Goodbye Holidays, Hello New Year!

The school holidays are almost over and it’s been a mixture of everything. A bit more TV and mall trips than I would have liked, but we also managed to visit the KL Bird Park and take the boat ride at Putrajaya. Besides playing in the garden (a lot!), I also tried to take the boys to the nearby park everyday, or at least every other day. A couple of times we even ventured further to Taman Bukit Jalil, which has really great play equipment for the children as well as exercise equipment for adults.

Another exciting event – last week my parents came back from Brunei, back for good! Hooray! There was no way we were going to miss out on a trip to the airport. Unfortunately for me, our fridge decided to die on us the morning they were due to arrive. (Actually I think it more like passed out, stressed from being overworked.) While waiting for the technician, it was soon time to go to the airport. So I packed the 2 boys, auntie and maid with my brother to go to the airport first while I continued waiting for the technician.

Boy, did I wait. And wait. And wait. After 2.5 hours after the agreed time I decided to give up on him. (The company got a piece of my mind the next day. Hell hath no fury like a housewife stood up by her fridge technician!) After all, there were people and luggage waiting for me at KLIA. When we got back from the airport, we tried to “reboot” the fridge – switch it off at the main switch, wait awhile, then switch it back on again. It worked fine, and still does.

Anyway, since my parents got home Abang has been inseparable from them. He has slept 4 out of 5 nights at their house. When I go to their house it’s almost like I’m “visiting” my own son! One morning, he was all ready to go out and as soon as he saw me he grabbed a chair, climbed on it and started closing the windows. (I just had to take a picture.)

He has been quite a happy camper since my parents got home. Today was Hari Raya Haji so there was a convoy to my auntie’s house in Gombak for a Hari Raya lunch. A 3-car convoy with my family (except Daddy who had to work), my sister and her family, my parents and my brother and sister-in-law were treated to scrumptious Hari Raya food. It was great fun. It was a shame that my auntie’s grandchildren were not around, as Abang really enjoys playing with them.

Just a few more days of holidays for everyone, so let's make the best of it.

Here’s to an even better 2007!

Field Trip #2 – KL Bird Park

We hit the bird park this week! I finally found a suitable time for Cuz to join us (Abang, Adik, our maid and me) to enjoy the KL bird park.

When we arrived at noon, there were just a few foreign tourists and us. Although I’d been there before years ago, I forgot just how big the park is. It seemed like the walkways go on and on and on. Overall it was quite clean – it’s a good sign when Abang doesn’t go around picking up litter and putting it in the rubbish bins. (I’m quite pleased that litter bothers him enough to do something about it but sometimes I have to stop him from picking up really gross and icky rubbish.)

Cuz is generally unafraid of animals. After casually walking past the peacocks he tried to touch their feathers as well. I’m not sure if that counts as “scaring the animals”, though. Later when he ran towards them, flapping his ‘wings’ shouting, “Ka-ka! Ka-ka! Ka-ka!” not only did that immediately fall under the “scaring the animals” category but also prompted a sharp reprimand from me. I have to admit, though, that it looked really hilarious to see a 9-year old boy do that. I think the other visitors thought so too.

Abang generally enjoyed it but only when the birds were at a distance. Peacocks walking around strutting their feathers were a bit too scary for him. That’s understandable, since those birds must look quite imposing to a 3-year old. Each time I carried him past these birds he tensed up and clung on tighter.

We walked around the park observing the birds, taking in the sights and enjoying a relatively cool day. At one point, we walked past some baby flamingos and he said, “Kesian, bird tu. Dia takde Mummy dengan Daddy dia.” (“Poor little birds. They don’t have their Mummy and Daddy with them.”)

Our maid and I worked very hard to keep Adik in his stroller. For most of the trip, there were enough distractions to keep him from struggling to get out. Birds in cages, birds walking freely, birds eating, birds sleeping, birds near a pond, birds making strange noises; for all of 45 minutes Adik didn’t complain being in his stroller.

After that, it was a different story. Cuz wanted to have his picture taken with an eagle resting on his arm. While waiting in line for his turn, our maid was busy chasing Adik around. Abang was in two minds about having this BIG and NOISY bird with SHARP claws near him and quite undecided about joining Cuz for the picture.

When he saw the eagle on Cuz’s arm he bolted. That guy was H-U-G-E! Even Cuz was a little tense when the picture was taken. No wonder Abang backed out.

By 1pm, both older boys were singing the “I’m Hungry” song - Adik could only babble the lyrics - so we went to get some lunch. In the end we were at the Bird Park for only an hour.

I think another half or one hour would have been great. I'd be totally exhausted and ready to collapse, but we would have got more out of the trip.

By the way, there was a rabbit enclosure there too. Hmm, what's their connection to birds?

Putrajaya, Here We Come!

After my reconnaissance mission, I felt brave enough last week to take the boys to Putrajaya for the actual boat ride. This time I had my auntie, maid and Ant J with us although Ant J, the boys and I were the only ones who rode the boat.

I got Adik to take a nap first before we set out so that he wouldn’t be so cranky in the car. When we left it was 11:05am and just the right time to arrive in Putrajaya before the 12pm boat leaves the jetty. The boat leaves on the hour, every hour, from 11am until 6pm and I had been told to get there at 15 minutes before the hour because the boat leaves bang on time.

A most useful piece of information, because we got there (after accidentally taking the slightly longer route) at 11:45am, bought the tickets, then waited for the announcement to board.

Good thing I took Abang to the loo just before boarding. The ride was 45 minutes long and although he enjoyed it, I think it was a bit too long for him. After only 20 minutes he kept saying he wanted to go back. It was great to go on a weekday because there were only 14 passengers, including us, in a boat meant for 76 people. So there was ample room for the boys to stretch their legs and view the lake surroundings from different angles.

And stretch his legs Adik definitely did! Good thing there weren’t too many people to get annoyed at my chasing him around the boat and doing a tag-team with Ant J to prevent him from pressing too many buttons and breaking anything.

Note to self: Boat ride not a good idea for active 16-month old boys.

By the time we got to Selera Putra for lunch, both boys were starving. It was just after 1pm and well after their regular lunch time. Since Abang ate well, he got a treat in the form of a Kit Kat ice-cream – you can see he obviously enjoyed it! Adik – who usually doesn’t require any form of bribery to eat his meals – was religiously following the One Currypuff Per Hand rule. Polished off within 10 minutes. (That was after his chicken rice.)


We were hoping for a touchdown in the car on the way back, but it was not to be. Can’t have it all, I guess!

Merry Christmas One and All!

Abang and Adik got the chance to attend a Christmas party this weekend. It was great fun, perhaps a touch loud for Abang, with many children, parents, caregivers and of course – Santa. Personally, I think Santa could have done with a few extra pounds of real flesh but he had to make do with a cushion stuffed in this Santa outfit.

The party started with some carolling after which we all got a brief but insightful explanation on “The Meaning of Christmas”. Then we got down to business – distribution of presents by Santa! Obviously this was the children’s favourite. In fact, I noticed that I wasn’t the only parent who had to stop her child from ripping open their presents on the spot!

Luckily Abang and Adik were willing to eat some lunch; both Cuz and AJ were way too excited to eat anything at all. They managed to open their presents and as expected, as soon as Cuz opened his, so did Abang. Abang's present - a pair of binoculars - kept him occupied enough for me to eat my lunch ("lunch" being the code word for "the children's leftovers").

The best part was when the young and the young-at-heart started singing and dancing together. Later, Santa started a human train going around and around all the while trying to entice both Abang and Adik to join them. Alas, they were both a little – how do I say this politely – freaked out by this long chain of children and adults, led by The Cushion Padded Bearded One singing and dancing to the music.

Still, everyone looked like they had fun – we surely did – and Abang was even sporting enough to wear his Christmas hat! Isn't it great to join in other people's festivities?

Words, Real Words!

Admittedly still few and far between, Adik’s communication is starting to sound more and more like real words. Just the other day, we were going up the stairs to my room looking for Daddy and I asked him to call Daddy and he shouted, “Daa-deee! Daa-deee!” Daddy said he thought it was Abang calling him!

Having said that, ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions are still answered by Adik with a very emphatic nod for ‘yes’ and a vigorous shake of the head for ‘no’. He must have some pretty strong neck muscles by now. Very useful for a future jock.

After some months of trial and error (on his part), he has the nod and shake down pat. His nods really do mean ‘yes please’ and when he shakes his head he’s quite sure ‘hell, no’. If we suspect he’s hungry and we ask him, “Adik, are you hungry?” he might not just nod but walk to and try to climb up his highchair. On a good day, he would wait there patiently while we get his food. Other days he might just climb up onto our regular dining chair, grab a fork and start stabbing some food and feeding himself.

If he’s sleepy and I ask him if he’d like to go upstairs with me to sleep, he’d answer with a nod then proceed to wave bye-bye to everyone around him, which is his way of saying “goodnight”.

Lately he has been playing with his belly button, saying, “Ay-yay-yay-yay” while pointing to it. That could be because when Abang was very young, Daddy used to amuse him by making faces using his belly button, saying, “Wa-wa wa! Wa-wa-wa!” So much so that Abang would refer to a belly button as “wa-wa-wa”. So now it’s Adik’s turn, except that the “w” sound is still a bit tough for him.

Adik is a HUGE fan of Thomas the Tank Engine and absolutely loves watching it on CD. One of the characters, Gordon, loves to say, "Hurry, hurry, hurry!" when he pulls the express train. At this point Adik will yell out, "Ay-yee, ay-yee, ay-yee!" in the same intonation as Gordon. So he's getting there, slowly but surely.

Just today, we were in the car and I was telling him that we were on the way to Nenek’s house. About 10 minutes later, I asked him, “Adik, where are we going? Whose house are we going to, Adik?”

“Ne-nek. Ne-nek!” came a very confident reply. He speaks!

The Wallflower is Blooming

Last Saturday, we had dinner at my uncle’s apartment in PJ. It was my first time at their apartment but Abang’s second time there (he’d been there once with my sister and his cousins). There were a quite a lot of people – adults and children – because we were hosting a dinner for some relatives from Singapore.

When we got there, it was already a full house. I brought Abang and Adik, and since this was a rather unfamiliar place, I also made sure I had extra pairs of hands with me in case either or both boys started to get clingy.

Interestingly enough, Abang was very un-clingy. As soon as we got in he gravitated towards the other children, sitting with them and staying especially close to our cousin’s son (He Who Spills Milkshake).

Wow, I thought to myself, this is great! Usually in a crowded room he would stick to my leg like an ant in a sugar bowl, trying desperately to hide his face somewhere. This time it’s like I wasn’t even there although I did manage to get him to go around the room and salam all the adults. Then he went back to playing with the other children.

When all the other children got their plates full of food and sat down together at a little table, he joined them and sat down with them. I took his cue and immediately put a few sticks of satay on a plate and put it in front of him. By the time I got back to the children’s table with his drink, he had finished his satay!

“See Mummy, I eat my satay already,” he said as he shoved an empty plate in my hand. That must be toddler speak for “May I have some more then, please?”

Feeling like an ill-dressed maître d’, I put the drink down at his table, took the empty plate and went off to replenish it. He asked me to sit down and eat with him and I obliged – how could I not?

You’d be forgiven for thinking that I was having a splendidly relaxing time because Abang wasn’t clingy. Well, you’re forgiven. Because Adik was a totally different story. The poor boy hadn’t napped that afternoon (not from lack of trying on my part, mind you) so even on the way to dinner he was already fussy and not a happy bunny.

Basically all through dinner he refused to be with anyone but me – or if I forced the issue, he would go but under great protest. Also, rather than eat anything, he preferred to play with assorted non-toys like cordless and corded phones. He almost managed to pick up the aerosol insect spray but Mummy was too fast for him and foiled his plans.

Oh well, never mind, one toddler at a time!

Cats and Water, Don't Mix Together

We’ve all been pretty busy lately, so unfortunately, Thomas and Harun have been somewhat neglected. They still get fed and their litter box still gets cleaned out but that’s about it. Not much time to play with them and even less time to give them a bath.

Daddy and I (well, Daddy mostly) try to bathe the cats twice a month; there was a time when we were feeling pretty ambitious and tried it once a week but then we got lazy. When Harun was a wee kitten I could bathe him very easily by holding him under his body with one hand and the other to soap him down and rinse him. Now, he’s this big ole cat who turns a year old (officially a cat) on 22nd December 2006, who was so annoyed at being bathed that he practically growled at me.

Over the weekend I had some time so I took the chance to bathe him and Thomas. As mentioned, Harun was really quite upset. He ran off so many times in mid-bath that I ended up chasing him up and down the garden, wet from getting splashed (Harun AND me) and looking absolutely ridiculous to any neighbour unfortunate enough to watch the ongoing cartoon.

Eventually, after many run-offs, come-backs and growling (Harun AND me), I was satisfied that he was properly rinsed off and let him go. He ran straight out the back gate and into the back alley. Then, as if that wasn’t far enough, and to make his point known, he went out on to the road shoulder to dry off. He didn’t even let me pat him down with a towel.

In the meantime, Thomas just looked over with a curious expression, wondering what all the fuss was about. I went up to him and said, “Ok, Thomas, your turn now.” Strangely enough, he didn’t resist. He didn’t even complain!

Man, this is one HUGE cat. Or, as the book suggests, BIG-BONED. Whatever. All I know is, Thomas is fat. So much so that I ran out of warm water (yes, the cats get bathed in warm water from our bathroom water heaters) in the middle of bathing him. It could also be the extra splashing from bathing Harun that depleted my warm water supply. Poor Thomas had to be rinsed off with cold water from the garden hose.

Even then he didn’t complain! Still, he did scarper as soon as he could but I managed to catch up with him and towel him down.

This reminds me of our other two kittens – Abang, the fussy one and Adik, the more happy-go-lucky.

Malaysian Mega Sale

Did you know that besides the usual clothes, books and toys, there is also a sale on humiliation? Yep, right there in Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC).

My sister and I took her boys (Cuz and AJ) and my mine (Abang) and our cousin’s son (no names mentioned!) to BSC. We had lunch and then my sister had to meet with some other parents at DOME regarding her work. So I, being the sucker for stress that I am, offered to take the boys to see the train at the new wing of BSC. Luckily she offered to have AJ with her so I only had to contend with 3 boys.

Firstly, I don’t understand why the BSC management would put 2 train displays in the middle of the concourse area filled with stalls selling fragile items like Christmas tree displays, little glass decorations, fancy-schmancy tableware of the not-cheap variety, jewellery and assorted other knick-knacks. Don’t they realise that trains attract boys with too much energy?

Luckily there were no mishaps. That’s probably more from my nagging “DON’T TOUCH-LA”, then when I get answered back “but we’re just touching it, it’s not going to break” the stall owner very kindly helps me out by telling them, “Don’t touch-aa, don’t touch-aa.” I suspect she wasn’t doing it to help me out, but who cares.

Then Abang yells out, “Abang nak KENCING!” I frantically started looking for a toilet when I remembered I had 2 other children in my charge. We had to look for them – off playing hide and don’t seek – and when we found them, Abang only wanted to go to the men’s toilet with them, not to the ladies' with Mummy.

I had to give instructions to the older boys from outside the men’s toilet, all the while enduring stares from men going in and out of the toilet. Then after an eternity they appeared, giggling, laughing, making funny faces and I asked Abang if he’d washed his hands and he said no. Sigh. More instructions through the toilet door. More staring.

Eventually they all came out again and Abang's shorts were all wet!

“He pulled his shorts down on to the wet floor,” Cuz told me, “and he kept doing it in public too.” Ok, never mind, we have spare shorts for Abang.

I thought the boys would appreciate some McDonald’s ice-cream. I guess you could call it a mistake when we decided to sit at DOME and finish our respective ice-cream (our cousin’s son had a milkshake).

Abang got restless so we went out to look at more displays. When we got back to DOME, lo and behold, the milkshake was ALL over the floor and the chair. All together now – DEEP siiiiigh.

This time the stares came not just from the other customers but the waiters too! And all the time at BSC I was having a sneezing fit – or, rather, sdeezing fid ad by dose got stuffed ub. Abang saw the mess on the floor and asked for a tissue. I was too busy blowing my nose and didn’t ask what he wanted it for. Then I looked down and he was wiping the floor with it!

I’m not sure which was more embarrassing, all that spilt (non-DOME) milkshake or my 3.5year old son wiping the floor with a tissue. Whatever it is, I know I’m not showing my face anywhere near DOME in the foreseeable future.

Men Are From Mars, Women ... Carry Calculators

Have you read the joke about how different men and women are when they get together for meals? Basically, it says that when men get together, when the bill arrives, everyone just throws in how much they think is appropriate. So, if they’re at, say, a mamak restaurant then maybe they might each just pull out RM20 and not worry about change. If they’re somewhere more expensive then maybe each person will put RM50 on the table to contribute towards the bill.

The joke then says if women were to go out together, when the bill arrives, everyone whips out a little pocket calculator to determine the exact amount each person should pay.

Well, it’s true! I’ve been out with my husband for dinner with friends, and when the bill arrives, inevitably all the guys would whip out some cash true to the "lebih kurang" method. Nobody even looked at the bill. (Except us wives, of course, to see in case our husbands overpaid! Ha ha!)

Then a few months ago, I had lunch with 3 other girlfriends. Essentially 3 of us were buying the 4th one a birthday lunch. To make the situation challenging (who wants a boring lunch), we ate at Marche at The Curve. It uses the ‘passport’ system. Basically each person gets a ‘passport’ and whenever you order food you get your ‘passport’ stamped and that tells the cashier what you’ve had and can bill you accordingly. It’s a great place to go if you plan to go dutch (or 1 person pays for all).

It gets slightly more complicated when 1 person is being treated by all the others. And the challenge became even greater when we realised they had a 10% discount for HSBC cardholders. So 1 girlfriend paid for the birthday girl’s and her passport in one bill.

We all sat back down at our table and – voila – out came the little pocket calculators! Let’s see … How much was the birthday girl’s lunch and what do the rest of us owe for it … tap-tap-tap, yup, got it, down to the sen. (To give you some background, 1 friend is a real estate agent and another is an insurance agent. So, I guess pocket calculators are normal things which they carry with them all the time.)

For the rest of us did not have an HSBC credit card but was kiasu enough to still want the discount (oh wait, that was just me), we – sorry, I – then passed my passport on to be paid with the HSBC credit cardholder and she then got paid for it in cash.

Maybe next time I should try this “lebih kurang” method too. Sounds a lot less complicated.

An Extra Helping of Energy

As I’ve mentioned before, I love having my nephews come over to our house. They’re very polite and generally well behaved – I’d say 80% of the time. (I just realised it’s dropped from 90%!)

Last week we had Cuz over for a few hours. My sister sent him over at about 11:40am and I was to send him back around 3, 3:15pm since she would be done by 3:30pm.

Perhaps it’s the school holidays making the boys more rambunctious than usual. Cuz was just bouncing about all over the lounge, making funny faces and noises to Adik. At one point he squeezed himself in between the sofas and stuck his upper body out so he could watch TV. That was when Adik figured it was a good idea to sit on Cuz and bounce up and down on him.

Trying to calm them down, and since it was almost lunch time, we (my auntie and I) got the boys to sit down and have lunch first before playing or watching TV. That too, was a challenge. Cuz was seated the whole time but was busy trying to engage Adik who was in his highchair. Abang took 2 mouthfuls and decided it was more fun to run around.

I can usually handle having the 3 of them at home. In fact, even though my auntie is around and we have a maid to help out, I prefer to be in charge. Firstly, our maid and Cuz wouldn’t understand each other. Secondly, my auntie tends to over react with the boys – Don’t do this, Don’t do that, Sit down quietly, Don’t go there, Why are you playing with that, etc etc.

This time, I found myself encroaching on her territory. I was beginning to repeat myself – WHY are you doing that? Will you please STOP that? Hey, get back here – and even my volume was getting higher. It seemed like everyone had an extra helping of energy, not something I ordered.

So we decided to move the stress to Subang Parade (so much for avoiding the malls!). At least I did have things to look for at Cold Storage there so it wasn’t a total waste of a trip. For some reason, I thought that getting them out of the house and into the wide open mall would make it easier on me.

Boy, was I wrong. The only time we managed to calm down was at bedtime!

I’m in the Cat House!

Many cats ago, we had one adult mummy cat, her 6 month old slightly disabled kitten called KKU and her newborn kitten Sosej, and it seemed like we had 1 cat too many. I felt like I was on the kitty litter treadmill – never ending chore of cleaning out the kitty litter. (Let’s not start about the times they had, um, stomach flu and also the times when they “missed” the litter box completely.)

Of course that was before we had children, and when Abang and then Adik came along, the 4-legged kitty litter treadmill was nothing compared to the 2-legged version.

After all the cats that came through our home had left, either to the PAWS near Subang airport or the other, big PAWS in the sky, we took a ‘cat break’. Because KKU and Sosej were indoor-outdoor cats, going away for a holiday, or even overnight, was tough. Their food and litter boxes were always indoors since we didn’t want to feed the neighbourhood strays, nor offer them a public toilet as well. But then they relished the freedom of roaming about the neighbourhood as well. Whenever we went away, it was never for more than 24 hours, during which time the cats would be cooped up inside the house, going crazy!

So now we have found the right ‘cat balance’ again, with Harun and Thomas in our family. Then during the most recent weekly Kepong Run I caught sight of this extremely cute grey kitten, with white paws sleeping in the alley behind Nenek’s house. I managed to get some pictures although it tends to run off after awhile.

It’s hard to believe that I actually tried (am trying?) to convince Daddy that we should adopt this one too! We’ve discussed it, and the conclusion is that we haven’t come to a conclusion yet.

On one hand, it’s really cute. On the other, we don’t want to disturb the “chi” in our cat family. Harun and Thomas get along just fine and White Socks here might create some friction. Not to mention our ability, or lack thereof, to give it the necessary attention!

The boys would definitely love to have another kitten around the house. I’m sure the maid and my auntie wouldn’t, though. The maid would have even more litter to go through everyday and perhaps a dead rodent or two to dispose of. (Have I mentioned that Harun has been very good at flushing out the rats in the neighbourhood? Our poor maid gagged when she had to clean up the mess.) And my auntie is just not fond of cats, convinced that they’re “dirty” and always out to “bite the children”.

So, back to White Socks – time to sleep on the issue …

Bribery Works!

Towards the end of the school year, Abang started to get a bit reluctant to go to kindergarten. Every other day he would try to weasel out of going to school. I think he could feel the holiday vibes on everyone and was in no mood to delay the holidays any longer than necessary.

Anyway, he’s been enjoying the holidays like other regular children. However, by the end of the second week we think he was getting bored. This conclusion came about when he told me, “Mom, I want to go to kindergarten for activities.”

Gasp, shock, horror!

Go to kindergarten? Who, you? You who had to be bribed and cajoled and dragged kicking and screaming to even go there in the first place?

Wow. Abang must be REALLY bored.

Not one to pass up a golden opportunity presented to me, I immediately got on the phone with his principal and asked if he can still sign up for the holiday activities. When we first got the flyer, I asked him about it and as expected he declined. She said sure, no problem, just send him on Monday. They’ll be making photo frames, fridge magnets, cooking muffins, painting on fabric and a host of other stuff. (Over a period of 2 weeks, that is, not one day.)

So come Monday, Abang was starting to get cold feet. I bet he regrets telling me he wanted to go! No amount of But-you’ll-have-fun and Hey-YOU-said-you-wanted-to-go and All-your-friends-will-be-there and It’s-not-nice-to-say-you’ll-go-then-not-turn-up did any good. Even a bribe worth a trip to 1Utama with Cuz to see Mickey Mouse couldn’t convince him.

Finally, I whipped out a lollipop (it’s ok, sugar-free!) and put it in his school bag and said, “Hey, would you like to have this at kindergarten later?”

“Yea, sure!” And off he went to wear his shoes.

There is a slight twist to this story. As we were getting into the car, he probably thought what a sucker (pun intended) he was to agree so readily and decided to throw in his own condition onto the negotiation table, “or the deal’s off”.

“I want to wear THIS baju!” he said in his very determined voice. He was referring to the regular clothes he was wearing.

I knew they weren’t expected to wear the uniform, but I played along. “Hmm … well I guess it should be ok. Alright then, you can wear this baju to kindergarten today.”

And so, a happy camper and his cousin thoroughly enjoyed themselves at the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in 1Utama.

The Boy Who Loved Pink

It’s true – my son loves the colour pink! Ever since he could identify colours he has always had a preference for pink.

Just today, we took him to a birthday party where the children could do sand art. After choosing a picture, we started peeling off the paper and pouring the coloured sand. As expected, he headed straight for the pink sand. I think we have Popeye The Very Macho Sailor Man in a pink shirt.

Once, we were looking for sandals together and I thought I’d let him be a “big boy” and choose his own sandals and he picked the extremely pink ones. Rather than say “No, that’s for girls” I just steered him towards sandals that were not available in pink. He eventually chose the dark purple ones.

While I have no problem with him liking pink, I don’t think I would necessarily buy him pink shoes or pink t-shirts to wear, neither would I get him a huge, pink Barbie school bag. (We did get him a pair of pink pyjamas once – he was insistent – and we felt it was ok because he just wears it to sleep. Oh, and also while playing in the garden in the morning which is ok too because we never care what the neighbours think!) Anyway, after a few months in kindergarten he started saying things like, “No, pink is for girls-laa.” Society will eventually just beat that preference out of him.

Still, he was thrilled when he received his two-tone shocking pink Leapster for his birthday this year. And this past Hari Raya, when Nenek bought him a rose pink baju Melayu, he seemed to actually like it and not fuss when we wanted him to try it on!

Today, his preference for pink came in handy. He’s been having a cough lately but the cough medicine that his doctor prescribed probably tastes quite nasty because he just flat out refuses to take it. When we do manage to force it in, he just spits it back out. So we went to the pharmacy to look for something else. We found a cough syrup which was a brand that we ourselves have had before and it didn’t taste too bad. When we got home, he saw it and he was thrilled that it was a pink colour liquid! For the first time, after his dinner he actually asked for it. And he took it – and swallowed it – very willingly.

Thank goodness for pink cough syrup!

Split Personality: Nature or Nurture?

Right on cue, Abang fell ill when the school holidays started. For some reason, one or both our sons will fall ill during the school holidays. It’s uncanny. He woke up on Monday with a slight temperature and a cough that made him sound like a little seal barking for its mummy.

Most if not all young children, tend to get very whiny, lose their appetite and are generally out of sorts when they’re ill. It’s like they were dispensed Grumpy Pants which they are required to wear as long as they haven’t recovered.

Abang and Adik are like that too. Except this time around was a bit different. Abang has been eating quite well, although not the usual rice or noodles, preferring instead to gorge on corn. It’s not so bad – corn is healthy after all – could be worse, eh, like insisting on Pringles or chocolates all day. This is all the more a relief especially when his doctor said to “let him decide what to eat since the appetite usually wanes when they’re ill”. I suppose it helps that a) we don’t have Pringles at home and whatever little chocolates we have are hidden, and b) we offer him healthy stuff which he likes.

I’ve also managed to get him to take afternoon naps this week, although it required me to schedule a drive somewhere, anywhere, to run an errand and take him along hoping that the ride will lull him to sleep. Anyone who knows Abang will know what a big issue sleep is with him!

Then there’s his behaviour. Oh, I could write a book about this!

When he’s ill it’s SO difficult to get him to do anything we ask him to. Take a bath? “No!” Have breakfast? “Doh-waaan…” Wash hands? “Why? My hands clean.” You get the idea.

This time it was the exact opposite. He was minding his p’s and q’s (“Thanks for helping me, Mom”), doing as he was told (puts his dirty clothes in the laundry basket after wiping up the mess he made in the bathroom) and saying cute things like (“I didn’t mean to hit you, but the lalat was there so I pukul dia!”) while giving me this fresh, innocent look.

Amazing! Eating quite alright and well behaved.

Then today the Toddlers Union representative must have called him up and reprimanded him for acting against Union rules. (Evidently, being well behaved all the time, especially while ill, is against Union rules.) We need to find a new organisation for him to align himself with.

So in Abang’s case, I think definitely there’s nurture involved, with a touch of nature. Adik, however, is most definitely nurture.

He could be happily drinking his Milo, all chatty and pleasant when suddenly Abang is told off and throws a mini-tantrum. Suddenly, Adik’s face twists into this I’m-trying-to-wrinkle-my-nose-and-cry-like-Abang-too, complete with flailing about on the floor!

I’ve been reminded that as children get older, it doesn’t get easier – just different. Is that good different? Or bad different? I want to know, I need to stay 2 steps ahead!