Mothering Corner

Hubby plans to buy a pick up truck in Bangkok, and I told him upfront that I am not too keen to drive one there. Double parking is common in Bangkok but I don’t have the skills to park the truck nicely in a narrow space. I don’t want to hit other cars and get myself in any trouble when I can’t speak their language well!

However, it’s much safer to drive a truck since the traffic is pretty bad there. We came across a few road accidents when we were there, and one of the cars were badly wrenched. I think it’s impossible to be repaired and can only send to midwest auto recycling for better use!

So, I might lose my fun of driving around once I move to Bangkok. I wonder how long can I stand before asking hubby to get another car for me?

If I meet with my friends who have kids about my kids age, most of the time, we will talk about our kids development. I seldom worry about my children’s development as I use the general development guidelines and they meet the milestones most of the time. If I have any worries, I will talk to their paediatrician. But some parents are worried if their children have developmental delay, and besides reading more about this, it’s best to consult a paediatrician for a proper diagnose.

Every child develops his cognitive and physical skills at his own pace, so it’s not easy to compare one child to another one. As long as the parents are open and willing to talk to the doctor about this, there are ways to help the child who might be slow in developing some skills.

I really don’t understand how can our government changes their education plans every few years until I’m so confused with my children’s future. I personally think that it’s a good move to use English in science and maths, and when I was running my learning center, I taught the first batch who went for UPSR in bilingual papers. They did well, and in fact, there was one Malay boy who did well in these 2 subjects because he has always had a hard time reading the text in Chinese. He studied in a Chinese primary school but he couldn’t pick up like most Chinese kids.

Of course, some children will struggle with English but I don’t think we should go backward anymore. Thus, I really hope that the proposal is not going to be approved. I really feel like our children are losing out if we get back to our own mother tongue. The schools can still decide to teach in bilingual, but English is always a must.

I’m actually glad that my kids are not going to study in Malaysia and they will have a better learning advantage at international schools later. I really hate to see them being “pushed” around with the change of direction by our government.

My kids have always been well informed about our plan to move away but I’m not sure if they will be able to adapt well in a new environment.

For the first month, we plan to bring them to work with us as it’s more about setting up a new office and I am not too busy. It’s more like office furniture arrangement, looking for VoIP phone systems, and setting up a company website, so we can still cope with the kids at work. Once they are used to the new home, we will send them to the local preschool to learn Thai officially.

We hope to take every little step slowly instead of a drastic change. Kids need more time to adapt and I don’t want them to have culture shock later!

I felt sad hearing and reading about the news of Earthquake in Sichuan, I didn’t feel like blogging about it for days. Those pictures in the newspapers which dying children or dead people hit me emotionally, I felt like crying reading the news. There’s a piece of news that touches me the most, and I’ve just read it from NanYang this morning.

The rescue team managed to rescue a 3 or 4 month old baby girl who was nursing at her dead mother. Her mother must be worrying about her baby getting hungry, and she latched her on before her last breath. Even the rescue team members cried seeing the mother and baby, and the baby cried immediately when she’s being pulling away from her mother. Who won’t feel sad reading this news of a dying mother whose last thought is feeding her baby?

My kids have been having fever for 3 days but they are doing better now. It’s so worrying and tiring for any parents if their children are sick. I know that I shouldn’t be complaining a lot as comparing to the children and parents in Sichuan, what I’m going through is nothing.

Right now my kids are playing happily with their father outside the house, and that means they are almost recovered. It’s nice to see them getting back to their old selves instead of being tiring and grumpy for the past few days.

I think there are a lot of kids who are falling sick lately, so it’s best to be more careful about this. If your kid is not feeling well, let him stay at home and rest for a few days. Some schools are fully air-conditioned and it’s not good for a sick kid or other kids in the same class. Unless there’s an exam or anything important, home rest is the best.

I’m glad that tomorrow is a public holiday so that my boy can still rest for another day. He should be fit for school on Tuesday.

Hubby said that he won’t be able to hire me now, but I will still help him out with the new business. I’m not asking for any salary and why would a wife be asking from her husband who’s starting all over? LOL!

Nonetheless, I will still follow him to the office in Bangkok and our kids will come along for the first month. We have decided not to enroll them into preschool until they settle down. It’s a shocking experience to them, considering that we are planning to send them to a bilingual Thai preschool first. Our first priority is for our kids to pick up Thai fast since most of the local people only speak in Thai.

But my concern is how can we concentrate on our work when the kids are around? Thus, I have to plan their time well. There will be reading time, play time, snack time and “kacau papa” time through out the day. That means I have to prepare a simple schedule and things to bring along to the office. We are setting up a room as nursery so that they don’t be disturbing the other staffs and their daddy.

I thought of just watching over the kids at home, but hubby is not convinced about this. He said the kids will have more fun at the office instead of confining in the house all day long. He does have a point. Besides that, I can learn to juggle the kids and work just like other mothers. Maybe I need some time to get used to the transition from a SAHM to a working mother now, so let’s see how I can manage. At least it’s our own business and I’m not working in selling used cisco or anything else. So, it should be more flexible.

I might be blogging lesser start from next month, but if I need to rant, I still know where to go. LOL!

Mother’s Day is over but there is another celebration next month. I’m not sure if many of us celebrate Father’s Day, but I notice that most people around tend to pay more attention to Mother’s Day than Father’s Day. Maybe most Asian fathers are not as expressive as mothers, especially the older generation. However, I try my best to be there for both of my parents especially on their birthdays and these special days.

If I can afford it, I would love to give something nice to my dad. I stopped buying him presents since the day I quit my job and be a stay-at-home mother. If I can afford it, I hope that I can buy him an omega watch. His watch is a present from me many years ago, and it’s to change to a new one huh? I found a few nice ones from ViaLuxe, not I’m not sure how much they cost. Judging from Omega’s high quality and prestigious reputation, these watches can easily cost me 4 figures in RM, and that’s too expensive for me now. So, I don’t think I can buy one for my father in the near future, but maybe when our new business is doing well.

I like the new Omega Speedmaster 5-Counter Chronograph designed for Beijing Olympic Games 2008. It’s definitely a collectible item not to be missed. So, if you can afford one, check it out and maybe you can get one for your dad?

I finally saw my kids after 2 weeks and they were so glad to see hubby and me. They wanted to be carried by us once we arrived at the airport, and since then, they are so clingy to us! LOL! I know that they will continue to be as sticky as possible until they are convinced that we are back and not leaving again. We plan to bring the kids over on the next trip so I guess there won’t be another separation soon.

When we went to bed last night, my little gal wanted all of us to sleep in the same bed. It’s a bit cramp for all of us, but we still did it for her. She’s a bit confused with long separation from me since I’m always be there for her until recently where I need to fly to Bangkok more. But I think she will be fine after a few days, as usual.

I really admire those mothers who travel a lot and still manage to handle their kids well. I think my kids are not used to it yet, and so am I. Nonetheless, I’m glad to be back home now.

I asked hubby if there’s a Mother’s Day gift for me, on behalf of our kids who are still too young to buy anything by themselves. Hubby suggested that I wait for a few more years before thinking about getting a gift on Mother’s Day. How annoying! LOL! Actually, I wasn’t expecting much, but I’m curious to know if he will ever prepare one. I know that some fathers to prepare for their wives and I think it’s sweet.

Most of us are not hoping to get anything fancy, but of course, please don’t get anything like electrical products at best buy even if one can always find a best buy at www.buy.com. Just get something that will please a mother well.

So, what do you receive on Mother’s Day?