Overheard

Was putting the kids to bed the other night when I sat in their 'conversation':

S: (avid milkaholic) No more drink milk... No more drink milk... (He had finished his night bottle a while ago and knew that he couldn't have another one... so was sort of stating/lamenting)
A: Ah mah drink milk?
S: (I was watching his thought bubble form - of his granny and his beloved milk bottle) Yuck-do-do-do! (We go "Yuckie-doodle-do" for something gross!)

Hilarious! They laughed so hard!

CNY Celebrations

Totally forgot about dressing Abby in new year clothes, so she was one of the neglected ones in school uniform today- i think they were supposed to bring goodies too. Another lousy mother record.

Had a chaotic celebratory session in school today too. The P.A. system is in a mess, and after i contributed some stuff, now i'm being recommended for the post. Tough job, not for the faint-hearted or those who want to manage career and family, or i think those who just started their worklife.

Anyway, today i managed to clear some overdue stuff, but i still have a lot more overdue stuff due. Marking's still piling up, categorised into two piles-fresh vs procrastinating pile. I realised i don't procrastinate-it's just that other more important priorities always take over the attention. My previous boss always told me to prioritise. Until now i can still see her telling me.

I hope I can survive this week. Thank God remedial's been cancelled this week, although i still gotta go singapore discovery centre with the kids for some total defence thing. I really hope each time i get out of the class that i haven't forgotten anything.

I really need to be more productive instead of being the last to leave almost everyday. It really isn't very healthy actually. :( let's hope things will get better, and that i won't drown with the next wave. God, keep me afloat!

Fatigued Mother

I am absolutely spent. I still have my marking almost untouched. For the long holiday finale, just as we were all about to wrap up the day with a nice hosing down of the kids, abby fell and her chin & hip hit the toilet kerb as she was stepping out of her clothes. At that moment, i couldn't hold her back coz it happened too quickly. I just felt like smashing my head on the step as well for being such a lousy mother.

i'm very tired. At probably the most tired moment, Shalom looked at me with his pretty eyes and asked very nicely, "Mummy... Can you... please... One Two Two Three... please?" *smile*

I almost melted into a puddle. One Two Three is our nightly routine where i sweep their blankets over their whole bodies and faces before settling them down in their beds. And usually i have to wrestle shalom to bed. But tonight, he was just absolutely angelic.

i was so close to breaking down, and with that, i instantaneously felt much much better. Thank God.

First, Second & Third Baby

Picked this up from Karen's blog, and wanted a keepsake. It's really funny! (Btw, I'm not pregnant with No. 3.)

……………………………………..

The Evolution of Parenthood

Your Clothes -

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy. (I couldn't wait then, honestly.)

2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible. (Very true.)

3rd baby: Your maternity clothes are your regular clothes. (I hope not! :P)

The Baby’s Name -

1st baby: You pore over baby-name books and practice pronouncing and writing combinations of all your favourites. (Not true - Abigail's name surfaced before the pregnancy. :D )

2nd baby: Someone has to name their kid after your great-aunt Mavis, right? It might as well be you. (Not true either - no one in the family named Shalom.)

3rd baby: You open a name book, close your eyes, and see where your finger falls. Bimaldo? Perfect! (I hope not!)

Preparing for the Birth -

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously. (I went for ante-natal classes! But didn't remember how to breathe though. Too complicated.)

2nd baby: You don’t bother practicing because you remember that last time, breathing didn’t do a thing. (Yup. There's the epidural.)

3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month. (I went w/o epi for 2nd birth! Woohoo!)

The Layette -

1st baby: You pre-wash your newborn’s clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby’s little bureau. (Yes, yes...)

2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains. (Yes too...)

3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can’t they? (All my baby clothes have been passed around.)

Pacifier -

1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it. (Thumbsucker...)

2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby’s bottle. (No. 2 - Apply rule from No. 1 above.)

3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in. (Eeps.)

Diapering -

1st baby: You change your baby’s diapers every hour, whether they need it or not. (No... Only poop time.)

2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed. (Yes.)

3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees. (Eeew! Hmm... I might. Who knows?)

Worries -

1st baby: At the first sign of distress - a whimper, a frown - you pick up the baby.
(Not exactly... but I did peek and stay alert!)

2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn. (He's a loudhailer loudwailer, so need to pick up quickly.)

3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing. (Tempting!)

Activities -

1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour. (Yes yes...)

2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics. (No I didn't. He grew up too fast. By the time I wanted to, he was too old.)

3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out -

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times. (Once I think?)

2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached. (Yup.)

3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood. (Oh man...)

At Home -

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby. (Quite a bit.)

2nd baby: You spend a bit of every day watching to be sure your older child isn’t squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby. (Yes. True.)

3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children. (I hope not!)

Baby 3 sounds scary! But hilariously funny! :) and possibly true... :'(

The CNY load

I don't know how i'm going to survive this season. Already we had to rush to 3 places for reunion yesterday, starting at 5pm and ending close to 11pm, and we'll have to repeat this for the first part of today, PLUS extended relatives.

I brought a massive amount of work home. I really want to clear the backlog. I also need to be at 4 places on Saturday- multiple school reunions plus cell commitment. I should be thankful that i don't have a lonely life, but both ends of the spectrum do have their pros and cons.

i really wish i could just clear my work quickly and really enjoy this break. I think if i didn't sleep last night, i should have cleared all by now. But that'll be madness, won't it?

somehow i know i'll still clear it. Oh, still got SONbeam preparations for sunday.

Sick Again! Plus a Few Deep Thoughts

Have been unwell and totally bloated. In fact i’ve been freezing. I sound like a pack of frozen shishamo. Anyway if gibberish appears, it’s because i’m blogging via email from my phone.

Kids aren’t fantastically well either. They’re cranky and at best, cordial with each other. Usually they’re really affectionate and proud of each other, although we try not to let them punch the daylights out of one another too many times though.

We just celebrated Lina’s birthday over the weekend. She’s growing younger and younger! When she was working for my aunt, she was born in 1980. Then when she came over to my side, i thought i remember her saying she’s born in 1982. Just last saturday, when i thought she turned 26, she said she’s born in 1985. Whatever. She’s probably one of the most reliable 23yo i known- save for the fact that her age keeps changing. Understandable though-if she’d revealed her real age, she’d be sent back, which means end of career. Counting back, she arrived in singapore at 17 only?! Wow. She’s come a long way. Although we’ve received ‘feedback’ from people re: her, we’ve managed to compromise and have our own agreement. She’s more than a maid to our family; after so many years, she’s like an elder sister to the kids. :)

We’re planning to go Sydney end of this year, kids and all. Although it’s going to be really expensive, it’s been something we’ve been wanting to do. Since most of my family is moving over there sooner or later, singapore is becoming less of a home. :(

Recently my MIL has been asking about no. 3. Although i’d love to have more kids (yup, no kidding) i need more energy and money. They don’t exactly come cheap, esp with additional rooms, schools, etc, so we’re still trying to get behind the logic of stopping work (income gone) and having kids (expenses up). Would love to have kids, but whom do i bargain the price with? Plus, being pregnant and with a new child will definitely put me out of ministry again, at least on hold. I still LOVE pregnancy and childbirth, plus newborn, breastfeeding and the whole package, but it consumes lots of attention, time, energy & money. I’ve finally just managed to balance my focus-husband, kids, work, ministry, household. If i have another one everything will be topsy-turvy again. Hmmm. Timing. Somehow i know i’ll have a no 3, but not sure when, although 2 seems perfect for now. I still remember we wanted 4, but we’ll see how. I still wanna be a SAHM.

Priorities this year:
-re-establish walk with God, i.e. Have regular quiet time (been doing well, thank God!)
-Marriage, date regularly and rediscover each other (not often enough!)
-manage work within working hours, i.e. Don’t bring work back (very challenging! I stay till 6.30 in school everyday, with backlogs sky high).
-make friends with life-giving people (cell girls have been a great blessing! Now a stronger support group.)
-spend at least 2 quality hours daily with kids.
-Sleep 8 hours daily.

Stye in the Eye; Lunch in School

At home today, rushing P6EM3CA1 paper, while on MC. Tomorrow's the deadline, so must die die finish by today, otherwise die. Initially planned to do it after school, but woke up this morning with huge swollen left eye, utterly uncomfortable, so took an mc to stay haome to prevent it from getting worse. Not sure if staring at computer screen will worsen it.

Have been bringing leftover dinner (or rather set-aside dinner) for lunch to school everyday. Teachers pass by and salivate! Compared to our measly but expensive canteen food, it really looks good... except that the thermos container is really huge! Keeps my lovely lunch warm though, so it's really worth it. :) Thank God for Lina for keeping my stomach sane and my palates happy! :)

Strong Currents

Here's the occasional drop by to say hi to my lonely little blog. Oh well, there can only be so many things on my plate before everything starts spilling off...

This year has been a crazy one. It's only January and I'm feeling the heat - workwise. I'm in school before 7 daily and leave only after 6. I'm on full throttle and hardly even stop. Work's literally piling up, and I'm demolishing piles of books with a red pen faster than the en blocs project tearing old hdbs down. But they keep coming up, faster than those ridiculously priced condos.

I'm teaching 2 EL classes this year, and they are presumably the HA kids. Yet I still get mediocre work. I thought I could do tons with them, but somehow I have to adjust my expectations regarding their ability. Now there's this gifted child in my class, and I have to read up on gifted kids who are slightly different - in terms of behaviour - from the rest.

Abby and Shalom are thriving despite my absence. Mustn't feel too lousy about it. Oh well, at least I don't bring work home during the weekdays, and try to put them to bed, which is quite a feat, especially for Shalom. They're such darlings! Shalom has his own stroller and baby as well, and I bet he'd make an excellent dad when he grows up, just like his dad.

Abby just told me yesterday that her teacher scolded her. When asked further, she said that she wasn't colouring fast enough, so she got scolded. Another teacher came to her rescue though. She was so sad. I can almost see my own pupils telling their parents that about me. *guilty*

Churchwise, our ladies bible study is having a revival... more honesty, stronger desire to grow in the Lord. We did our goal setting, our spiritual gifts analysis and now gaining momentum for the year. As for SONbeam - the parent-child playgroup I started with Siew Fun - it's growing well. Now we need to be diligent in going for adult service on Saturday, otherwise we'll be dried up.
Personally, I've been reading more. Just finished Heidi & Rolland Baker's Always Enough. They are missionaries to Mozambique, and their testimony is amazing! Now just finished Rachel's tears, the young Christian matyr who was killed in the Columbine tragedy. Also onto Disciplines of a Godly Woman and The Apostolic Cell Church by Apostle Lawrence Khong. :)

Work WOrk WORk WORK

It's piling up. Big time. I feel like level 99 of some computer game. And it doesn't look like I'm winning anytime soon. Which explains why I haven't been blogging.

Day 2 of 2008

I've got a splitting headache which started slightly before today. It's the first day of school, and yes, I also get first day jitters. It seems that it's actually IBS, which is not good news at all. Anyway, met my kids and there are quite a few outspoken ones. I get the feel that they are generally competitive and individualistic. Different challenges from last year.

Missed Abby and Shalom terribly. Abby took to school very well today - one of the older kids already! Well, one of the downsides of being a teacher is that you can't be there on your kids' first day of school. *big cry*

I've had such a wonderful time with the kids this hols, and I think all of us blossomed. I was telling Ben that I'm really appreciative of the space we had this time round - our holiday schedule allowed the caregivers some off days on alternative days, so they were with me Mon, Wed, Fri and weekends, while Tues and Thu were with their grandparents. The kids can play better together now, and when Shalom intrudes on Abby's play, she's learning to offer alternatives instead of getting into a death match. Being empowered has helped her not to be so defensive towards Shalom, and Shalom has also learnt to be slightly more gentle with Abby. :)

They're now hogging my precious iBook! Abby's hooked on Island Princess and loves the bloopers! (Bloopers from a cartoon?!?! Yup, I was puzzled initially, but really quite farni - especially Tellulah!) She also likes Thomas which is great coz Didi gets to watch and cheer her on. Great for bonding. :)

They used to like Animal Parade but have gotten quite sick of it. When Shalom gets the computer, he goes for Fisher Price Infant Games. They have the toddler and pre-schooler versions as well.

Well, back to work. I've got tons to clear and a headache to get rid off. I really hope I can clear the bulk of it by this Friday and still get out of school daily latest by 4.30pm. (I get to school around 6.40am.) I really need to get home earlier and continue bonding with the kids. It seems that prior to this holidays, there was hardly any bond with Shalom. I was just one of the many adults in his life. I'm just grateful for this holidays.

I also need to update here more. With more pictures of course! :)