A Pringles Party

It was one of the very, extremely, supremely rare occasions today when we bought a tall tin of Pringles potato chips for the boys. It was all the more rare because we actually drove out to the nearby Petronas to buy it! Apparently Daddy had "promised" it - a little fact told to me by a very innocent face and big brown 4-year-old eyes.

They were so excited, they had a little party on the dining room floor! A bit kesian, eh, that they get all excited over a tin of Pringles but I think better that they learn to eat these "treats" (read: junk) in moderation. After all, no point in banning it completely because eventually they'll be exposed to it - at kindergarten, parties, etc.

Don't worry, they didn't finish the whole tin. I think between the two of them they probably ate about a quarter and then we told them they had to save some for tomorrow. If Abang's Twisties experience is anything to go by, I think it's quite safe that he/ they won't be junk food addicts, but it never hurts to be careful!

P/S. When we were kids, my parents rationed our Cheezels to no more than FIVE (5) a day. Wah, I tell you, we really savoured those five.

The Terrible Twos

Adik turns 2 in a few weeks and I think he's headed for the Terrible Twos much earlier than Abang did. The Terrible Twos only reared its ugly head when Abang was about 2 and a half, around the time when Adik was a few months old. As expected, he didn't take too kindly to the fact that he had to share his parents with this tiny thing that couldn't even lift up his head!

So far, Adik seems to be quite even tempered. Many times, when Abang snatches something from him, he (Adik) will just let him and go find something else to play with. (So, do I reprimand Abang for doing that? It seemed like nobody got hurt. Perhaps I ought to warn him that other people may not be so willing to give something up.)

Most of the time they play pretty well together, although lately, I notice that Adik gets upset very easily. If he doesn't get something he wants, he will scream and run to the safety gate and hit it with his hand. I dunno, beats me what that's about. Or he will just scream on the spot. Maybe it depends if he's tired or not.

This is precisely why when people ask me "Are you going to try for a girl?" I answer, "Definitely not sure." When Abang gets over one phase, it's Adik's turn. Then Abang moves on to a different phase. And then Adik will go through it two years later. It's like a roller coaster that never stops - after you get over the scary part, it's a nice cruise; then another different scary part that makes you scream. Then another nice cruise. Then the same first scary part... it doesn't stop, I tell you!

Oh well, hopefully this roller coaster ride will not be as long as the previous one.

10 Signs You're a Parent

1. Those bags under your eyes are bigger than Ferragamo's latest thing.
It's true. Recently, Daddy and I were at Istana Budaya for Anna and The King and we noticed some other couples (besides us) who looked really tired. So we asked them - do you have young children? The answer was an affirmative "Sigh, yes".

2. You have no issues doing things that used to gross you out.
Here's the short list - blow your child's nose, change your baby's diaper, wash your child's butt, clean up some vomit, mop up a peeing accident. And this includes doing them mid-way through a meal, AND THEN continuing with your meal after you're done washing your hands.

3. Suddenly your house/ car/ handbag is awash with stickers.
Oh, where do I start with this one? We have gymbobs stickers on my car glove compartment and left side window, a KOKO Krunch car sticker on the right side window, a variety of McDonald's stickers on a vase upstairs, some Spongebob and Winnie the Pooh stickers on the lounge cabinet. My handbag used to host many stickers but - oh dear too bad - they fell off. In fact, at one point we even had a Lightning McQueen sticker on the shower tap in my bathroom.

4. You stop judging other people's children.
That's because you realise Oh Crap my children do that too. Enuf said!

5. You also eat those words you said before you became a parent.
Words that sound something like "I'll never do THAT when I HAVE children." I've eaten so many words, I should have put on weight by now. This is somewhat related to #4 above.

6. The volume of your voice goes up a few decibels.
Which is when it hits you, "Ah, so THAT'S why I always hear neighbour so-and-so's voice." Many times when your children don't respond to suggestions given in a nice, soft tone of voice it's time to up those decibels and change that suggestion into a threat of some sort.

7. When you go somewhere new, you automatically look for the loo first.
This is especially so when you have a semi-toilet trained child. You want to make a beeline for the loo so that when he blurts out, "Mummy, I want to kencing", you don't leave a "trail".

8. Things you hid from your children remain hidden for a long time.
That's because you forgot where you hid them. This has happened to us many times. Daddy suggested I make an 'inventory' of where we hide things at the time when we hid them but that would involve remembering to do that.

9. Cabinets or bookshelves become top heavy as you put things out of their reach.
Watch out, it might start raining forbidden things, like computer accessories or batteries, for example.

10. You don't need a clock anymore.
You judge time either by the children's shows on TV ("it's now time for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse", or "we'll leave right after "Fireman Sam", or "ok, it's bathtime after Thomas") or by their activities ("you can have some spaghetti after Tumble Tots").

Self-Confidence Crisis?

Not here!

Adik is at the stage where he will follow everything, and I mean everything, you say and/ or do. If I ask something like, "What do you think is going to happen?" He will say, "Yu-yu 'pen." If Wan says, "Hey, semua yang kita buat dia pun buat!" He will answer, "Buat! Buat!"

So when we try to teach him numbers by counting as we take him up the stairs, it's fairly easy.

"One."
"One."
"Two."
"Two."
"Three."
"Tee."
"Four."
"Por."
"Five."
"Pie."
"Six."
"Tick."
"Seven."
"Beh-ben."
"Eight."
"It."
"Nine."
"Nine."
"Ten!"
"Ten!"

"Yay, Adik pandai!"
"Yay, Adik ah-dai!" and he even will clap his hands at this point.

Lately, whenever he sees alphabets or numbers he will point to them and say, "Two, Por, Nine, yay ah-dai!" Round of applause.


Abang is even more straightforward.

"Ant J, I'm very good at painting, right?" while painting a surprise for Mummy and Daddy at Nenek's house.

"I'm the fastest in the whole WORLD!" after 'winning' a garden race against Adik.

"Mummy see I move the chair. I'm very strong, kan?" I'm torn between scolding him for moving our furniture about and reinforcing his positive self image.

Hmm. I don't think lack of positive reinforcements is a problem in this household!

Fun at the Fire Station

The boys were in for a treat over the weekend. Daddy and I took them to the Sri Hartamas Fire Station on Saturday morning, as part of a group visit by IBU.

When we arrived at 10am, there were already chairs set up and a nice big tarp on the floor for the children/ parents who preferred to hang out on the floor. Then, they got the fire engines out to the big open area and let the kids explore.

It was fun! The boys climbed into the fire engine, soaking in all they could from the experience. One boy climbed up the ladder at the back of the fire engine, until the senior fireman himself got a little nervous and asked him to come down. But the firemen were most sporting and happy to host our group. They helped carry the boys up and down the fire engine while the parents were busy taking photos.

Then they asked us to gather in front of the office (where the chairs were set up) for a welcome address. The senior fireman was most gracious, thanking us for taking the time to visit and also gave some pointers on what to do if our clothes caught fire.

After explaining the "STOP, DROP and ROLL" method, he asked for a volunteer to help demonstrate it. We tried to get Abang but he steadfastly refused. So Mummy raised Adik's hand and said, "He'll do it!"

I sent Adik to the senior fireman and he turned Adik around to face the audience.

"If your clothes catch fire, the first thing to do is to stop moving. Don't run, don't walk," he said while holding on to Adik's shoulders.

"Then you drop to the flooor (at this point I had to instruct Adik to baring which he did), cover your face with your hands (I told Adik to 'close eyes' and he did) and then roll about on the floor (which the senior fireman did to Adik)."

Adik, what a champion!

After that we all went back to the open area where they hooked up the hoses and let the children spray the hose just like a fireman! In fact, they were telling us about a group of kindergarten children who visited them and they all excitedly ran into the spray of water. Parents and kids went home soaked..

Next up was when they took parents and children up on what Abang refers to as the "fire engine carrier". They took one fireman, 2 parents and 2 children up at one time. When Daddy went with Abang, Adik saw them going up and up from the ground and he burst into tears, howling and wailing, "Nak Daddy! Adik naaaak!" So he went up the next round with Daddy.

I was most impressed that the boys weren't freaked out at all at the height. Mummy on the other hand was totally chicken and refused to go up. The fireman offered Daddy and Mummy an "exclusive" trip up higher than for the children, just the 2 of us, but Mummy declined. Mummy has vertigo!

Before we left they distributed a "Home Fire Safety" booklet. We got the Malay version as they were running low on the English one. What a fun morning!

What's Cooking?

Abang and Adik's tastebuds are quite different. Adik is a true-blue Malay boy who loves his rice. "Na-tik (as in "nasi" or "rice")! I want na-tik!" is his usual battle cry.

Abang, on the other hand, is a pasta and cream of mushroom soup boy. He wallops the pasta like there's no tomorrow, especially if it's the "instant" San Remo ones. I have to finely chop up some veges to hide in there so that he gets some greens. One packet of that baby will last him only 2 sittings.

Of course, one thing the boys have in common is their general affiliation to fast food. It's hard to walk past a McDonalds without hearing "I waaaaaaaaaant...!" I certainly don't give in all the time, which just goes to show the power of advertising and marketing!

Today I took Adik out for brunch and he happily fed himself his nasi lemak. I tried to interest him in some cakes and pastries but he's just not into any of that. He'll take noodles too, but of course that has to be fed to him. A little too messy.

It's amazing how their tastebuds change over time. Abang used to eat anything and everything, even some slightly pedas food. That was intentional so that they don't grow up wimpy like their mom and not be able to handle pedas stuff. Then, we he started to develop a mind of his own, he got fussy and would reject anything that has (or even look like it may have) chilli. Plus he didn't really like rice anymore and opted for more pasta.

Adik used to reject fruits. From the time he started on semi-solids I tried to introduce a whole host of mashed fruits - papaya, watermelon, banana - but he would almost recoil in horror when it got near his lips. When he started teething, I tried to get him to bite those soft fruits but still no luck. But we never gave up. We just kept on trying until one day, he didn't reject them! Now he would eat some fruits, although not in a crazed-like manner like Abang who can finish an entire bowl of, say, manggo.

We are very careful not to let them eat junk food full of empty calories. I know, when they go to school they'll be exposed to all that rubbish. So I'm hoping that little teasers of the stuff (so they'll know what they taste like) along with some education ("yes, it's quite nice but it'll rot your teeth and then you'll have no teeth to eat anything") will help them to be moderate in their consumption of those things.

Once Abang brought home a birthday party pack from kindergarten absolutely laden with junk food. He was so excited to have the Twisties because some of his classmates eat that and I guess he was curious. I opened it for him and let him have it because I expected him to find it too salty.

I was right. After a few mouthfuls and some "Mmm, I like this! This is nice!" he had enough and gave me the remainder (more than half the packet). "Mummy I don't like, so masin," he told me feeling rather disappointed that it didn't quite meet his expectations.

Whenever we go to Tesco, he will inevitably ask for some MSG-laden snacks and I just tell him it's too salty. I don't have to worry about the occasional junk food snack for him because my auntie takes care of that! But she's also quite good about rationing these snacks and sweets so I can't really complain.

Well, maybe just a bit. But it's not as bad as it could be.

The Brand That Didn't Make It

Daddy and I went away for the weekend without the boys. We sent the troops to stay at my parents house, who were only too happy to have their grandsons be with them from Friday up until Sunday.

With the 2-legged kittens off to their weekend babysitters, we almost forgot to make arrangements for the 4-legged kittens. Luckily, this was a regular weekend, i.e. a non-school holiday, non-festive season weekend, so the animal hospital accepted a walk-in boarding request.

As we were slightly short of time (we had to leave for our holiday by 10:30am) and the animal hospital only opens at 10am, Daddy and I figured best to divide and conquer. I took Adik, my auntie and our maid to Atok's house while Daddy took Abang, Harun and Thomas to the animal hospital - or as Abang calls it, The Cat Hotel.

I waited for Daddy and Abang to arrive at Atok's house while our maid and my auntie unpacked all the food they brought over. They practically emptied our fridge! (Should have seen the look on Atok's face when he saw all the raw/ semi-cooked/ cooked food being piled into his kitchen. I think his words were, "Eh if there are any leftovers you better bring back home.")

When Daddy and Abang pulled up, Abang excitedly told me about their trip to the animal hospital.

"We send Harun and Thomas to the Cat Hotel already Mummy. Then I saw a black kitten there also. Can we bring it home, Mummy, please?"

I was like, uh-huh yeah sure whatever, not at all expecting this to be a serious request until I saw Daddy nodding away to Abang's request.

"Ha? Really ah? You want another cat?" The question was directed at both of them.

"Yaaaaa...." they replied almost in unison.

Aiya.

"Mummy why don't you go and see it nanti? It's very cute you know. I want to call it Brand."

"Brand? What kind of name is Brand?"

Abang mumbled something about why it's a brand blah blah blah but I didn't hear it. I was more concerned about adding another cat to our 'stable' especially since our maid isn't going to continue working with us after her contract ends in September.

When Daddy and I got back on Sunday, again, we divided and conquered so he went for his dental appointment by himself while I took the troops home. Then Abang and I went to the animal hospital to fetch Harun and Thomas who, by the way, were so merajuk at being sent to the animal hospital that they spent their entire day at the neighbour's garage and didn't even come back for meals!

Abang excitedly took me to see Brand but ..... the cage was empty. The sign "We Are Up For Adoption" was still there but no cute black kitten anywhere in sight. We checked with the staff and they said, yes, she got adopted just the day before.

I explained to Abang about Brand being adopted by a nice family to stay with and he seemed to understand. Maybe another time, Abang, like when you are old enough to help with looking after another Brand.

Lilfe Goes Chugging On

Abang and Adik are getting on with whatever that pre-school boys do, while Mummy and Daddy are a touch busy with work this week.

Adik has been having accident-free days for, what, 3 days already? I know, I'm obsessed with this toilet training! I feel like I should have those big signboards like they do in factories - XXX Days Without Any Accidents. In fact, he's even had one diaper-free day. That was when he had one nap which was an hour and a half long, after which his diaper was still dry so I immediately took it off and took him to the loo to pee. Hooray! My next goal is to be brave enough to get him to go commando while in the car.

Abang is not so reluctant to go to kindergarten now. After the 2-week break last month, he wasn't as keen to go to kindergarten as he usually was. We think it's because his principal was on maternity leave and she's the only teacher that he feels comfortable with. Last year there were two other teachers he was close with but they've both left (although one of them may come back next year).

We've been doing our usual Kepong Run on Wednesdays. Yesterday, I was in for a treat. Abang found a ratty old MAGGI box and very excitedly said, "YAY! Now we can play in the box!" Of all the nice, expensive and "developmentally appropriate" toys that are available at Nenek's house, he chose a box. A brown, cardboard MAGGI box of all things.

Since Adik is in that I-Will-Do-All-That-Abang-Does phase, as soon as Abang was in the box, so was Adik. As soon as Abang came out of the box, so was Adik. If Abang tripped and complained "SAKIT" - wait for it - so did Adik. Complete with a pretend "tripping and falling". And the whine!

The World Wrestling Federation, WWF (not to be confused with World Wildlife Fund), has also been to our house! And it's even on film.

Abang pointed out to me a very cute kitten at the back of Nenek's house. I managed to get a photo of it, but not before Adik tried to feed the other cats and got swiped! Talk about swiping the hand that feeds you. Poor Adik bawled and howled.

I don't think we'll be rescuing anymore kittens anytime soon. The last one we rescued required so many trips to the vet!

Life Goes On!

Making a Difference

I was so shocked when I fetched Abang from kindergarten last week. As I pulled up in front of the kindergarten, the front gate was wide open and there was no teacher in sight. Abang and some other children were sitting at the bench waiting for their respective transport.

As soon as he saw me, Abang ran (out the wide open gate) to the car. My auntie and Johan were also in the car and I decided this was too important an issue to just let go. When the teacher came out, I got out to point out how dangerous it was for her to leave the children alone like that, especially with the gate open. She mumbled something or other and then immediately closed and stood by the gate to wait for other parents.

I understand they're one teacher short at the moment, and with the kindergarten principal on maternity leave, they're probably stretched thin. Still, the children's safety isn't something they can compromise on. So I decided to SMS the principal to let her know what happened.

I didn't feel nice about "complaining" but it's something quite fundamental, regarding the safety of the children there - MY children! It's not like I'm complaining about anything trivial like "the shoe racks are so rickety" or even "how come my son's English has deteriorated since he started kindergarten?".

This happened on a Wednesday and that night, Abang had a bad case of ear infection and high fever so he was off school for the next two days. He got better over the weekend but on Sunday evening he developed a slight fever again. So we kept him home on Monday too. The next day he went to kindergarten like normal.

On Wednesday, a week after the incident, I fetched Abang from kindergarten and I noticed something very different. The teacher who sees the children off after school seemed more - how shall I say this - attentive and she sent each child to the car, put them in and closed the door after them. For children who get fetched on motorbike, she even carried them and put them up on the motorbike.

I noticed this as I was approaching the school. When I reached the front of the gate (which was closed), the teacher sent Abang to the car, put him in and shut the door. In fact, as she was sending Abang to our car, another mom arrived and her daughter started to make her way out of the school gate but the teacher very firmly told her to wait. After Abang was safely in our car, she sent the girl to her mom.

What a difference an SMS makes! Now I'm glad I sent it. Today, out of the blue, Abang told us that last week his principal was in school for "a meeting". I'm guessing they discussed children's safety.