being.  From that moment onwards, we no longer chat in facebook and I try my best not to cross her path.  It is funny come to think of it how I used to enjoy her company, a person I used to run to when I have anything to share.

Whatever it  is those mentioned above are just a few of them as I am still blessed with wonderful friends around me.  I am ME when I am with them and I like the ME in me when I am in their company.  Darn!  Pardon me, if I still don't make any sense here as this is the ME that I am referring about.  Get me?

Ahak ahak.  Have a good day.

The Prize Giving Ceremony

It is nice to be acknowledged by the school leavers, though only a handful them came to meet and greet me, it was a wonderful feeling....to be remembered!!!

So today was the prize-giving ceremony known as MPPH in my school (Majlis Penghargaan dan Penyampaian Hadiah).  Seeing the ex-Form 5s who came with such dazzling outfits, stilletos clad to their feet, immaculate make up, designer handbag, up-to-date electronic gadgets,  put my image in my humble baju kurung and the usual eyeliner and lipstick me with shabby looking shoes and handbag to shame.  Oh my! How they  have grown to beautiful, matured looking ladies and pursuing courses that I have never known existed, made me swell with pride.  Last year's Form 5s have made us proud and I do miss them  mostly  my orchestra members.

The ceremony went well I would say, my orchestra girls played really well and many commented they were good and I am relieved and looking at my principal's face who was wide smiling and gave us a thumb's up made me proud, all the hard work really paid off.  I am happy to announce that I have such pleasant girls in my club, though they often get shelling from us the teacher advisors, they never keep grudges and they are helpful to one another.  There is lots of work to be in orchestra but they are not whiners and I am content.

Thank you girls for a wonderful performance.  We have one more major event to think of the Inter-School String Orchestra Competition on the 17th of July...please make us proud of you again!!!

Long Overdue Post -Months of Birthdays

Aaaahhhh.....choooo!!! Fuh my blog is dusty indeed, cobwebs galore...

The month March and April are months of birthdays in this family.  It kicked off with Dhaniyah's 4th birthday on the 5th of March, my second brother's birthday on 14th of March, Hilman's 18th of March, my nephew and niece on 21st of March, my mom on the 22nd, mine 4th of April, my sis-in-law, Juliana on the 10th of April, my son Nabil 13th of April, my dad on 14th of  April and my eldest sis-in-law's birthday on the 28th of April.  So basically memang kenyang makan kek jelah.


This year Hilman's birthday fell on school holiday, we took the opportunity to celebrate his birthday in Melaka.  Hubby managed to get good rate for a villa there and we had a blast.  We had a lot of fun. As the villa came with a swimming pool, the kids had a good time, jumping in and out of the pool as in which and when they wish.  The party was supposed to be by the pool side but since the weather was hot, we changed the venue to be indoor.  On the way to Melaka, we bought KFC and we brought some kuih and a birthday cake which I ordered from Kak Yani the Kitchen Guardian.  Since my good friend is also living in Melaka, we invited her to come and join in the celebration.  The whole family came, they brought along their swimming suits, the children didn't waste much time, changed into their swimming attire and within minutes all the children are in the pool accompanied by the fathers, while mothers watching by the sidelines. Shouts and laughter could be heard and it was a wonderful sight.  Thank you Ila for making up the crowd.

                                          The children having a whale time

                                           Happy Birthday Hilman.

The next day we went to the Animal Safari, we love going here as the place is clean and we love watching the shows.

                                            

                                               During the bird show

                                         
                                                              The elephant ride

                                          The boat ride to the monkey island
                                       

                                Aina and Nabil volunteered for the elephant show


That same night we went to Cowboy town, the kids loved the parade but no photos were taken because we had our hands full carrying Hilman and Dhaniyah who were afraid of the fireworks.

The next day, we went to the Extreme Park, the kids tried the go-kart while we tried doing the archery.

             They almost gave us heart attack when they went 'vroom vroom'. They were fast.

My first time doing archery, I did pretty well, I scored 22 points over 100 not badlah at least my arrows ada jugak yang kena the board apa...


We truly enjoyed our stay in the A'Famosa villa and I highly recommend it to other big families like us, we took the 3 bedded room and each room came with a one queen size bed and a single bed, so it was spacious and comfortable.

On the 13th of April was Nabil's 8th birthday, we didn't do anything much but he brought cupcakes to school to be shared with his classmates.



My son the die-hard Liverpool fan.  Photo courtesy of Kitchen Guardian, the person who made my son the happiest boy on his birthday.

He was happy with the cuppies and he declared himself the most popular boy in his school that day as many of his friends admiring the cakes and commented how tasty it tasted too.

Well, above are some interesting events that have been happening and worth sharing for the past one month.  Other interesting stuffs were the kids sports day, my birthday, mom's, dad's birthday but no photos accompanying so malaslah nak report.


Cheerio! More later, perhaps?!!! ahak ahak.

Alamak! How should I React to This?

You know when people commented "Waaa..you have 3 girls ah? Pening ah nanti."  I didn't actually comprehend what they are trying to say.  To me nurturing children is one tough and challenging task and I do not think having different genders children would make much of a difference.

And I always hate it those people who read about social ills in the newspaper or listen to the immoral acts of todays teenagers and went 'Nasib baik aku takde anak perempuan'.  What is that supposed to mean? What are you trying to say here? That all the things happening are all women's fault because it is visible to us and it is ok for men to have such bad behaviour because the parents tak payah tanggung malu sebab orang tak nampak if the child ter'pregnant'.

  What I want to stress here is please do not make such gender bias kind of comment, it is the man who is supposed to protect us the woman who apparently by nature dijadikan sebagai kaum yang lemah and not to take advantage of us.  We are born with 9 nafsu and 1 akal whereas the men have 1 nafsu and  9 akal and kalau ikut maths pun 9 is such a big number and logically is able to kawal the 1 nafsu tu betul tak? I think it is just  simple maths. Budak darjah 1 pun boleh identify that 9 is a lot lot more than 1.

So basically what I want to say here is that because we are so used to hear such comment, I believe it makes the men to become less and less responsible because society is condemning only the girls and not the boys.  How is that fair? What we should say is, we all should take care of our kids and make sure this thing does not happen to us and not put all the blame only to one gender- the girls.

Alright actually what I want to write is not about the issue above but how my 10 year old daughter has been getting attention from the other species and I am not sure how I should I deal with it.  You know when our kids were young we beamed when people praised them but now that she has slightly grown up and starts to develop some curves, I no longer appreciate the praise that she gets from the male species, grown men.  The other day, when we were in pasar malam I told her to get the 'keropok lekor' while I buy the veggies at the next stall. The guy manning the stall started to strike a conversation with her, making jokes and whatnot and I got worried and that was not the first time it happened, there was one time that a guy selling burgers was busy asking her name and phone number, luckily she was smart enough not to 'layan' these people.  These people could be harmless but it sure got me worried.  Am I overreact?  It is difficult now to get her to help buying things because she will bring this kind of distraction and I definitely do not welcome it.

Not only that, the other day, I happened to read her messages in her inbox.  I wasn't snooping it's just that she told me to help with her FV.  This boy confessed his love to my girl 'Aina please love me'.  I got the shocked of my life, I asked her and she went 'I hate it Ibu, please delete the message.'  The next day he wrote 'why are you not responding to me, is it because you love someone else?' and she went 'Issh Ibu gila ke apa budak ni?' She told me to delete the message but not until I replied to the message 'I am still young to think about love, can we be friends instead?' just because I was told he is such nice and a polite boy by her friends.  He's not bad-looking too as he comes from a mix parentage, the mom is a 'minah salleh' ok, actually he's a hunk.

So yesterday when she was in the car with me, I asked about the boys in her school and she went 'semua kawan jelah Ibu and I'm not sure kenapa that boy tulis macam tu because I have never talked to him, he was my classmates last year tapi tak pernah cakap pun but the girls adalah usik cakap S is in love with me.'  And I asked 'Dia pandai tak?' and she went "pandailah jugak, he is in the second class, I'm in third class' and I went 'he is good looking and clever, oklah tu Aina' and she went 'Apalah Ibu ni, Aina taknaklah, mengarutlah Ibu'.  Ahh...what a relief! to hear her answered like that as I am not sure how am I supposed to react to that if she too develops the same feeling for that boy?

Oh Aina you still my baby, my little girl tau, don't think about boys yet until you are 25 ok?

Being Sick Is Awful

Is it age or is it the virus?  The kids are sick, my 3 younger ones are down with fever last Wednesday, the worst is Dhaniyah, her once chubby cheeks have now shrunken, she has lost her appetite, she doesn't take her milk as often and she cried during her birthday celebration as she was actually unfit to attend school, Dhaniyah is still unwell and she's not attending school today,  Khairina is recuperating, fever gone but she has a slight cough, Hilman is still coughing but he has shown slight improvement.

I had fever too on Saturday and it was awful, is it age factor, the weather or the virus? The fever made my whole body ached, my head spinning and my feet felt like pins and needles everytime I had to put my feet on the ground. I have slight temperature today, I still feel dizzy and it sucks, the normal fever which usually takes 2 days to recover now it drags to 3 days, I want to blame the latter but I guess age is playing a factor too and the lack of exercise I believe is the main factor making my whole body so weak and fragile.  It's a sign to start exercising and should consider to use the Wii Fit that is still sitting in the box, oh don't get me wrong, it is being put to good use, unfortunately not from me but by Nuraina who does her cheerleading routine using the Wii Fit and she has been losing quite a number of calories based on the record shown on the Wii Fit.

Ok, I feel quite dizzy now and would like to take a nap while Hilman is asleep, so take good care of yourself, try to stay indoor as much as you can because the weather is super-hot nowadays and talking about which  Hilman is developing this heat rash all over his body and it is difficult as he is asthmatic he can't be in air-conditioned room for too long, he is allergic to sweat so what should I do? 'Fening, fening'.

My Dhaniyah

This 5th of March, marks my Dhaniyah her 4th birthday. Dhaniyah a very entertaining girl, she has many stories to share, has a wide laugh and kuat merajuk at times.  Dhaniyah is well-liked in school by her teachers and friends and she is the tallest in her class.

To my Dhaniyah, happy birthday dear
Ibu, Abah, Kakak Aina, Abang Nabil, Kakak Nina and Hilman love you so so very much.

Now I Know Why

Though I tend and try to get along with everybody, there are some people that you can't really get along with and there are some people that you just seem to 'click' straight away like you really enjoy their presence and you have so much to talk to with that person, because you just 'click', you know what I mean?

There are some people that you can talk everything under the sun, you joke around with them, the jokes may sound harsh to others but we do not seem to mind, we are of the same wavelength, we understand each other's feeling and at times we tend to finish each other's lines. I'm glad and quite lucky in the sense that I quite have a number of friends who I just happened to 'click' right away. ,Amazingly, it does not take years to establish this bond, there are a few incidences that I just happen to click right away with these people, we may not see each other often but everytime we meet, we have a lot to share and we just enjoy each other's company.

Quite recently, I commented to a colleague of mine that I just love my Form 3 girls, maybe because I have taught a handful of them since they were in Form One. I have watched them grow from boisterous, immature kids to a more serious and lady-like girls. I can see some of them starting to take learning more seriously this year as the have a major exam to focus on compared to the previous years I have taught them.

In fact some of them are having me for almost 3 years of their school lives, and I do enjoy being with them. We 'click' and we are just interested to know more about each other and we just love sharing stories.

And today I was pointed out why we have this kind of 'tight' relationship, according to the chinese horoscope pointed out by my students 3K's students (Kae*shini, Karish*ma and Kary*na) teachers who are born on the year of a tiger will have a good time teaching students who are born in the year of pig RFLMAO! It sounded ridiculous but I just have to agree.

These kids sometimes make me feel important the celebrity -like kind of importance (LOL!) as they are just interested to know more about me, our routine lesson is sometimes filled with 'red herring' and that makes teaching them effortless and fun. And just like life not everything is a bed of roses and just like roses there are thorns, but I take all them as a challenge and constantly reminding them to not take things easy. Although they can drive me up the wall at times, they are actually fine girls who are capable of doing great things but more often that not they have not able to set their priorities right.

I really hope these girl will strive harder in their studies and will always remember their teachers. I know I have a lot of shortcoming and may not be the best teacher anyone can wish for but I believe each of my student has potential to achieve great success and I always pray for the success of my girls. Last but no least 'nagging teachers are caring teachers', remember that!

NB- This batch of students are the ones responsible in introducing me to the Twillight saga and got me hooked to it 2 years ago (thanks to Han*nna Suhaila), not only that they introduced me to the Night World series too, they are the ones who made me continue blogging after the in-house training that I attended (Angela Chong and the gang in 1B 2008), they are the people who made me read the novel P.S. I Love You and My Sister's Keeper and they are the ones who would tell me what movies or dvds worth watching.