Mothering Corner

This school break is not as long as previous years and will only last a month. Thus, we are not engaging the kids in any summer camp, except for some weekend classes. You know, those piano and ballet lessons, which they have been engaging for a couple of years.

I feel that we don’t spend much time away with the kids during their holidays as both hubby and I have to work. Let’s just say that we are still trapped in the rat race. Furthermore, hubby is involving in a new biz soon, and there goes the budget for a nice vacation, Ocean Isle beach nc real estate and fancy shopping. Sigh…

Nevertheless, we shall make it up to the kids as much as possible whenever we can.

My kids are having their school break now, so I will hardly pack any bento for a month. Furthermore, it’s time to build up the biz for the month of May, and babysitting the kids at the same time at my work place. I shall need a lot of patience before I go nuts. LOL!

Luckily, the kids are older now and they can spend at least an hour doing their work before playing their gadgets or making noises at the office. As long as I schedule my web conferencing services and meetings well, they won’t be disturbing much.

Next week onwards, I will tag them along to my yoga class as well. Hopefully, they will let mommy go through the class for an hour.

I have a few errands to run today, and I have to get back to working seriously. It’s pretty slow this month due to Thai new year, so we must work harder for the remaining 2 weeks of April.

At the same time, I have some blogging assignments which are expiring soon. ~faint~

So I’m swallowing my ta pao lunch as fast as I can right now so that I can start running so errand out of the office. I have some banking to be done! Lets hope that there won’t be a long queue at the banks. Luckily most banks here have very efficient Help Desk Ticketing Software and system.

W arrived very late last night and my kids didn’t have enough sleep but they are at school now. Hubby insisted that they must go to school. I shall pick them up early.

I haven’t bought any insurance for my kids in Thailand, so we forked out on our own when they were hospitalized last year due to influenza A. Previously, we invested in a health and education plan for them but I canceled the policy after we moved to Bangkok. As much as the college plan might work in long run, but I felt it’s a big ripped off as we can’t use the hospitalization plan out of Malaysia.

Maybe I should find a new plan for them soon, something like  gerber. Both our kids are studying in private school, so the tuition fees can be a burden for us if we don’t plan well. On the other hand, college fees are not cheap either! I am interested to find out more about personal accident coverage too, even if my kids already have a simple plan from school.

But firstly, let us get back to our normal lives first. I can’t wait for the flood to be over.

For the past 2 years, I hardly “care’ about my kids’ school exams or tests as I feel that learning from play is more important. Furthermore, most of the school papers were written in Thai, unless the teachers informed me personally that there is an exam in the near future, I wouldn’t known much about it until it’s over. Let’s just say that I’m one of those very rare blur mothers who find out that her kids had just had an exam when the report cards are given out.

Anyway, things are different now. The new school is very organized where school calendar can be downloaded, and the class teacher set up Facebook account for class announcement. There is no way I can miss an important event at school now, if it’s written on FB by the English teacher. So, I’m fully aware that my boy is sitting for his first mid term exam in primary.

How is he going? I would say that he didn’t revise much especially since I can’t help him with Thai related subjects, but he should do fine in English, maths and science. After today’s history and social in Thai, he can totally relax at the TV or commercial playground.

Too bad his English teacher is leaving soon, and even if he’s only taught my boy for such short period of time, I must say that I’m pleased with him and my boy adores him a lot. Sigh… what a bad news.

Hopefully, the new replacement teacher will have such dedication.

I have been coughing for a month and it’s taking so long to heal from this cough. I haven’t see the doctor but I’m taking some Chinese medicine. Frankly, I hate the cough syrup which makes me drowsy, so I try not to take any unless it’s really bad. So, there is no worry about prescription drug abuse addiction in my case.

My kids have started coughing too, but I guess it’s due to the change of weather. It’s sunny and hot, but rains heavily occasionally. Furthermore, they are in air-conditioning most of the time at school, and their bodies are still trying to adjust to the new environment.

It’s time to brew some Chinese herbal drink.

I used to be a shopaholic, but I don’t have much time to shop lately. My mom even commented that my wardrobe hasn’t been improved must since the last time she came! Ooops…

Nonetheless, I still shop for my kids once in a while, especially my gal. She’s growing up so fast, and will probably outgrown her most of clothes and shoes in 6 months. As for my boy, he can’t be bothered much about clothes and shoes. He can survive with a couple of Ben 10 tees and jeans and his Crocs sandals. LOL! He’s just like his dad, who’s not interested in dressing up.

Since I don’t have much time for shopping, I shop online for my gal. There are a few stores which I found from Facebook, and I quite like their kids clothes. I would go for designs and quality, but most importantly, the shipping fee must be cheap to me. Most of the time, I will get the local stores to send the clothes to my home address back home and see if anyone can pick up and bring the clothes over to me in Bangkok. I know, it’s so complicated. LOL!

If I can’t wait, I would have to bear the slightly more expensive shipping fee. So, do you shop online? I bet most bento-ers shop for gadgets online. LOL!

The blog is back to normal. I must really thank my webmaster for helping out! Not forgetting the reader who told me about the problems I have on this blog, if not I will be totally clueless about the bug. Thanks ya!

Besides that, I would like to clarify that I don’t pack kyaraben everyday like most Japanese mothers. If you haven’t known it, I’m a working mother too, so I totally understand what most working mothers have to do in a normal daily routine, especially if you don’t have a domestic helper like me. Even if I pack plain looking normal (or even ugly) bentos, I don’t feel bad about it. It’s what we pack for our kids that matters the most. My kids can’t be bothered about cute little characters in their food if they are very hungry after school. But if there is something pretty in their meals, they will be very delighted. I would be happy to have my meal served in perfect food decoration too when I’m dining out. But that doesn’t mean I don’t eat roadside hawker food! LOL!

So, don’t feel bad about normal looking bentos. Even if we don’t pack and just give pocket money to our kids, they will still be doing fine. My boy is enjoying his “freedom” of purchasing junks everyday during recess. It’s part of growing up, and I can only do my part in telling him that too much junks won’t do him any good. It’s up to him to decide.

There is just so much that I can do in a day. So I can only do my best, and don’t feel bad about it. There are days when I had just had enough at work, I couldn’t even cook hubby a proper dinner. If I may, I would love to spend my days shopping, pampering myself at spas or window shopping at jewelry shops drooling over Semi mount diamond ring. But hey, it’s real life here, and me no tai tai ok? LOL! Occasionally, my kids were fed with ta pao food, and hubby and I just took instant noodles. So, don’t let my “pretty” bento photos “fool” you. LOL!

We are back to the normal busy routine as school starts today, at least for my boy who’s going to primary 1. He woke up by himself when the alarm clock rang, and got himself ready as fast as possible. He even managed to tie his own shoe laces now!

Both hubby and I (and meimei) sent him to school just now, as being the first day at school, we had to bring all his work books to the classroom and they are too heavy. Furthermore, we would like to see his new friends and how he’s coping with the new environment. He’s happy that he found 2 friends from his music school, and they introduced him to other kids too.

On the other hand ,my gal was a bit bored that her session only starts tomorrow, and she’s pretty grumpy that she can’t go into her classroom. After both kids are back to school tomorrow, I can really work in peace again. LOL! No more juggling kids and work in the same room for hours which stress myself to the max, and causes me adult acne. But then again, I am missing my boy now.

I didn’t give him any pocket money today as one parent told me it’s not needed since lunch and snacks are provided. But I saw some parents slipped THB60 into the kid’s pocket and I was wondering how much should I be giving my boy next time? The kids will only use the pocket money after school, I guess, and mostly for junks. Previous year, I gave THB10 – 20. I know that some of his ex schoolmates got THB100 per day, which I think it’s too much for kindergarten. I guess I will stick to only giving him pocket money on Fridays, but he requested that I give him everyday now. Mmm…

So, would you kindly share how much pocket money do you give to your primary school children? Thanks.

Our kids are attending their school orientation tomorrow, and both hubby and I will be there with them. I’m pretty sure that they will be fine without us, but since most parents will be there on orientation, it’s best that they have us around too. Besides that, I’m eager to find out those daily after school activities and will pick some for the kids. The bad mommy here can’t leave the office early, so I must try to extend their schooling hours.

Apparently, boy scout is compulsory for my boy so I hope that he will love the activities. Not sure if he will get custom lapel pins on his scarf over the first year, but I’m pretty sure that he will learn something new.

Most importantly, both kids must be able to wake up early for school tomorrow. We better don’t be late for their orientation!