Good News Day

Good news #1: Daddy's home, hooray! He'd been away on a course the past week and both boys had been asking for Daddy, even Adik.

"Dad-deee? Mum-mee, Dad-dee? Dad-dee?" And I'm not sure if it was a coincidence, but yesterday I decided to take the boys out for a drive in Daddy's car to get the engine running and fill up the tank, and Adik said, "Dad-dee car. Dad-dee car." I choose to believe that it's not a coincidence!

Good news #2: Thomas is much better. He lost some weight, so he's not as fat (or "pear-shaped" as Ant J puts it) as before, but to say he's "svelte" is probably taking it a bit too far. I've managed to get him to take his medication and he's eating like normal again. I guess he won't be not-so-svelte for much longer.

Good news #3: Abang is well again too! In fact, I know he's definitely over his illness because his appetite is back with a vengeance. He's been eating just pasta the past few days, but, OMG it's a LOT of pasta. And yogurt. And biscuits. And raisins. And cheese. Plus, he was well enough to show Harun how to play his new game on his Leapster.


Good news #4 is related to Good News #1 and Good News #3. As a surprise for Daddy's homecoming, Abang and I painted our front gate. It was quite an experience for me, starting with the trip to the hardware shop. I suppose going to the hardware shop to buy painting supplies without Daddy would be like Daddy going to the cosmetics counter to buy me, say, lipstick.


"Can I help you, sir?" the counter lady would ask.


"Yes. I'd like to buy my wife some lipstick," he'd answer.


"Certainly, sir. What colour would you like to get?" would be the next logical question.


"Red." And we all know there are a thousand shades of "red".

After what seemed like an eternity, Abang and I got what we wanted and left. When we got home, Abang helped me with the painting. Now, when a 4-year old says he wants to help, it could be either help or "help".


I define help as contribution that actually makes it easier for me to do the task at hand. "Help", on the other hand, means giving me even more work than if I had done it myself. In this case, he really did help because there were parts of the gate that he painted which didn't require me to undo anything, plus he didn't spill any paint.

Considering the fact that the gate has been painted by a 4-year old and his mom, I think we did an ok job. Not fantastic, but then, there's a reason why I'm not a professional gate painter. And I don't intend to be one for awhile.

I'm not quitting my day job just yet. Welcome home, Daddy!