House Broken Into

Not my house though. It was my PILs house in Kelantan.

2 nights ago, Bob told me about the break-in and said my ILs both lost their phones and my FIL's RM2,000 was gone as well. Actually the last time I was there, I already noticed that their front door's lock was flimsy and it's easy to break into the house, but I thought it's all peace and harmony there that's why the old folks wasn't worried.

But I guess now they will take more precautions and reinforce a stronger lock for their house.

It was night, and both my ILs were sleeping in the bedrooms upstairs. Lucky thing was the burglar (I guess there is only one) only targetted downstairs so both of them were left unhurt and they were totally unaware of the break-in until the next morning. Guess the burglar was happy to have the RM2K lah.

One thing that puzzled me though. Why did my FIL left so much money in the drawers downstairs instead of in his bedroom? Then again, it might be this decision that kept him safe. In any case, I know the pinch he felt for losing the money. RM2K is a lot of money for a retiree.

I'm just glad the old folks are safe and unhurt. That's the most important. Tomorrow we will go search for some cheap and good handphones for the old folks.

Hole in what??

This morning, I received this message from Bob.


And my first thoughts were, huh? Hole in what? And I was thinking hole in his clothes? Hole in his bag? Hole in his golf bag? GOLF BAG?? And then I remembered..

He went in to Malaysia for golf this morning and he got a hole in one!!!!

Hole in one is a big deal in some places, the lucky blokes get to bring home cash money, car etc. But the last time I heard from Bob, hole in one in Malaysia golf clubs only meant a certificate, free meals and maybe free drinks etc.

But for a golfer, all the above don't matter (I think). I guess all golfers' have this one wish to get a hole in one once in their lifetime. It's like a personal achievement of some sort, although luck plays a bigger part than skills.

In any case, I know Bob must be feeling an all time high over there right now. I wonder if I will get a good meal out of this. Hmmz...

Family Sports Day

Tara's day care held their Family Sports Day this morning. The whole school was split into 2 groups, the red and the white. Tara was in the red team and we have to dress her in a red top. Parents were encouraged to dress in the same colour to show support for their children so both Bob and I were decked in red too. I even wore my red shoes to complete the "look".

Even though it was a non working day, all three of us woke up at the same time we usually does on a weekday. We even went for breakfast before we headed off to Tara's school.

We reached 15 mins early and most of the people have yet to arrive. By 9am, the amphitheatre outside Tara's school was crowded with families, and most of them wore the colours that their kid represented.

I brought Tara to the side where the teachers were assembling the children for the games. When I left Tara with her teachers, she went bawling, and was calling out for me. I left after telling her I will be watching out for her at the outside.

I picked up a tambourine in front of the seating area and waited with anticipation. When the teachers led the children out to the open area, the crowd cheered! And the cheers were the loudest when the playgroup children came out at last. Tara was still crying a little when she walked out, and searched the sea of faces for us. Even though she stopped crying after that, her face still looked sulky.


Every single kid is involved. Each level have 2 games to play, starting from Tara's playgroup. And for the first game, she was the first in line to start. The kids were supposed to wear a ring on their head and carry, on each hand, a half filled bottle of water, walked to a red stand, turn around, walked back to the starting point, and give the next person in line a high ten, as a sign to proceed. As the kids were between 2 - 3 years only, this was considered a little challenging.

Tara's eyes were still red when the game started, but she knew what to do. She ambled towards the red stand holding the pet bottles, turned one round and ambled back. It was so cute and funny and I was really proud of her when she completed her task, even though she wasn't as fast as the other team. I turned around to see Bob beaming with pride too.

The second game needed a family member to join in, just as Bob had surmised. Bob took the camera from me and nudged me forward. But when the teachers demonstrated the game, I realised that I wasn't suited to play. In this game, the child had to walked to the end of the line stepping on stools. The parent has to place one stool after another for the kid to step on. The parent/family member is not allowed to hold the child's hand or in any way, aid the child to complete the game faster. Since I'm wearing a skirt, I cannot squat down to place the stools and Bob had to take over.

Tara was the second last to play in this game. She started slow, and at one point, refused to take another step and we had to cajoled her. And in the middle of the track, she took a step closed to the edge of the stool, couldn't get her balance, fell down and hit the side of her waist. Bob was placing the next stool and didn't managed to catch her in time. She cried real loud and clutched her side. Two of her classmates came up to consoled her, real sweet, and one of them was the boy whom Tara didn't really like. And the best (or not) part is, I actually managed to catch this scene on video!



We tried to get Tara to calm down and take the next step, which she simply refused to and kept holding on to Bob and wanted him to carry. And after quite a while, with a lot of encouragement from the teachers, us and her friends, she took a step, and the crowd cheered! I guess it was the cheers that pushed her to finished the game.


I realised one parent whose child is in Tara's class wore pink, and then I found out that Tara's classmate was in the red team (like Tara) but her brother, also in the same day care, was in the white team, so it makes perfect sense for the Mummy to wear pink. Great thinking or what huh?

The sports day ended with a chicken (or chicky?) dance and a song performed by all the kids. Each kid gets to bring home 2 apples too. There isn't any winners for the games because the sports day was held not for this purpose. It was more in the name of fun and also bonding for the families. We did enjoy ourselves but the little girl only managed to warm up at the end of the whole thing. And the weather was so perfect that almost all the photos came out quite nice!
It was definitely a great way to spend our Saturday morning!

Jokers

We were on our way home after dinner. Bob and I were talking about Tara's school's sports day which will be held tomorrow. Bob was telling Tara maybe Mummy will need to join in and do some running or something and added that I'll definitely be the "first" (think opposite).

I said he wasn't that great a runner himself, as the last time (and first time) we went jogging together, he didn't look like he can last one round at the stadium. He said he wasn't a runner, he's a sprinter! Actually from the shape of his calves, I can see that lah but then, age and weight (especially) catching up, so it's not surprising that he couldn't run properly.

And so he said to Tara (who was also looking at him), in his super boastful tone, that if he came up second (at the sports day tomorrow), most probably there isn't anyone who got first.

At this point of time, Tara snorted and laughed. Exactly at the point when Bob finished his sentence! It was hilarious! I laughed for so damn long after that. Young as she is, Tara can actually tell when her Daddy is telling a joke or not. And that sentence was definitely a joke to her, and to me.

Amidst our laughter, I vaguely heard Bob telling both of us to alight and take a bus home ourselves.

Damn jokers, the both of them.

Very Belated Birthday Gift for Ryan

Ryan is the little boy of a client from my previous job. I meant to make just a page, but the Daddy wanted to have a first year scrap page but I thought, might as well make an album as a gift for his first birthday. So there, I got myself a project that I have almost no idea how to start, considering that most of my scrap projects are girly and sweet, with flowers, laces and ribbons.

It took me quite a long time to finish it too. I started my first page just weeks before Ryan's birthday, now he's already 17 months! I finished my final touches just over the weekend and only yesterday, did I managed to finally passed the gift to the Daddy. It was pure relief after that. Quite a stressful piece of project for me, I'm just glad to finished it.

Ryan's Daddy smsed me last night and said they (I think his wife too) loved the album and wanted me to give him a pic of me and Tara so he can put it into the back cover of the album, so that Ryan will know in future, who made that for him. And he added on about doing one for his daughter (future) too. I was like, huh?! So stressful!! I might just have to think about that.

Anyway, this is what I've done.







Not only the album, I've also altered a tin box to put the album and feeling really bad that the gift was so late, I added another photo frame for them.

Pending project... Finally done....

Making Teacher's Day Gifts

Teacher's Day is coming and I realised last week that I have yet to do anything for Tara's teachers! Fortunately, I have a good stash of alterable stuff at home so it wasn't much of a headache.

We left Tara at Bob's aunt's place together with my in-laws so I had an undisturbed afternoon churning out the gifts.

And to thank the teachers for their care and patience, and for being such good influences to my little one, I decided to make something "special" for them. I made personalised note books for each of the teachers and a photo frame each for the aunties. In the notebook, I included a little greeting to them, and added a cute bookmark as well. And since the gifts should be rightfully be from Tara, I left 5% uncompleted so that Tara can do her part in making the gifts as well. I mean, I can't be the one doing everything, right?

On Sunday night, after we came back from dinner, I told Tara that there are some things she need to do. And from the little task of tearing photo borders which I gave her just the day before, the little one was of course, enthusiastic. I put on her craft apron for her, lined the study table with newspaper and sat her right beside me to do some painting. Yeah, painting! I gave her unfinished chipboard alphabet to paint and she had to paste the alphas onto the notebook cover after that.

I don't know what I'm in for, since I've never gave her anything to paint before. And painting can be very messy.

She was initially quite happy with the painting, as she gets to choose the colours, although I did limit her choices. She wanted a bigger paint brush but I told her a small one will do the job. After a while, she lose interest in painting. I guess she must have preferred to dawdle. Anyhow, she completed her task without much fuss. When the paint had dried, I got her to apply the tape glue on the back of the alpha and paste it onto the notebook cover. I didn't guide her much on this, and she simply plopped the alpha and pressed it down. Although the alphas were not very much in the position I wanted, since the perfectionist (only applicable in craft work) in me preferred them straighter and a little centralised. Anyhow, I kind of felt that it's these little imperfections that makes it much perfect. And I can truly said she did that herself!

I wanted her to write her name herself too. Guess I'm asking for too much. So after trying in vain of getting her to trace over my writing, I resort to just holding her hand to write. Her chinese name was the hardest part, I don't think it's even eligible!

To reward her for completing the gifts, I gave her a chance to have fun with my acrylic paints, and she definitely look happier; mixing the colours, doodling and making a mess. She even threw the paint brush aside and made palm prints instead. Definitely a faster way to make more mess!

Okay, pictures:



And these are what we have completed!


The notebooks.


The simple bookmark.


And a short greeting for the teachers, signed by Tara (with help from Mummy)

I've definitely had a fun time doing the gifts and being able to get Tara involved makes it even enjoyable! I have yet to finished the photo frames for the aunties, still wondering how to personalised them. I will definitely post them up once it's done!

The Happy Helper

At the teachers-parents meeting recently, one of Tara's teachers told us that we should let Tara do some paper tearing at home, in order to hone her fine motor skills. She said children her age don't know how to tear a piece of paper properly. They will pull and tug the paper with all the strength they have but the paper will still be intact. And Tara, especially her, the impatient one, will get really frustrated when she failed to do the simple task.

I was thinking, tearing paper, very difficult mah?

So on Saturday, after I have printed out many photos from my trusty Canon Selphy, I passed the whole stack of it to let the little one do some proper tearing (of the side borders). I taught her how to fold and tear the sides off. And from there, I can really see that the little one really can't fold or tear properly. I guess folding was a bit too much for her (and for my photos), so I folded the sides and passed the stack to her to tear.

It took her about 10 photos to finally grasp the "technique". Of course, the perforation that I've folded down helps too. And so, she sat beside me at our study table, tore out the borders carefully, threw them into the bin beside her, and placed the photo carefully onto the "completed" stack. I had the chance to work on my long pending scrap project while she was at it. It was a rather blissful moment spent with her sitting beside me and doing her "own" things. She was happy with the little task I gave her and was more than willing to help me out. For once, she actually hear Mummy asking if she want to help out, instead of the usual bellowing at not to touch my scrap stuff.






Towards the end of the stack, she was tearing the sides like a pro! Now I'm looking to more tasks that she can help me with, which can also to keep her entertained at the same time. How good is that?

Teachers-Parents Meeting

Yesterday, I took half day leave to attend another meeting at Tara's school. I'm really glad the school's making the effort at holding these meetings (3rd one so far) so I can know what the little one is doing in school.

The teachers told me more or less the same stuff as previously. She's a little PR, always going around interacting with the other kids. She's cheerful and also quite playful. A fun girl to have around and I can see the way the teachers talk to me, they really like her as well. Tara is very involved in class activities and she get a long with all the other kids except for one boy, whom she don't really like. The teachers noticed she refused to hold his hand, sit beside him etc. Whoa, I wonder what happen to the both of them! Little kids but already at loggerheads with each other!

The English teachers also noticed she's speaking more English in the recent months. When Tara first attended school, she can only understand Mandarin and will give a blank look when the teachers tried to speak to her in English. Tara has only known Mandarin since the day she started speaking her first words. I have also noticed Tara making the same effort at home, she would speak to me in English. She always tried really hard not to inject any Mandarin in her sentences, unless she can't find an English word to use. It's really funny to see sometimes, the look on her face while she think of the right word to use.

And they also noticed, me too, that she can speak longer sentences. Tara's Chinese teacher said she has her own mind already, and is already asking questions that other kids have yet to start asking. The other day, the Chinese teacher sat beside her during lunch. She brought along a banana and a pear and Tara started asking her questions. Is that a pear? You bought it? From market, where is the market? Your mother bought for you? So on and so forth. She said Tara is pretty advanced in her thinking as compared to children her age. Actually, I'm not sure if she's really advanced, as I don't pay much attention to other kids (I don't really like kids, really.. until I had Tara).

One other thing they noticed too, and I totally agree. She's very firm in her stand, sometimes too firm that I find her too rigid. If she wants things done this way, it HAS TO be this way. The teachers said she behaved this way because she has learnt that she is now an individual and thus, have her own preferences. I just hope she will relax a little, as it sometimes get on my nerves, a little too often.

And Tara is a very independent girl, ever since she started attending school. She insisted on feeding herself, going to the toilet on her own, wash herself during shower time. She already learnt how to wear her pants and shorts some time back, but since last week, she insisted on wearing her pyjamas top by herself. I noticed she's getting more and more independent too, although I encouraged that since she was really young, I kind of find it happening a little too fast, I'm not sure I'm ready to let go yet. I'm quite sure by the end of the year, she can shower herself already. Now that she's already brushing her teeth, washing her hair and soaping her body all on her own. My job, during her shower, is to make sure she don't play with water, wash the bits that she missed, and make sure she shower fast.

A few times, Tara would come home and complained about certain kid had scratched her, hit her head etc. I will usually ask her more questions, just to make sure she's not making things up. I've seen so many cases of parents only believing what their kids say and in the process, spoilt them, and I definitely don't want it to happen to Tara. So I will ask her lots of questions when she came home complaining. Most times, I had to believe her because she can still name the incident and the person involved even weeks after the incident. Yesterday, I finally found out the truth.

The teachers said nothing of that sort happened and if we (Bob and I) have noticed Tara tend to fall down or hurt herself, as she was always running around and not watching where she goes. And yup, we noticed that too. The teachers added that no one can bully the little girl at all, and upon that, they started laughing. So I guess, my little one is a pretty mean figure in school. So naturally the next question I ask, does she bully other kids then? Fortunately, she doesn't and she love to play with them actually. I'm really glad to hear that. I don't want my little girl to be bullied, but I don't want her to be a bully either.

Tara has no problem with food and eat literally everything. She enjoy dressing up, playing puzzles and very recently, reading. I guess that reading part comes from me, because I'm rarely without a book and especially recently, when I became a new Harry Potter fan. Even at home, she saw me reading, she would pull her own book, came up beside me and pretend to read too. The teachers definitely encouraged that and I definitely hope Tara will love reading as much as I do.

The teachers told me it's time now to let Tara know that Daddy and Mummy are individuals, and we have our own work and interests, and that we can't always give her full attention at times. Kids at this age see their parents as main caregivers rather than individuals and thus they always demand attention. The teachers said they should learn to "let go" For example, if Mummy is doing her reading, Tara should find her own activities, rather than pestering Mummy to play etc. Oh, this is something I'm definitely hoping will happen. I hadn't been able to do anything much without the little one coming up to me every now and then. I have been hoping for so long that she can sit beside me and do her own stuff while I do mine. I guess it's time to start "training" her that.

The teachers asked if I have any concern about the school and I told them I'm very satisfied. Which is something that surprises me as well, since I'm quite an "imp chim" person. Haha! But really, I'm glad we chose to enrol her in that school. No regrets.

The Little Jukebox

Tara loves to sing. She learnt quite a fair bit of songs at school and she never failed to show off the number of songs she can sing.

However, the best and funniest part is, she's like a little singing machine. She will snitch parts of the words we casually mentioned, and belt out the song that immediately comes to her mind. And it was immediate!

Some of the funny scenarios:

I was sort of telling Tara about which leg to shift or something, can't remember..Me: Tara, 不是这一只! 是这一只!
Tara (singing): 一只哈吧狗，wo wo, 眼睛黑溜溜 ~~

Tara asking me something and I gave a curt reply:
Me: Yes!
Tara (singing): Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full ~~

We were at the airport custom counter, I put her down to let her walk by herself after the custom officer has checked out passports:
Me: 小妹妹，等我！
Tara (singing): 小妹妹~~ 你是我的小宝贝！~~
And she was singing loudly, much to the amusement of the officer!

I call her my little jukebox.

Don't take her for a fool!!

This afternoon, we attended a birthday party of this little boy, whose father has business dealings with Bob. Last year, we attended his 3rd birthday party at the same place too. But I remember it was so much happier then.

This year, they hired a clown to do balloon sculpting too. This guy, I shall call him the clown, doesn't speak well, and doesn't know how to control the kids, but once he donned his costume, he literally mesmerized the young crowd with his amazing cartoon sculptures. The balloon sculptures he made are the best I have seen, and he was rather entertaining too, without even needing to speak.

Little Tara, of course, was in sitting in the crowd too, watching with interest at the sculptures churned out one by one by the clown. And one by one, he picked the kids from the crowd and made them stand beside him while he went on with his magic. After he chose a few kids and done a few pieces, the little girl ran to me and said something about wanting one sculpture too. I noticed the clown picking kids from the front of the crowd so I told her to try sitting in front to see if he will pick her. After another few kids and another few balloons, she still hasn't caught his attention. So she ran up to me again, and I told her to sit quietly and wait for her turn.

After a while, the little girl decided to walk forward and ask for the balloon, taking her own initiative. The clown told her to go to the back of the room and cry and someone will give her a balloon, I smiled to her when she ran to me instead and ask for a balloon. I told her I have none and she ran back to the clown and said there is no balloon. The clown told her the same thing again and Tara ran to me once more, and once again, I said I've got no balloons for her. All these while, I had been thinking that the clown was just making some fun and laughter for the young crowd and I'm more than willing to let Tara join in the fun. But I never expect the clown to tell her the same thing again, for the third time. And Tara, unsurprisingly, came up to me again, asking for balloon. This time, my smile went rigid. It dawned on me that the clown never wanted to give Tara any balloons and was just making a fool out of her.

I told Tara to forget about the balloon but the little girl walked back to the clown, hopeful, and replied the same answer for the third time! So the clown told her to sit on the chair at the corner and he will give her a balloon later. Even I am sure she will get her balloon soon after the clown finished with his current one but boy, was I wrong!

The father of the birthday boy came into the room at this point, to announce that the cake cutting will start in 5 mins, so the clown, having already finished one balloon sculpture, was trying to rush for the last one and yes, I was expecting the last one will be for Tara but no! The clown chose yet another kid from the floor instead of making one for Tara, like he promised! The little girl's face went from a smiling one to a confused one, having realised that she still didn't get her balloon. I was really angry at that point. I forced a smile, tried to get Tara's attention and beckoned her over. I told her we shall forget about the balloons and I strode out of the room, with the still confused little girl in tow.

The clown seem more interested in dazzling the older children and couldn't be bothered with Tara, who was the youngest of the lot. He seemed to be telling Tara that she only deserve a simple "Hard Rock Cafe" balloon rather than his masterpieces! Judging from the number of times he asked my little one to cry for a balloon at the other end of the room! Seemingly trying to get rid of her, in a way.

When we went to Bob, who was talking to a group of men at the dining area, he asked if we had fun in the room. When I told him the whole scenario, he was pretty agitated, stood up and wanted to confront the clown. I stopped him, not wanting him to create any scene at someone else's birthday party, and one, whose father has business dealings with him. So I gritted my teeth, smiled happily for my little girl's sake, and tried my best to catch one balloon, which was floating around the ceiling in the centre of the dining area. Tara didn't even seem to mind what had happened earlier and was watching gleefully for me to get the balloon for her, which made me even angrier at the clown, at the same time, sorry for my little girl.

I gave up after a while, as the balloon was a little too far away and I can't leaned over the railing any further. So I did the next best thing I can do, ask for one from the staff, but sadly, that never came as well, as the staff were too busy, I guess.

Bob couldn't leave yet, so I brought Tara to Forum, hoping to get something nice for her, just to make things up, even though she clearly wasn't affected in any way. Up until now, I'm still feeling really upset. I just cannot tolerate the fact that someone had made a fool out of my little girl. This, I swear, will never happen to her again! I don't think I can exercise the same self control if this happens a second time round.