Tag Archives: Exams
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I Want to Lay Eggs

4 Sep

When M2 was young and exposed to Science in school, it fascinated her so much that she wanted to be a Scientist then. However, when lessons touched on the human anatomy and briefly the reproductive system, it became a traumatic discovery.

She swore off pregnancy. Oh dear. She declared vehemently, “I don’t want to get pregnant! I want to lay eggs because it’s easier!” If only…

I can only attribute this to the innocence of young child’s mind… Thank goodness, that young child’s mind has matured. In her recent Science exam, she aced it. Phew.

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Can I Skip College?

16 Jun

I never expected this but M2 recently proclaimed that she would like to skip college. I was horrified but thank goodness, I did not faint. I thought with M1 now at college, it would inspire her but no.

This came about after her stress of studying and sitting for her mid-term exams. She had been complaining and asking why she has to study all those subjects that are irrelevant to her in her life. What is the point of learning stuff that will never be of use anyway? And in college, this whole process will be magnified even more. Although she’s only 13, coming to 14 soon, this studying business does not appeal to her.

Oh dear. How to deal with this?

So I asked what will she do instead if she didn’t choose to go to college. She said she will help animals. Ah hah… An opening.

I pointed out that if she wants to help animals, all the more she has to go to college. Otherwise where would she obtain her knowledge to help the hapless animals? As animals can’t talk, it would be tough to figure out their problems.

“I can google up!” she exclaimed.

“You can’t trust everything you find on the internet!” I pointed out to her. And we left things as is for now without things getting blown out of proportion. But I can tell you, this topic is still hanging and am pretty sure we will talk about it again.

Stay tuned.

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The Drama Queen Strikes Again!

28 May

It’s exam time this week and the Drama Queen in M2 has surfaced. Bouts of illness has struck and the agony in studying has also surfaced. This reminds me of the time when she sat for her big exam two years ago.

Rewind to two years ago…

Anxious to hear her feedback from the first day’s papers, I called home to check on her. “So how did it go?” I asked.

“It was ok. No, it was awful cos I kept coughing and snort kept coming out,” M2 complained.

“Aww…” my heart sank.

“Then it was so uncomfortable as my cough made me not focused, I almost blacked out,” she went on.

“Oh dear…” I think my heart fell to my feet. “That bad ah?”

“Ya…” she concluded.

Speechless and not expecting such news, I told her to take a hot shower, take some medication for the cough and flu and then rest. Feeling uneasy, I shared the news with the hubby. At this point, I don’t know if it’s the Drama Queen or for real. Am I over reacting? The sudden bout of illness became more evident in the morning of the first exam day. She was fine on Monday and the day before!

So hubby called home again and spoke to M2.

“So how did it go?” his turn to query.

“Ok laa,” she said and went on to say one language paper was easy as questions were familiar; she’d done them before. The other language paper was manageable albeit a bit tough and the Math paper, she didn’t know how to tackle two questions. All in all, it was okay.

This was not how she told me! I’ve been had again by the Drama Queen. Hrmph.

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Why Aren’t You Studying?

8 May

There was a time I called myself the Study Police. My duty was to ensure that M2 in particular (I didn’t have to worry about M1) would be bogged down with her books and studied until her brains oozed with instant answers in preparation for upcoming exams. Trust me, it was very stressful for both her and me.

But last year, the national education system changed, the school had to follow suit and suddenly, my Study Police role became obsolete. Things are now less exam-based. However, every now and then I will still need to check on her. Like last night.

“Why aren’t you studying? Why is the iPod in your hands?” I asked.

“I am,” M2 replied me, “I am studying.”

“With the iPod?” Disbelief in my voice.

“Yes. I am studying Pixar story plots.”

Ka-doosh. M2 at her best yet again!

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A Very Good Day!

3 Mar

I must admit in between the precious moments with M1 before she leaves, I have been at my games as well. I have made much progress for Candy Crush, Farm Heroes and Candy Crush Soda, at Level 844, Level 701 and Level 223 respectively.

I was stuck at both the candy games for sometime but today proved to be a good day; I finally succeeded for Candy Crush and waiting for tickets now to move on to the next chapter and also for Candy Crush Soda, at Level 225 now.

But the day got even better as we went to school to get M1’s SPM results, released today after the three month wait. I am one proud mama to say that she scored straight ‘A’s for the ten subjects she took! It was tears of joy as I hugged my baby.

A very good and happy day.

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The Working Life

5 Jan

Soon after her exams were over, M1, together with her cousin, came to work for hubby and I at the office. Although workload has been quite easy, I managed to find things to keep them occupied.

The family insisted we assign them things to learn or keep them busy to understand the hardship of real work; even if it means cleaning the store room.

It’s been over a month already that the both of them worked for me and cleaned the store room they did. However the timing of their employment, being the year end, I have to plan their time well as a lot of projects are either completed or pushed to the new year. I shouldn’t allow the both of them to just twiddle their thumbs in the office, painting a false picture of the work environment. Nor can I have them surfing the internet, on YouTube or whatever, doing unproductive computer activity. Both are, after all, on the payroll by the hour.

So cleaning the store room was apt.
Store1
Store2

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The Bags are Packed!

4 Dec

M1’s SPM exam is finally over. Yesterday was the last of it. Phew! It’s been exactly a month and frankly, I would have died enduring the length of the exam. Thank goodness she prevailed and we all survived. To celebrate the end of it, we are all going away for a much deserved holiday! So the bags are packed, we are ready, come tomorrow, off we go!

I can’t wait. Whee…

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Goodbye Forever

24 Nov

So I kept to my word and handed over to M2 the iPhone4, which amazingly has been still surviving well without battery issues after I upgraded to the iPhone5S. Hubby even upgraded the SIM card and had the old mobile number reactivated for use. Like a giddy child on Christmas morning, M2 began customizing my old iPhone4 to her liking.

The ‘Angie’s iPhone’ ID has been renamed to reflect her ownership. The layout of the pages have been moved around with most of my stuff either filed away or deleted. Slowly, my presence on the phone was reduced and her preference put in.

I guess this is really goodbye forever to my old iPhone4. No more relying on it for my Farm Heroes! Oh no. But thank goodness for the latest update of it on the iPad, the game is now more stable.

Old as it may be to me, the iPhone4 is a new phone for M2, a new beginning. Goodbye iPhone4, be good to M2 and serve your new owner well.

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Almost There, Part 2

21 Nov

M2 called me the minute she got home yesterday. I could hear the frustration and agony in her voice when she told me the remaining results and the final average mark, 73. No further improvements from the last count and one short from achieving the 74 mark set.

Ouch. The almost there is not quite there. So near yet so far.

In my mind, I recalled the hubby reminding me to be objective and to look at the bigger picture of things. It shouldn’t be that small failure that determines the situation.

I talked to her while in my mind, I was analyzing the bigger picture and realized that M2 did study hard. Only one subject came in with a horrifying result, a plunge from a ‘B’ to a disastrous ‘D’! The other subjects saw an overall improvement and an increase in total marks. For this improvement, how can I fault her and say she did not study and try her best? A bit unfair, no?

So rather than focusing on the near miss of the 74 average for all, I relooked at the qualifying factor and adjusted it so that M2 can have a sense of achievement. After all, our intention is purely to motivate with reward and not punish with frustration.

I decided then to give a probational reward (the right to use the iPhone4) because the fact is evident that there was an improvement and we should not ignore this effort. Come next year, if she improves further on what she has achieved this time, the phone remains in her possession. But if there is a decline in the results, the phone comes back to me, hence the probational clause.

This is the best solution for now. I don’t feel mean, she feels relieved and happy and today, being the last day of school, it should end on a happy note.

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Almost There

20 Nov

Every child is different in their ability and strength. We should never compare in order to nurture and coax the child to grow in confidence. Having said that, it is evident that my M1 and M2 are different in their abilities. As far as studies are concerned, I never have to worry about one but the other, well, a lot of nurturing along the way. But we never compare.

While M1 is still facing her SPM exams, final year-end exams for M2 came and went. The target has been set again—just to push her a little—for her to achieve and have a sense of satisfaction. However, it is set slightly lower than before; she requested for this ‘magical’ number. I could not maintain nor raise it higher than the 80 mark, set for the mid-term earlier, because she and I both agreed it will never be achieved. So in order not to demoralize her, we agreed to set it at 74, an overall average for all the subjects.

I figured better to have something within reach to motivate her rather than something impossible then she will never try hard or taste success. She missed the mid-term mark by a mile and was very demoralized about it.

As it is, some results have come back earlier in the week; she had hits and misses and the average worked out to be 71. Then the next day, four more subjects came back and amazingly, the average went up to 73! Almost there…

But there are 5 more subjects to come back. Let’s just hope she achieves it and understands the meaning of hard work, perseverance and success. The reward: the long awaited inheritance of my old iPhone4.

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