First day at pre-nursery

Waking up has been our greatest struggle for the kids and me. Preparing for school was a nightmare with Nathan wanting similar or more attention from me the level of difficulties increases exponentially!  The fact that I have been home for the past two weeks makes him fully reliant on me and he has mastered the art of "mummy manipulation". Tears and pity puppy eyed, who can resist the temptation? I definitely am not cut out to be a tiger mum.. loving but ferocious. Natalie ends up landing herself into trouble since she is the common trigger of the disagreement.. either it's " he can't touch my things!" *fist hit towards Nathan's chest* or "I don't want him or his things. . Its git his smell" * pushes him to the floor whilst he attempts a hug*. She gets reprimanded and apologises quickly.. This is the smart her working her way through adults' world of mutual respect and sorry saying without truly meaning it. I have threatened her with the cane but didnt use it since she is quick with her corrective actions. If it's popo she would have gotten a spanking already.. which I do agree its effective but just not my favourite style of discipline. 

Well this post was meant to log his first day at school but here I am drifting to other matters.

So first day was not without the tearing even with mummy and popo around but kids being highly adaptable the  second day becomes  easier and watching him mingle with the little children makes me wonder if how quickly he's growing up.  Yes I followed and hid behind just to make sure that  everything is ok. So I can't let go my mum says.. yes it's hard and I find it a struggle. I could imagine myself following and trailing them on field trips whenever I can. Sigh mummy is not good at letting go ya. And please forgive me if I continue to baby you even when you are into your teenage years.

Grandpa and grandma

I am fast approaching week 2 without a helper. Life is getting adjusted to self reliant. Fortunately I have a wonderful and supportive hubby who helps out with the hard chores and wonderful parents who did most of the cooking as they complained how unpalatable my cooking tasted. Hey I must mention that most times its way too flavourful with sesame oil and light sauce,  but kids complained that it was way too salty and refused to eat. When I cook really bland tasting food.. my dearest hubby will complain and mention that perhaps he should just grab takeaways for dinner each day. Sigh its not easy being a mum, a cleaner and a wife. And without popo I am not sure if I could have managed it on my own with both babies wanting my full attention all the time!

Thanks popo and gong gong for helpimg me tied through the tough 2 weeks!

Favourite toys

From left to rt..

Ellie the elephant
Crabby the lobster
Rudy the dog
Ginger which is Nathan's cat
Clover which is Natalie's cat

What nice names for their little toys! !

First independent class

The plan is to get him used to going to enrichment classes independently before starting pre nursery, where he is expected to take the transport and go for classes on his own.

Last week he cried when I left him half way. Me: "Did Nathan cry today?"
Nathan: "Other children cry.."
Me: "I see..so Nathan never cry? So brave wah!"
Nathan: "because I want mama and mimi."
*hugs*
Me: "Nathan will be brave next week k."
Natalie: "Yes must be like jie jie. Jie Jie never cry. The teacher will look after you and mama will be outside waiting for you ya. Be brave like jie jie. Ok?"
Such a wonderful and encouraging big sister!!!
Nathan: *pause to think* "because I want mama."
Me: "Let's try next week k!"
*pouts from Nathan*

Today was his first independent class with berries having accompanied him for the past 3 lessons. My departure is not without tears but the past the lessons helped him to familiarise with the teaching staff and classroom environment. Cried and sniffled for a while but settled down rather quickly this round.

I am so proud of you Nathan! At 2 years 4 months you could do more than what mummy and daddy has probably achieved whilst we were young! Keep it up my dear!

What is your prototype

Found this draft and looking back our curent helper is such a wonderful find!!

What kind of parent are you?
The kind who would give in to your kid's whims and fancies? Or the type who controls each and every little thing they get their hands on? Or the type who gives them a free hand but sets parameters in which you would like them to grow?

Would want to think of myself as the 3rd type, but some how i have feeling my compulsive control temperament may take the reign. Just looking at the way my mum manages the maid today makes me think if i am like her sometimes.. . expecting her to do everything to the T following the operations procedures without a glitch. Honestly I think it boils down to insecurity. I feel insecure about leaving my baby with the maid. I hate it when she does things to her standard, cutting corners, skiving when we are not looking and coming up with excuses to cover her ass. Just today I scolded her for not responding when I talk to her. How would I know if she understands what was conveyed when she does not acknowledge with a simple ok or yes. Tried explaining to her why Philipino maids ought to get higher pay ... at the very least they respond with a 'yes mum'. She'll only respond with a 'ya'when she is either in a good mood or when she is truly listening. If had to work past her bedtime she'll not acknowledge you and proceed to do things in a rushed manner, wearing a black face. By the way in case if you are wondering 'So what time does she sleeps?'. I must say she has at least 10 hours of sleep each day. At my mom's, she tend to sleep at 9ish and at my place she could go to bed at as early as 8ish pm! I've tried explaining about the concept of customer care and the need to service with a smile. She meerly giggles with some sort of understanding and forgets about it the very next day. No wonder she tells me she gets scolded by her supervisor quite often when she was working in a departmental store back in Malang!

Hubby just cannot stand how she packs food slowly and do things with no sense of urgency! He simply took over the tasks and this made things worse. She doesn't know her place anymore! My mum and I often end up playing the bad guy as we are the key personnels ordering her around! I got to keep reinforcing the idea that she is the one earning a living not us. Appraising her each month before giving her her salary seems to work for a while but when new issues comes up the old ones gets forgotten and production became inconsistent again. My dad irritates the hell out of me when he keep asking her to take breaks and rest. How can I manage her when there are so many Indian Chiefs in the hourse! And she is smart enough to know who to go to when she had issues. I think I ought to really scold her to reinforce my training. Bad habits are indeed easy to pick up but difficult to correct. Till then it'll be too late.

Am feeling kinda frustrated now as I meant to dedicate this page to parenting, but ended up writing all about maid management!

Excursion with gong gong

Bus rides are rare luxuries for the kids as they are always chauffeured from one place to another. gong gong made it a point to bring them on a bus excursion during the school holidays so they are aware of what to do and how to make payments onboard the bus.

Natalie enjoyed it utterly! Though she complained that she will feel safer with seat belt on. Whereas Nathan loved the fact that there are so many other commuters sharing the ride with him and holding on to the railing and flexi handles made him feel grown up!

Nathan's first Berries class

The fact that he gets to follow Natalie to school on a Sunday adds on to the happy factors of a good day at berries! Nathan sends jie jie to her classroom and ultimately gets to enter one with friendly teachers and similar aged friends. Some kids cry for attention but brave little Nathan chooses not to follow or be easily influenced. After half hour of familiarisation and warming up, Nathan even walks up to the front of the class to volunteer to answer questions.
He approaches the teacher to return his crayons and shows her his work without hesitation. I am so proud of you baby!