A few of Fuddin's Favorite things...

 

Here's Fuddin doing his two favorite things... going to the park (at last, sand to eat!) and watching the world go by from my bedroom window. We didn't stay at the park for very long. He had too much sand all over himself. He even rubbed his eyes while he had sand in his grasp. We'll go back when I have overcome the fear of having my son eating sand (which will be quite a while).

As for staring out the window thing, he loves it. It occupies him and keeps him quiet which also means a little breathing time for me. I suppose the it's because of all the cars that pass by (and the MRT) so he's always very busy staring at the going-ons. Sigh... the world always looks better from the inside.

Okay, I've got to go to work. The tag line of the week? Positive thinking is the key to survival.

The way she was...

 

I came across some old photographs of Ayra and couldn't resist posting them. She looks so different now, doesn't she. She's lost all the baby fat (at 4!) and is so much "wiser" (aka talkative) now. I was watching her play with her "kakaks" the other day and realize she cam be pretty bossy! That's something I have to work on. As for her reading progress, sad to say, I've not made much progress the phonics way so I've resorted to cheating! For the past week, she's been memorizing a word a day and lo and behold, she's learnt (and remembered) how to spell all of these words. She can even spell "helicopter" now. Haha. Desperate measures call for equally desperate means and there's nothing more desperate than a "kiasu" mom.

I'm also getting some recommended vcds for Fuddin to work on his speech. Hopefully, he'll be babbling once we get through the series. I'm wondering how to get him to sit don and watch the whole vcd though. Will I have to resort to tying him up? Hmm, somehow I'm pretty sure my boy won't stand for that. We'll see.

Here's wishing me luck in my quest to mould little geniuses or at the very least, happy, healthy and reasonably smart kids.

Soccer is Fun!

Here's Fuddin having a go at his favorite sport, soccer! The minute An reaches home, he's waiting at the door, ball in hand. He doesn't play soccer really; he just throws it and then runs away giggling. It's quite hilarious really. After about ten minutes, sweating and breathless, he'll still be at it... a bit slower thoug. Haha. we almost named Fuddin "Raul" in honour of Raul from Real Madrid so you never know... Fuddin might be a future pro footballer in the making.

Kids at "Work"

After more than two weeks of separation, the cousins were finally reunited. Amazingly, Shauqi is blemish free. It really doesn't look as if he just had chicken pox. His mom says it's a lot of hard work om her part. She had to stay awake (my brother and her took turns) in order to guard him thus preventing him from scratching himself. Sounds like a lot of hard work! Kudos to all of them though. They survived without a scratch... literally!
Anyway, the kids didn't waste time. Shauqi and Ayra were busy being bicycle mechanics, Siqqi was checking out Fuddin's toys and Fuddin... was too busy checking out the tv to socialize. Yusuf then arrived and everyone was there... except for Shakir. They are such a happy bunch... being a child can be so much fun.

Reality Bites...

I haven’t written a reflective entry for quite a while so here goes. What will I reflect on? Hmmm… my life? Ok, life is pretty okay now I guess. Let’s talk about work first. Work is tiring, as usual. I have loads of marking and exam papers to set. My time table truly sux from Tuesday to Thursdays. I only have the 2 recesses to breathe in between classes. Mondays all right but it’s tutorial days so that’s not good either. Still, I cheer myself up by telling myself I work a 4 day work week because I only have 2 periods with my angel class of 2E1 on Fridays (but they give me classes to relief at times). I have the Dunearnite musical to worry about. That’s like a major project. Many of my colleagues have decided to pack up and leave. I’m still here.

Why am I still here? I’ll tell you why. Not too long ago, I so badly wanted to leave. Now, I’m all right (not ecstatic though) with staying. I suppose it’s because I like the familiar. Seven years here has made the surroundings familiar. I’m too lazy to do the smile, greet and “How do you do?” routine with new colleagues in a new school. I can’t be bothered to walk around with a friendly face when I don’t feel like it. Here, I know the idiosyncrasies of the people I work with and I work around this knowledge. The bottom line is I stay away from the “freakos”, “Robin Hoods” (those who like to shoot arrows) and “meanies” and socialize with everyone else. But then, I might be a “freako” to others too (and they stay away from me and my posse) so it’s even.

Then, there’s the kids. They can be a pain in the you know where at times but they are essentially good kids. They respect me as a teacher and they learn from me. If I go to an independent school where the kids think they know everything and try to prove that they are smarter than you, then I’ll be truly unhappy. As cliché as it may sound, I feel I can make a difference in the lives of the kids here (don’t gag). So I wake up at 5 am every morning and go about my safe and boring routine. A coward? An underachiever? So what if I am? It’s my freaking life, right? I decide where I go (or stay), when I want to go. To hell with what people say. I’ll do whatever I need to do (quit, switch schools, be a housewife, sell chicken rice, move to Antartica, whatever) when I’m good and ready.

Let’s move on. I was talking to my colleague the other day. I was telling her how some people have a certain perception of me. I won’t elaborate. Anyway, it’s not fair. There’s more substance in me than meets the eye. For example, the last I checked, I do NOT spend all my free time in front of the mirror making myself look pretty. (Did I just elaborate?) Firstly, I do Not have free time. The minute I get home, my life is dictated by my children. I do not rest, watch tv or do anything for myself. I get to shower, pray and eat and that’s about it. Even when I’m showering or praying, I have Ayra knocking the door down or slipping “love notes” to me through the little space under the door. When I’m eating, I have to watch Fuddin, answer Ayra’s 101 questions and chew and swallow at the same time. So forgive me for being blunt but does it look like I have time to “beautify” myself in front of the mirror at all? Urrgh…. (There are more examples but it takes to much effort to elaborate).

Why am I even getting upset? It’s just that some people are just so blatantly and obviously ignorant of the fact that life is complex and so are people. Humans are multi dimensional beings. Do not judge me. If you want to judge me, do it behind my back, not in my face. I don’t appreciate it. What I don’t know won’t harm or hurt me. Also, I’m too nice to tell it to your face that I think you’re shallow and presumptious. People are so cruel and hurtful at times. I guess I can be like that too.

Hubby and I were talking about setting up our own business. Heehee. I told him my only skill is teaching… I can’t do anything else very well… unless it’s skiving. But I want to bake… donuts, brownies, etc. The problem is I CAN”T BAKE. Pretty big problem huh? Hmm, or I could sell something? Like what? I have no idea.

I’m rambling. I’ll stop now… reality calls.

The Amazing Syarifuddin

Fuddin has been busy lately... busy climbing onto the new couch and walking on it! This alarms the adults immensely lest he should fall and injure himself. Still, i think we underestimate his balancing abilities because thank God, he's been safe so far. I've also been going home to an exceptionally clingy Fuddin who demands to be carried (and twirled around) and tickled once I get home. I adore my son but after a hard day's work, twirling Fuddin around can be quite a demanding feat. Still, his happy squeals spurs me on so I will pick him up and sumbit to his demands. When I can't do it anymore, I will revert to playing catching and ayra will join in, much to the chagrin of my mom who will scream for me to stop as she's convinced the kids will fall (which they do sometimes). Still, that's what being a kid is all about, isn't it?
Anyway, their beloved Abah isn't working this weekend so we'll go out. I hate to go out with the kids on weekends though. It's always so crowded! Anyway, we have to make do. Looking forward to spending time with my babies, all 3 of them.

ExplorerKids!

Yesterday was Youth Day so I didn’t have to work. An was off too so we decided to bring the kids to this indoor playground at DownTown East (Ayra skipped school again). It was a pretty long drive but it was worth it because the kids had so much fun. Ayra and Anissa became screaming, running lunatics as soon as they entered so let’s not discuss that. Fuddin, on the other hand, took a bit more time to warm up. An and I were pretty cautious in guiding him at first but we eased up later on when we saw that he was pretty okay on his own. We even slid him down this slide unassisted and my heart skipped a beat when his left feet got entangled in the net halfway down his slide. He got his feet out though and he went a second time and it was much smoother that time. I’m proud of you Baby Boy!
We emerged an hour later, tired, hungry and thirsty. We had a hearty meal at Burger King and then decided to go off to get Fuddin vaccinated against chicken pox. His cousin Shauqi contracted it over the weekend so we decided we had procrastinated too long and it was high time Fuddin got the jab. Ayra had hers when she was 18 months old.
Anyway, here’s to my already vaccinated against chicken pox ExplorerKids!