Archive | Growing up RSS feed for this section

Goodbye Spidey!

27 Feb

It was a hot and humid Sunday morning; M1 went for her usual Physics and Chemistry tuition and we were home idling the hours away until it was time to fetch her. Frustrated by the non-progress in my Candy Crush attempts at Level 500, I decided to channel my energy to clean out M2’s wardrobe instead. This was a long overdue dreaded chore that I had put off for the longest time possible until now.

M2 has clothes that she has outgrown and we needed to look through them to either throw or give away. The piles were growing… from tee shirts, singlet, shorts to school uniforms and pyjamas. As we were going through each item, we stumbled upon her superhero pyjamas!

Wow. Quite a collection she has… Batman, The Incredibles and Spider-Man. Spidey was her favorite so much so, she had two sets of it in the original colors (red and blue) and one in black. We reminisced for a bit on Spidey and decided she’s passed the stage donning hero jammies; after all M2 is going on 13 this year and we didn’t think she can fit into them anymore.

So goodbye Spidey (and others), you were cool and will be missed. Reluctantly, all the superheroes were placed in the give-away pile. But she kept the Spidey masks for old time’s sake.

Image

Tags: , , , , , ,

Kids Nowadays

14 Jan

The Saturday routine has evolved again. M1 signed up for extra classes for Physics and Chemistry and last Saturday, classes began. So we had to ferry her to the tuition centre at an odd time, 5.00pm to 6.30pm. During the one and a half hour duration, instead of just waiting at a nearby coffee shop (going home was too much of a hassle), we decided to do our grocery at Tesco, a short drive away.

At Tesco, when a little chatty girl whined and quickly walked passed us after her ruffled father, M2 commented, “Kids nowadays! They are so bratty!”

“Excuse me? And what are you, may I ask? Are you not a kid?” I looked at her and she merely grinned.

The irony of it, the chastising of another child by my child, who’s still a kid and will only turn 13 come June but thinks like she’s 23 already.

Tags: , , , , ,

R-E-D

23 Dec

Recently, I found my old Palm T device and decided to boot it up, which was a good thing for I discovered many recordings that I did of the two girls when they were very young.

Listening to the old voice recordings brought much laughter and memories back.

M2 was just kindie-going when she first learnt how to spell. I guess ‘RED’ is the first one a toddler learns in school. And along with it, they also learn how to spell their name.

It was at a family Christmas gathering that we put her on the pedestal, proudly to show off what she has learnt that first year.

“Spell your name,” I gently coaxed her.

Loudly and confidently, she went,“R-E-D. Mabel Red!” Surprise caught everyone then laughter broke out in the family.

“Mabel red?” I asked, wide-eyed.

“Yes. I am Shiny Red Apple,” she beamed at me. Well, it was Christmas, spirits were high and happy, we all had a good laugh about it.

Ahh… Such memories.

M2 is twelve this year (how time flies!) and no, we won’t put her on the pedestal this coming Christmas.

Tags: , , , ,

Hands to Knees, Legs to Elbows

13 Dec

I am a stickler for cleanliness. Whenever the children are out in the garden playing with official pet number one, Rooney, the limbs would all get dirty from the action.

I would remind them with my standard, “Please wash your hands to elbows, legs to knees!” What this means is short of a whole body shower, they have to wash their arms until the elbows and scrub the legs until the knees. Just cleaning the hands and feet only are not acceptable.

The reminder has been ingrained so much so, sometimes the body parts are jumbled up, like a tongue twister. “Please wash your hands to knees, legs to elbows,” or “Please wash you hands to legs, elbows to knees,” which, unimaginable as they seem, it’s never challenged as both girls know what I mean.

Tags: , , ,

My Baby’s Sprouted Wings

6 Dec

My firstborn, M1, is 16 years old and all grown up. Several days ago, I was emailing a friend how I am staring at grey strands in the mirror. This evening she leaves the comfort of the home-albeit temporarily-for a 10-day student exchange program to Japan. It was with our blessings and encouragement that she is going on this trip.

I wonder if we will miss her? Hmm.

M2 feels more optimistic as she knows it’s just for a mere ten days. Before we know it, M1 will be back and things will be back to normal. M2 even declared that she will sleep alone at night in their room. Despite the declaration, she has already staked out a comfortable spot in our room for the last few nights! Innocently, I asked, “Are you saving energy?” “Uh-huh!” was the instant reply.

Well, M1 is a baby no more and eventually, her sprouted wings will bring her to new destinations and exciting things in her life. This is something we have to come to terms with.

Initially reluctant about the trip (to Japan), hubby and I pointed out that leaving home is an inevitable step and we should treat the coming 10 days of separation as practice of the eventuality when she’s college-bound.

Sprouting wings and going places are the dreams of most young adults. Even myself. I couldn’t wait to leave for college during my time in the dinosaur era. If I had felt that then, what more my children?

The only way to learn to let go is to nurture them, guide them and encourage the confidence in them.

I think I’m gonna cry…

Tags: , , ,

Butt-head! Bwahahahaha….

5 Dec

My little nephew recently learnt a new word. This is according to both M1 and M2 when they went to visit grandma two days ago and was playing with him and his little sister.

Looking at his little sister, he would go, “Butt-head!” for no particular reason and then break out in fits of laughter. “Bwahahahahaha…..!”

Eeeks! Is that a word? Should it be allowed? Now, which cartoon was he exposed to? M1 and M2 were both too tickled even to correct him. Grandma was definitely unaware of the situation.

Wouldn’t my brother dearest be appalled if he found out? Shh…

Tags: , ,

Things to Do During the School Holidays

18 Nov

School holidays are always tough to manage when we have to work and the girls don’t have school. The year-end school holidays has started and hopefully, both M1 and M2 will find things to occupy their minds until school resumes in January. After all, they are now older and technology is at their disposal. But it will be a different story if we go on a holiday.

When they were 6 and 10 years old, we used to send them over to grandma’s daily when we did not have a lived-in maid (then) to care for them while we went to the office.

Being girls and hanging out with their cousin sisters, they did this to M2…

Image

M2 subjected to the new hairdo!

And got carried away and ended up with this!

Image

Another angle…

I don’t think they will resort to this these days though…

Tags: , , , ,

She’s an ABC

22 Oct

The term ‘ABC’ has several meanings to us Asians. Typically, it means ‘American Born Chinese’ or ‘Australian Born Chinese’ if the person came from Australia. Depending on who you meet, the usage and situation, ‘ABC’ can also mean ‘Air Batu Campur’ as in our local dessert with shaved ice and toppings.

Many years ago, my brother had some friends visiting from Australia. They are a lovely couple and I think it was the first time my girls met them.

“This is Aunty Connie, say hello,” I introduced a shy M2 to the guest.

“She talks funny,” whispered M1, standing next to me.

Without a thought, I whispered back, “She’s an ABC, that’s why.”

Overhearing what I mentioned, M2 asked,“Aunty Connie’s an alphabet?”

Err… Not quite but in a child’s world, it means just that.

Tags: , , , , ,

The Sick Bay

4 Oct

Mummy and Daddy’s room is also known as ‘The Sick Bay’ whenever one child or the other is sick and needs care around the clock especially at night. When this happens, not just a mattress is set up for the sick one, several plush toys come along too to accompany the patient for security and comfort and the floor becomes an obstacle course to navigate through. Thankfully as the girls are older now with their immunity stronger and better against those meany germs, the sick bay setup has lessen.

But a sick bay it is not, when daddy goes away, and the room becomes a sleepover pajama party haunt instead. And yes, the plushies still come but not so many. Sometimes, it is nice to have these bonding moments with the girls and thoroughly cherish it while they still want to do it!

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Barbie is Ugh!

1 Oct

It used to be (and probably still is) every girls’ dream to have a Barbie doll. But not in my household. I remember when the girls were younger we had to deal with this every festivity time. Whenever Christmas and their birthdays came around, they would cringe when the wrappers are ripped to discover yet another Barbie. Ugh!

But as the Barbie dolls were given with a good intention, we could not say no to the gifts. So the girls ended up having five Barbies at one point in their early years. Ugh!

Somehow Barbie just does not rake it up there with other characters or plush toys. She is not lovable, not huggable, too rigid and pointy, and according to M2, creepy as well! Recently I asked her what her thoughts are of Barbie.

Thinking for a minute M2 then said, “Barbie? Euww…. her butt is so big like… like Kim Kardashian’s!” Of course back then, Kimmy was not a household name. But still, the mention of the resemblance had me laughing uncontrollably. Despite our feelings towards Barbie, poor her to be in the same league as Kimmy! Ugh!

Subsequently, I also asked M1 for her sentiments of Barbie. “Euw!” was the first thing she said, the exact expression as M2’s! She then thought about it for awhile before concluding that while she enjoyed Barbie’s clothes (and not Barbie), she too, thought Barbie was freaky especially from the anatomical point of view. How can her measurements be deemed perfect? Ugh!

My apologies to all the little girls who fancy Barbie, for us, Barbie is just ugh!

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →