No Pain, No Gain?

It’s like going to the gym. It seems like in order to get maximum cuteness (i.e. “gain”) out of the boys, I have to referee countless Toy-Tugging Matches and help calm tantrum storms (i.e. “immense pain”).

Tuesday was a good day seeing as both boys had a solid 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon (and Mummy caught a 1 hour nap, too). Well-napped boys (and Mummy) make for happy and less cranky boys (and Mummy).

Wednesday, however, was a different story. Both boys refused their afternoon naps. And Mummy really desperately needed one. So I tried sending both boys to be under the care of the maid for a little while but it was a no-go. Every few minutes a scream would pierce the afternoon calm (and my intended nap).

Pain #1
So I took them outside for a change of scenery. Within a few minutes of playing, the fighting started. Abang ramming Adik's stroller with his bicycle; Adik getting his own back by toppling Abang's bicycle when Abang pushed Adik's stroller far out of Adik's reach. You get the gist of it.

Back inside the house we all went and I realised they were probably slightly hungry. As soon as I mentioned "jagung", suddenly I had 2 little boys following me quietly and eagerly to the kitchen. I felt like The Pied Piper.

Gain #1
Since they were happily eating their jagung, I tried to sneak upstairs to pray. Adik saw me and followed me up the stairs. I came back down and asked him to stay downstairs while "Mummy goes upstairs kejap saja".

Abang stepped in and said, "It's ok, Mummy. I will teman Adik downstairs, you can go upstairs and sembahyang." So I took him up on the offer, but before I could go to the kitchen to let our maid know that I'm going upstairs to pray, Abang beat me to it.

"Bibik, boleh tolong teman Abang dengan Adik? Mummy nak naik sembahyang."

So cute!

Pain #2
Towards the evening, I thought it best to separate the boys for a bit and took Adik out for a walk in his stroller. Abang was happy watching Channel 63 so, not wanting to disturb the "chi", I went off with Adik. As we approached the house on the way back, we could hear Abang crying away, "Nak mam-meeeee, nak mam-meeee!" Evidently he wasn't happy being left behind.

This storm was relatively easy to calm because, lucky for me, the putumayam man rode past on his motorbike right at that moment.

"Abang, look! Putumayam! Would you like some?" Mummy tried to buy her way out of a tantrum.

Abang just nodded, tears still streaming down his cheek. Of course the putumayam man was very pleased at making a sale (I just realised that he rides a motorbike now, and not a bicycle. Putumayam must be a popular cuisine in our area!). He was trying to make conversation with us, while Adik was howling away in the stroller because he was a bit scared of this stranger, and Mummy didn't have a clue what he was saying. I just nodded politely and hoped I didn't agree to anything terrible.

Gain #2
Gain #2 came hot on the heels of Pain #3 which I'll just briefly describe as Abang having the Mother of All Tantrums (MoAT) when I took Adik upstairs to be put to bed. I still don't have a clue what exactly the problem was, but when Adik and I were already in my room, Abang came in and joined us, all teary and upset.

As soon as he saw his Abang distressed, Adik immediately broke free from me and offered Abang his pacifier. "Nah. Nah." He popped his pacifier out of his mouth and handed it to Abang, (which of course Abang didn't accept cos he never took to the pacifier). Such a sweetie.

I took the picture below when they were both all snuggly and ready for bed. Right after that, I switched the lights off. I turned around and Abang scrunched up his face with a disgusted expression and said, "Mameeeee.... Adik try to put his pacifier in my mouth...." Ptooi. Ptooi.

Adik firmly believed Abang needed it!

Today was another no-nap day but interestingly enough, the "chi" was not bad. Save for this one episode when Abang attempted to get the orange juice out of the fridge by himself and our maid tried to help him. He was being stubborn about accepting help but she still tried because she knows who has to clean up the mess when it spills on the floor!

That's when he kicked her. I was helping Adik wash his hands but I saw and heard everything. Mummy swooped into action and landed a very hard and loud SMACK on his leg, adding, "Kicking is VERY RUDE. We do not do that." I'm surprised he didn't cry because it was pretty hard and my hand still smarts as I type this.

Instead, he offered a very feeble, "Bibik, laaa... Always want to help me ...."

"Yes, she's just trying to be helpful because she's worried it might be too heavy for you."

"But I don't want her help."

"So next time just say 'No, thank you' and don't kick, or push, or scream."

I think he got it. Who knows what goes on in the mind of a 4-year old!