Post #0218 - What would I do without you

Dear Earthlings, 

During my highschool - uni, we (me and my siblings) would always ask our arwah nenek & mom to pray for us whenever we have to face our exam. My mom would normally perform a solat hajat on the exam day itself. Let say exam starts at 9 am, so she would pray sometime between 9 to 9:30 am. If exam tu untuk 5 hari, maka 5 hari lah akan buat solat hajat.
The candidate herself.. hmm.. subject to kerajinan.

There was a time where I had this one exam (I think it was Corp Financial Management. Yes, I hate this paper so much so I didn't complete the course) and my mom complained to me that she was soooo sleepy whilst praying the hajat. Further, she said that she had this bad feeling that I couldn't pass through the exam. 

It happened to be true, I failed the paper. 

Hehehe.. 

So yesterday, was no exception. 

I had to face the internal exam conducted by the Blue Company. 

 

Feel like I'm taking a PMR because as soon as I finished my exam, my mom called me up. 

Her usual line was - "Boleh buat ke tak boleh?"

And I replied,  

"Masa mami smayang hajat tadi tu ngantok tak?"

Hahaha.

Regardless how old we become, we will always depend on our mom isn't?

In my case she would be the laundrette sorter, my trustworthy babysitter, personal chef.. u name it. Anything under the sun. 

It explains why even dah tua, still kena bebel dengan mak. 

Hahahaha.

I love my mom.

Cliche.

I know. 

Now playing : -

Post #0262 - In training

Dear Earthlings, 

Saw couple of mugs Orla Kiely inspired in Parkson. Bought a pair as they are too cheap to pass. One selling for RM6.90 I think. 

Strolled through their Home Department and saw these jewelleries boxes selling half price (RM29.90 & RM24.90). (They have many kind).  Also angkut jugak. Great to store Youngster #1 accesories yang tak seberapa tu.

After check out, she didn't waste any time. Quickly she asked wet tissue from me. Wanted to wipe off the dust (if any) which I can't see any of 'em.

It doesn't stop there. 

At home, she continued wiping. This time wet tissue + (her)  Johnson cologne.

Day by day, I can see that Youngster #1 is becoming more like my BigSis. VERY picky with her attire, knows how to take care of her things and most importantly she's becoming one heck of OCD. 

If this goes on, well.. I'm in BIG trouble.. because mak dia suka sepah!

Sure dapat lecture from her. Kompem!

Now playing : Nikki Minaj - Starship

Post #0260 - Potty train & Wean off. Done!

Dear Earthlings, 

Youngster #2 is now off-diaper! Definitely it is a BIG thing and yeay for me!

Not only that, we also have weaned him off and he is on sippie cup / sports bottle. No more milk bottle. wuhuu!!

We started on Chinese New Year holiday, about 3 weeks ago.

I woke up one morning and decided to potty train him, since it was a long break. Getting tired of buying diapers already, and it's not cheap! We had to spare RM150-RM200 per month for diaper. Isn't it a waste?

First thing first. 

Roll & keep the carpets in safe place, because for the first 4 days, shee-shee and poo-poo every where, though we have reminded him every second. 

I think that was the stress part. 

Previously we took him to the toilet every 30 minutes. But seeing that he always peed in the pants, the toilet trip was changed to every 15-20 minutes. Regardless he wants to pee or not. 

Since it was a new experience for him, we let him pee on the toilet floor. After two-three days when we trust that he is comfortable peeing, we start to teach him to sit on toilet seat. 

Pardon me, but I don't believe in potty training kid using this.

Satu kerja nak kena mengutip

We use this instead.
* flush *

I have to admit that it was a bit difficult for him to adjust with the new situation, but you.. yourself have to support and continuously train (and force!) him.  I think he started to poo using toilet seat after almost a week of training.

Night time, get him to pee before sleep. When he is already asleep, I put on the diaper. But at the very next morning, as soon as he wakes up, I immediately take him to the toilet. 

Yes, for the first few nights you will get a wet diaper, but eventually the kid will stop to pee.

After monitoring him for 3 continuous night of wet-free diaper, I stop the night diaper and bought changing mat, to place under the bedsheet. (Just in case)

Bought for RM17 (or was it RM27) in Tesco (Pic.googled)

Alhamdulillah, no wet bed has been found todate. 

When travel or jalan-jalan, we still take him for toilet trip. A bit hassle, but the show must goes on. During our last visit to PD, Youngster #2 was on potty train. So we put on the diaper for the road trip.  Tak nak la dapat extra kerja dalam kereta pulak kan, kena cuci and all. But surprisingly, dia did not wet the diaper. Good news, weeehooo!! Good news laa kan sebab dapat control for 3 hours. Check in je, terus bawak masuk toilet.

Nowadays dah confident sikit tak pakai diaper dalam kereta. So far alhamdulillah. Ask him to go to the toilet first before we leave the house for school. Upon reaching school, another toilet trip. We also asked the teachers to coorporate in training him. 

At first, some teachers support our effort, others were sceptical. Blaming us on starting potty train too early on Youngster #2. To us, when the kid knows the different between pee and poo and also already know how to talk, we should train them. If we were want to wait until the kid is ready.. hmm.. can you tell me how long we have to wait for that?

So,

In weaning off.. seriously, to buy bottle nipple is not cheap, and I had to change it every 2-3 months because Youngster #2 loves to bite. So, I bought a straw bottle, the one that doesn't leak and have no-straw, only the spout. (pic below)

It only lasted him for one night. He gets tired of biting the spout (then only the milk flow). 

So I use this one instead.  (Bought 2 years ago. But not in use, because Youngster #1 not like it)

Same goes to Youngster #2. 

So we pass.

Then we tried this one. Both bottles are from Tommee Tippee. Belongs to Youngster #1 which I bought sometime 4 years ago. I believe they do not produce this type anymore.

The spout can be folded. 

So far he is loving it :)  (Buang duit je beli Nuby!)

It's not that I am depriving the Youngsters from milk. They still drink milk, but  just in a cup instead of milk bottle.

At the age of 30 months, no more diaper and milk bottle. 

I am one happy mom. 

Now playing : Bruno Mars - If I were your man.

Post #0255 - Islamic Education in Children. Is it crucial?

Dear Earthlings, 

I am not sure whether it's a trend to send kids to Islamic School nowadays.

Anyhow, I have been sending the Youngsters to this one Islamic School in KL for almost 3 years. That time my baby girl was about 2.5 years old and the other, 2 months old. I think we were quite lucky because it didn't take us long under the waiting list.

Being a possessive mother (ehemm, I'm not the only one), I noticed there were hiccups here and there. But as soon as  I  dealt with the trust issues (or was it pasrah?), I realised that they are doing the best that they can. This is the place where they teach my children how to be independent, potty trained (Youngster #2 currently under potty train), pray  and also take care of them. 

Previously I was so stressed up with the demam/batuk/hfmd/pneumonia secara berjemaah  at the School, because at the end of the day we definitely spending at least 5 days 4 nights at the Hospital (circa 2011. It was one tough year for us). For instance, Youngster #2 was diagnosed with pneumonia twice in 2011. Last year with hfmd. But alhamdulillah, his health now is improving.

Since Youngster #1 is good in Hafazan, her previous class teacher suggested for Q.uranic  De.velopment Program which is a special class concentrating more on Hafazan, Quran reading. 
 

Yes, I am proud that she is in that class. 

When you see the kids reciting Quran, masya Allah. My jaw dropped. Literally. 

Surah-surah panjang, it's like kacang goreng je. Piece of pie, orang putih kata.  

However, I am a bit worried about her English/BM reading. I believe Math is not a problem. Please don't get me wrong. I have nothing against reciting and everything. Just that I'm afraid that she couldn't cope with other subjects when she is in standard 1.

That's why I try my very best to do revision with her every weekend. Sometimes, tak buat sebab lupa!  

Bought the revision books from the School bookshop, where other classes of her batch also use it.  Other subjects are not a worry to me, except for reading! Simply because I do not know how to teach a kid to read! 

Haih. Macam mana nak buat ni.

Iklan : 

Back to school gifts from GadgetGeek office. Simple token of appreciation yang buat orang happy masih belum digunapakai.

GadgetGeek says that I should not be worried as Quran is the light of heart. Everything will fall into places when you have Quran to guide you. 

Nak harapkan diri sendiri untuk ajar anak baca Quran pon... ehemmm.. paham-paham je lah.   

Now playing : Olly Murs - Trouble maker

Post #0119 - (the) art of parenting

Dear Earthlings, 

In a parenting, there are always good cop and the bad cop.  Normally the mommies will be the bad ones. haha.. and my case is not exceptional. I think, I'm the bad cop. 

Speaking of discipline, I know I'm a failure. It's hard for me to discipline my two kids because of one big issue - I cannot discipline myself!

Anyways during the last Raya season, I met a Tiger Mom. A mother of three that you do not want to mess with. Nonetheless, I salute the way she brought up her three boys. 

Since the Tiger Mom loves classical very much, she planned that her kids concentrate on the classical instruments as well.

So what she did was, when she was pregnant with her first child, she quit her job and decided to be full time at home. She learned about child development and do comparison on the learning method. 

Snippets, during pregnancy.. she placed the headphone on her tummy so the baby can hear the music. When the baby was born, she started to teach the baby alphabets, numbers and so on. By the age of 3, (all) her baby can read books FLUENTLY. When the babies reached 5-6 years old, she enrolled them in the music class. 

The reason why she enroll on such age because  at that stage, the bumpy learning has already passed (The learning of ABC, reading etc) so the kids can concentrate on the music. 

Everybody knows that it is not easy to play classical. One of her kids plays chello, and he is only  10. I'm not talking about an ordinary boy who plays chello, ok. He's a professional chello player. A member of an (international) orchestra. Wow tak Wow laa kan. 

She makes sure all of her kids practice 3-4 hours a day. Not even a day she missed, til todate.

Her reason on being a Tiger Mom, she does not want her money to go down to the drain. All the $$, time spent, the hard work must produce good result. She once said, "If not a mom who pushes the kid, who else? It's like you pushing your kid to brush his teeth, though he refuses, because you know it's the best for him."

I am fortunate because she gave me tips on teaching alphabet to a baby - which I will reveal in my later post. I don't know whether it works or not, because I haven't started yet due to time constraint. 

On the other struggling side, two days ago Youngster #1 threw a tantrum. I think she was tired and passed her bed time. With no sidekick around me and Youngster #2 was already sleeping, I picked her up and locked her inside a dark room. Left her for 3-4 minutes and checked her out. I will only let her out after she has cool down and apologize to me. Otherwise I will keep on repeating the steps. 

Once she apologize to me, then only I gave her xoxo. Few minutes later, she dozed off. Too tired with the screaming and shouting I guess. Haha

Though I'm the bad cop, the kids still insist me tucking them in the bed :)

Now playing : Selena Gomes - Love you like love song