Big sister’s quarantine journey

In an unfortunate event, the C+ is back. This time on Noelle. 😢😢😢

This is not unexpected as in this week itself, three classmates were confirmed positive; and they were the girls that she hang out with during recess, co-curriculum’s lunch’s and waiting time. So, Noelle’s the fourth student in her class this week.

Actually we suspected something amidst last night when she was lethargic and unlike her usual self. She slept at the isolation room, which she already planned to this long weekend (luckily). I kept checking on her before bed (she was already asleep). I felt her body warmish, but I didn’t bother to wake her up. I just let her sleep. At around 4am, she came to our room and told me that she couldn’t sleep. That was the time I told her to take the Covid19 test. The dreaded line almost immediately appeared once she put the droplets of saliva on the test kit. I quickly woke hubby up, we sanitise most touch points and get Noelle’s things ready. Etc…

When Nikki and Norrah woke, we tested on them. So far, it is negative and we really hope it will stay as it is. 🙏🏻

As of now, Noelle is her usual self. And being ‘Noelle’, she is usually active when she is supposed to sleep. She’s probably having an enjoyable time in the isolation room now as we supplied her with anything she needed and we allowed her to chat with her friends plus watch YouTube. One thing good is that she is pretty independent. She is still in positive spirit (which is vital now). Both sisters played clay art virtually with her just now. And I told her I will give her online tuition in the next few days. 😂

I just hope that it doesn’t spread across the household, especially to Norrah. 😞😞😞

Day 1 of quarantine

As of now, the ‘statistics’ for Noelle’s class stands at 6 positive cases in this week. 😓😓😓 (Noelle’s number 4)

If you think you won’t get Covid again after getting it, it proves wrong – as the case number 5 had her first Covid in Feb.

Despite we felt Noelle being warmish, the whole day she has been taking her own temperature – it has not reach 37.4. So, there’s no fever. She is almost asymptomatic for now (and we hope it will remain as it is). Besides nourishing her with home cooked and boiled drinks, we gave her vitamin C, probiotics and a lot of ‘love’. I even gave her Mimi snack and toblerone. 🙄🙄🤣🤣

Noelle has been very independent, non-fussy, non cranky and seems to enjoy her first day of quarantine. Her bff has been chatting/Google meet with her occasionally (really thankful to the bff’s mum for allowing this – she was also the one I broke the news to first, as Noelle eats with her bff and they get quite close). We are constantly on chat via Google chat (I installed on my phone so that she can contact me immediately if anything). Also, to call me, she just needs to click on her papa’s fb messenger to connect to mine.

I think only Nikki is feeling down that she can’t get near to jeh jeh. She actually wanted to help us bring food to Noelle, which we prohibited her and she cried. 😓 But, we let her prepare jeh jeh’s pyjamas.

We are also constantly monitoring both the younger ones and fed them the same goodies (except the junk food😛)

Thankfully it is the weekend, and a longer one. Hubby has been helping around.

get well soon my dear girl <<

Day 2 of Noelle’s quarantine

Still double line. Ok, as expected – don’t expect miracle to happen here. But thankfully, Noelle didn’t ‘suffer’ much but just slight flu. Her nose just ‘runs’ occasionally (seldom hear her sneeze); can see her wiping her nose very often. So, I made her her comfort drink – onion juice.

She woke up at about 5am, eagerly waiting for Nikki and Norrah to play air dry clay, which they did before hubby brought the two out to buy some stuff (detergent and vitamins). Also, with them two out, I forced Noelle to nap – which she eventually managed to nap for an hour plus.

After returning home and had lunch, they did art and craft virtually – hubby and the two just got the materials (design a bag) today. By then, hubby and I can’t wait to nap – so we push them to complete fast, told Nikki and Norrah to nap while we left Noelle alone to do her stuff (which I think she watched movie from laptop).

Hubby actually got her tealive and she ate fried rice for lunch. I thought she won’t ask for teatime, but she still did! 😅 After teatime, she did her tuition homework. She started writing her Covid diary, which I will read later. 🤣

Dinner as usual and she still take her usual fruits as night snack. 🤣 Good to see her continuing to eat like usual.

She didn’t really chat so much with her friends today as one (the one who also got Covid) went MIA and her bff was on her way to Desaru.

Hope she can sleep better tonight. Yesterday night, she said one of the neighbours was switching on the radio so loud that it affected her sleep.

Day 3 of Noelle’s quarantine

Boredom starts to creep in…🙄🙄🙄

Fortunately Noelle finally managed to sleep better, waking up at her usual 7 something (instead of 4-5am). But then, she can’t nap in the afternoon- lack of physical activity and hence she is full of energy. While she annoys me with some of her repeated messages/emoticons 😒🙄, I am also afraid of her mental health for these few days (after she stopped messaging me, I felt bad😣😔).

The girls started the day by playing playdoh, which took an hour or more. She had late morning snack but still able to take lunch before 1pm. (She is really making use of this ‘room service’, messaging me ‘hungryyyyy’ whenever she is hungry. 🙄🤣) After lunch, she was left alone to watch movie while the two other sisters played in the room themselves. Noelle managed to chat with her friends but short moments only.

I insisted her to shut the laptop at naptime – to rest her mind and eyes. Both Noelle and Nikki didn’t nap so we asked if they wanted to chat with one another; and so they did. Later on, she reminded me that I supposed to do virtual tuition with her. 🙄I was lazy but she kept bugging; so at the end, we did. We did maths today.

She still has slight runny nose and occasional cough. I continued giving her steamed onion juice, vitamin c, probiotics and fruits. She gets to enjoy some junk food (which she doesn’t get to eat/drink during healthy days😝). She never complain about the food I gave her; in fact she complimented tonight’s dinner. 😍🥰😘

I think she has been good in taking care of herself at age below 10 years old! Today I really felt like hugging and kissing her! 😔😔😔

I have to say that I needed more help in handling the virtual class than her. 🥲🥲

Day 4 of Noelle’s quarantine

Getting used to it…

Today I felt that Noelle is getting used to being quarantine. 🤣🤣 But she did tell me she misses seeing the sun and outdoor. She looks better too – lesser flu and cough (I feel)

Since hubby is working today (work from home because he can’t go office when someone is positive Covid19 at home), I am the CEO – chief ENTERTAINMENT officer. 🙄🙄🤣🤣 Luckily I managed to ‘korek’ a wau painting which I bought last year and they didn’t want to do that time. They enjoyed doing it today, which took them more than an hour and occupied them in the morning. 😊😅 After that, I taught Noelle how to play minesweeper. Before and after lunch, the two sisters played themselves while Noelle enjoyed her ‘me time’ with games and watching videos.

I put the two sisters to nap at 2pm and told Noelle to rest too. As expected, by 2.45pm when I peep on her, she wasn’t napping. So I told her to do her stuff and I gave her teatime. At around 430pm, we did tuition, which occupied us until dinner time. The same routine again – shower, clean up, night snack and virtual play/chat with her sisters.

And that’s our day!

it is the fifth day since Nikki’s last contact with Noelle. And we tested her – thankfully it is NEGATIVE. Tomorrow, Nikki will be able to go to school! So tomorrow, I will add my duty as a chauffeur.

Day 5 of Noelle’s quarantine

Slightly emo 😞

Noelle woke up later than usual. I was told because of the loud music and people talking loudly at wee hours that disturbed her sleep. I told her that if it has happened again, just scream ‘QUIET’ at the window. As a result of lack of sleep, I think she became slightly emo especially since Nikki went school, she thought of her friends and also she missing co-curriculum activities this afternoon. I then promised her to play badminton this weekend.

She has been ‘strong’ emotionally in the past few days. So, I really hope she can get through these two more days. And I know SHE CAN! Noelle, you can do it! 😘😘😘

She is better after her afternoon nap. Yes, she finally napped a longer one, more than an hour, I think.

I did revision with her in the morning, gave her some work that we then discussed in the evening. Her papa downloaded some games that interest them (but not get them addicted – my criteria set). 🤣

I would go tuition with Nikki soon. So, the night entertainment will be left to the papa! 😝😝

Day 6 of Noelle’s quarantine

Light in the tunnel

This morning she took the test and told us she was confused of the result. So, we told her to put on the stool and we will go closer to look. Gratefully, it was a negative. That gave her good spirit today and determined to complete her 7 days quarantine. 😊

And today she was pretty busy. One of her friends’ mum shared some homework and so she did them. She also did her artwork. She also had her usual virtual mandarin tuition this afternoon. I allowed her to come out of the isolation room to the laundry area to do the art. I also allowed her to skip nap today (so that she can sleep better at night; this morning she woke at 830am). Because of her work, I was also pretty busy – helped her get the art stuff (but she cleaned up herself) and she needed some help with her homework (besides all the daily chores, cooking and chauffeuring Nikki). I also took the opportunity to ask her give me her ‘contaminated’ Amber to wash, changed the bedsheet and washed everything else she used in the past few days.

I am thankful that this is coming to an end. Next, we will need to bring her to a doctor for a check up.

Day 7 of Noelle’s quarantine

The end of quarantine!

Today hubby went to office and hence, for the first time, Noelle was home alone when Norrah and I went to pick Nikki from school. Hubby kept her in chat when I drove to school, while Nikki video-called Noelle when I drove home. So, she wasn’t entirely ‘alone’. I also told her to take her first stepping out of her isolation room and laundry area. She did as told and she told me ‘it was AWESOME!’ 🤣🤣

While driving home, Nikki was ‘complaining’ that jeh jeh was going crazy during the video call. Then I told her – ‘jeh jeh has been stuck in a room with four walls and only allowed to go to toilet for the past 7 days’, and asked Nikki – ‘will you go crazy if you were the same?’ 🙄🤣 She immediately nodded but added ‘but I don’t see papa went crazy during quarantine!🙄🙄’ 😓😓

All three of them took a very long nap today (I didn’t bother to wake them up). They slept till 530pm. Noelle took the Covid test again to reconfirm the negative. And the first thing she wanted to do was swim. So, we went for a late swim! 🤣 The sisters also missed her a lot. They enjoyed so much today. Even Norrah who wanted to cry (because when she is last, she will cry) didn’t cry. 😅

We told her to eat dinner with us but she wanted to eat in the isolation room. 🙄🙄 I told her that would be the last meal served there. 🤣🤣 And tonight, she comes out to play with her sisters. But she will still sleep in the isolation room.

And this ends my Noelle’s quarantine journal. We can’t avoid the virus entirely; but we have successfully stopped it from transmitting to the household. I mark that as our success story.

Video: https://youtu.be/DHzpUibJ4D8

I survived the 7 days

I survived the 7 days….as the sole caretaker for three kids AND a Covid19 patient! 🙄🥲🤣

On Friday evening, hubby came back from home having chill and headache (the first symptom was exactly same as his first dose vaccine). He immediately stayed apart and took the Covid19 test. He was tested positive with faint second lines (he didn’t believe his eyes, tested twice). He immediately quarantined himself from everyone at home in our dedicated isolated room. On the next day, it was a clear double line. The rest is history…

> Keeping everyone safe. Though some said that getting Covid19 can boost later immunity (and don’t have to be worried about getting infected later on), sorry…I am not ready for myself and my kids to get it (intentionally). I am really fearful for Norrah as she isn’t vaccinated yet. In the week, I feel ‘staying at home’ wasn’t any safer anymore. 🤣 Luckily….hubby was away the past few days/nights before he was tested positive. He likely got it either from workplace, dining place with colleagues or the hospital which he was frequenting for physiotherapy. Or, he went somewhere without telling me?? 😒🙄(It is most likely the hospital because none of his colleagues got it.) He has hand eczema and never uses hand sanitizer (and sometimes don’t bother wiping or washing hands properly). I couldn’t pinpoint/blame this but it served as a reminder to the kids. 😛

We have minimal exposure to him during the week (except he kissed me 😒😒and luckily Norrah pushed him away whenever he wants to kiss her). We have earlier prepared the isolated room. So he quarantined immediately. We designated the outside toilet for his personal use. We put a barricade over the area. Hubby only came out to take his meals/ water/ his clothes/test kits which were placed on a stool. Everyone wears a mask in the living hall despite hubby’s in the isolated room. I kept the whole unit ventilated – keeping the wooden open at all times. Even when we slept, I kept a window (beside me) opened. Our greatest fear was passing the virus in the household. Fortunately, we PASSED!

> Keeping positive….hubby already tested positive; and we have to remain positive. We have to put up a positive front for the kids. I remained calm emotionally (almost emotionless🙄🙄) and I think hubby put up a brave front despite suffering from headache and sore throat. I told the kids that when someone falls sick, they would be particularly ‘down’. So, they have been diligently putting notes on his meals. They video called every night (despite just a room). He kept them entertained at night via the calls while I finished up the loads I have in a day. We kept each other hopeful in the week.

> Caring for the patient – hubby is not fussy at all. He eats and drinks whatever I prepared and cooked until he felt so bloated! 🤣I poured boiling water on all his used containers/bottles/utensils before I wash them. I used a separate sponge in hot soapy water. And when it is done washing, I poured hot water over them again. 🤣 His laundry – he placed them into a plastic bag. After two days, he will wash it in the washing machine and hang them himself (since washing machine just next to the isolated room). I just bring his clothes out to dry under the sun. And I tub wash the washing machine with bleach each time after wash. I only entered the toilet he was using to change mop water. He sprayed the toilet with dettol each time after use and I will sanitise each time before I ever use it. We try to avoid talking to each other face to face but via WhatsApp (anyway I got like 15-30 min sit down time every night). I read that the virus cannot last more than 72 hours on surface. So whatever it is now out of the isolated room is considered ‘ok’ as he never stepped out more than the enclosed area. I have ‘sanitised’ most of the touch points.

> Covid19 patient…I know he was feeling ‘guilty’ – kept saying sorry to me. 🙄🙄 I think he might fear I ‘disown’ him if anyone of us get the virus from him. Last year, we did joked that I will send him back to his mummy if he ever gets Covid19. 🫢🤣He was ‘positive’ that he will recover in 4 days but the persistent second line (though faded) kept showing. Then I felt he started to get ‘negative’. He said that staying in four walls can really get crazy. 🙄🙄 Then we joked about how he can now enjoy his phone, games and books without me nagging. He need not iron the clothes and vacuum the floor daily. And Noelle even commented that he was getting room service from me. 🙄🤣 Then I told him next time don’t send me flowers anymore because it seems like a SCAM to do more work. 🙄🤣 (he got positive Covid after sending me flowers in the afternoon 😒)He fear that he might get long Covid19. I told him ‘does worry help?’ 😛 This coming from someone who worries a lot. (If I am sarcastic, I will be ‘if you know today, why last time’ – translated from canto). During office hours, he continued to work, which kept him occupied. At night, he video called the girls. Other time, I am not pretty sure what he did! 🙄🤣 (I wonder if I am in quarantine, what can I do? He says maybe I will draw and paint murals in the isolated room’s wall 😂) He told me to get Lianhua Qingwen for him on Day 1 and I got him many other soothing sweets including Difflam. He had panadols on first few days.

> The kids…I try not to change their routine; just that Norrah has to follow me anywhere including school drop offs. She happily wake up early and prepare; but on the third day of school, I can see her tiredness already. I was so fearful she will fall sick. Nothing else change – we still arrive at school on time despite only having one toilet to use and the consistent morning rains. I woke them up almost the same time. The kids have been obedient and understanding; but they still get scolding from me when I was overwhelmed. 🙄 We were on our evening swimming routine and our homework session. They were always waiting for their evening video calls session with their papa (because they can play games🙄). I put them to bed 15 minutes earlier than usual. Four of us slept flip sides of the bed – head facing feet. No kissy for the week (and we dearly miss that). I continuously asked them to sanitise hand and keep mask on especially in the dining area next to the isolated room.

> Keeping my sanity – I kept myself busy with work so that time can pass fast, which it did. I told no one except KNS because I didn’t want unsolicited advice/help. 🙄🙄 And I know KNS trust that I can do it myself. I don’t want to trouble people too (I do what I can do myself) and I don’t want to be occupied with the phone messages when I was already busy. I wrote things down (THIS) to free up my mind. I cooked things that I want to eat. I kept my vitamin intake ongoing (actually just added soluble vitamin c drink; I don’t take vitamins per say except from natural food). The kids have been tolerant to me – that I told them to give me some time off, and they did.

…

As of today, Dr Noor Hisham (via MySejahtera) has actually released hubby’s quarantine. But I chose to keep hubby in the isolated room for another day. 🤣🤣 There’s much to do when he comes out tomorrow…..

Hopefully this is the end of the chapter!

….

Meals plan

Day 1

Breakfast: Kaya toast + guava + honey lemon

Lunch: Fried rice + loh hon guo

Teatime: Apple + soluble vitamin C drink

Dinner: Noodle soup with meatballs and egg +loh hon guo

Supper: Honey lemon + vegetable cracker + rice cracker

Day 2

Breakfast: Char siu pau + dragon fruit + honeydew + honey lemon

Lunch: Basmati rice + chicken soup + blanched broccoli + boiled sugar cane

Teatime: Apple + watermelon + dragon fruit + boiled sugar cane + soluble vitamin C drink

Dinner: Chicken soup noodles + blanched broccoli + tofu + boiled sugar cane

Supper: Honey lemon + Chocolate cream biscuit

Day 3

Breakfast: Ham and egg sandwich + apple + dragon fruit + honey lemon

Lunch: Salmon macaroni + loh hon guo + honey lemon

Teatime: Apple + honeydew + watermelon + loh hon guo + soluble vitamin C drink

Dinner: Basmathi rice + steamed fish with tofu + blanched Yau mak with fish cake and shiitake mushroom + loh hon guo

Extra drink: coconut water + loh hon guo

(No need supper because he was bloated by the drinks I gave him 🤣)

Day 4

Breakfast: Toast with tuna cutlet + banana + honeydew + watermelon + barley lemon

Lunch: Spaghetti with baked beans and minced pork + boiled roselle + barley lemon

Teatime: Orange + watermelon + apple + boiled roselle + soluble vitamin c drink

Dinner: Basmathi rice + blanched lettuce and mushroom in soup + honey lemon

Extra drink: Barley lemon

Day 5

Breakfast: Tau sar pau + sun melon + watermelon + boiled sugar cane

Lunch: Korean sweet potato noodles + honey lemon

Teatime: Dragon fruit + apple +soluble vitamin c drink

Dinner: Onion rice + air fried bbq chicken + vegetables and tofu soup + honey lemon

Extra drink: Boiled sugar cane

Day 6

Breakfast: Toast ham bread + apple + guava + chrysanthemum tea

Lunch: Braised yee mee + honey lemon

Teatime: Guava + dragon fruit + soluble vitamin c drink

Dinner: Basmathi rice + fried Ikan kembung + sweet peas, Yau mak, egg tofu and fish cake soup

Extra drink: chrysanthemum tea

Day 7

Breakfast: Toast bread + half boiled eggs + apple + sun melon + barley

Lunch: Fried Taiwanese sausage rice + honey lemon

Teatime: Pineapple + watermelon + soluble vitamin C drink

Dinner: Ramen soup with fishballs, egg and veggie + honey lemon

Extra drink: Boiled barley

Video: https://youtube.com/shorts/iPDsbIEHcmg?feature=share

Winning a trolley load of books

We woke up today with a surprise inbox message that we won a trolley full of books from Big Bad Wolf Books! 😅😅😅

The setback was we have to ’retrieve’ the prize from Seremban TODAY. Initially, I hesitated. 🙄🙄 But after a morning swim, I made up the mind to go! 🥲😬🤣 since hubby said just 45 minutes drive!

I can go myself but they wanted to follow 😛

And so we were here AGAIN!

We actually took an hour to wipe and arranged the books (plus I climbed very high to take the picture) on Friday for the entry. I told Noelle it was worth the effort! 😬

these are old books but old books don’t deteriorate in the knowledge/value they give! 🙂

Thank you BBW!

Photos: https://youtu.be/0R_Y_K_fAAw

Today supposed to be a day to chill before school resume tomorrow. I woke up at 5am, thinking of so many things to do – including weekly groceries. Luckily I managed to wash one washroom before I read the winning message.

I even thought of giving away my win – trying to figure out who stays in Seremban and even thinking of asking hubby’s buddy if he is in Seremban. 🤣 The 30 minutes swim made me ‘think clearer’. And so we went.

Half way the journey, I realised that I didn’t bring my wallet. 🫣 I thought it was in my bag but it wasn’t. Then my mind went to think – did I drop my wallet yesterday? So freaking stress 🙄🥲🤣 It was like – I want to go collect my prize now and I want to go home to see if my wallet is there. (When I am stressed up, they will get snapped by me. 🫢🫣) Next, I was thinking if BBW need my Mykad. Hubby said he has my soft copy’s. (But at the end, they just look at my facebook messenger 🤣).

We arrived early and had our brunch at ‘Yi Poh’. Then since it is in Lotus Seremban, we did our weekly groceries first. I was also thinking if the message is a ‘scam’ because it was sent from a personal account and the person hasn’t reply me. So, I went and asked the staff to confirm. 🤣

After doing groceries, we were still early. I asked if we can start the haul earlier since we were coming from PJ. Luckily they agreed. We took 1.5 hours to settle the haul. I sweated so much there. 😅

We drove home immediately. I told hubby to settle the kids to nap after their shower (around 2sth) while I get the groceries done and prepared dinner (so I just took down frozen satay to air fry and decided on fried tomato rice). A total relief to find my wallet at home! 🫣🤣

By 4pm, I was finally done with the kitchen stuff. Since hubby is having backache🙄🙄, I went down to carry all the books – three big IKEA bags. Thanks to my faithful grocery trolley, I just needed two rounds. Next, it was wiping each book, which took me about an hour. In between, I told them to settle their Mandarin tuition homework and packing their school bags. (I woke the two elder ones up)

I had a 20 minutes break before started cooking dinner. We had our dinner early and finally settled by 715pm.

I think I will drop on the bed soon! 🤣🤣

But I am thankful for a ‘lifetime’ experience and hopefully a childhood memory for the kids – that we actually did a winning trolley of books together! 😚

….

Our winning entry: https://www.facebook.com/1618058788/posts/10223821723043849/

Understanding kids

Today we brought them to Decalthon (again) as we have few things to buy.

Noelle needed a new slipper as she outgrew hers AGAIN. 🙄🙄 She chose one plain coloured one (blue) and I told her to get the biggest size available there (just one size bigger than her current size). 🤣🤣 Then she saw another pair with patterns. Initially she thought of changing her mind to getting the patterned one. But after seeing the price difference of RM10, she retained her decision to choose the plain coloured one. ☺️☺️☺️ She even said that anyhow she will be wearing the slipper for short trips to the swimming pool or condo area.

Besides Noelle’s slipper, we got Norrah a replacement arm float as hers punctured. Nikki has nothing necessary. Despite both sisters had something new, Nikki didn’t request for anything. ☺️☺️☺️

Sometimes I think we are blessed to have very understanding kids, who help us keep on our budget. 😉

Being the eldest at home

Things that I would like to remind Noelle (which I already told her):

Do not be a ‘bully’ because you are ‘academically more advantaged’ especially by age/experience. When your sisters need help, for example, using the computer, make yourself available to help and not ‘tease’ them for not being able to handle it (at the moment). You are ‘smarter’ now because you have more hands-on than them; and it doesn’t mean that you will be better than them forever. Helping them will not make you lose out but you can increase your own skills. You have also learn this in your Moral studies on how you should help your friends when they are in need and so this applies to your own sisters too.

(I am talking from experience on how I ‘hated’ being disadvantaged because of selfish person who didn’t want to help out even though he could, in fear of others getting better than him)

You are given a lot of free time in a day to do things that you enjoy. If compared to many others, you are ‘lucky’ that we don’t send you to many tuitions (except for Mandarin) as we don’t want you to lockdown your own time and our family time. Having said that, it means that when it is time to be serious in academic/studies, please do so. Doing your best is more important than results. So, as long as you have done your best, nothing else matters. Make learning an enjoyable experience.

We have entrusted to you many things. And hope you will continue to be a reliable person. 😘😘😘

Goodbye 2021!

It’s the time of the year when most people wrap up THE year.

As I penned this down, I have to admit that in 2021, I’m emotional and exhausted. I feel like a bad mum because I am not enjoying responsibility. Most times, I feel I am exhausted from the cleaning, cooking and being needed. I’m tired of being asked questions. At times, I feel like I’m dying for a real break from life for being a mom, from being needed. I feel very alone (fortunately I never break any friendship this year). I’m easily flustered and frustrated. I don’t have much time to self-care and get to know myself. I focus on the girls and sometimes I get ignored by them. I feel under appreciated. I feel envy of people ‘enjoying life’ while riding ON the things I do. I am tired of people who think they did so much but much is just for themselves. But, I hope all these are JUST misconstructed feeling.

Gratefully, there are things and people who often pull me out. Thanks for remembering my kids and me when we don’t even stay connected on day/week/month to day/week/month basis.

As we end the year, I hope for a happier me. And you too!

Happy New Year!

…..

It’s 31 December and so it is also time to mark down their reading list! This is the third consecutive years we do it – reading aloud one book a day (at least).

This year, Noelle has clocked in 530 books for the year. There is a massive increase as she also started included reading aloud a BM story book a day as the year went by. In addition to that, she read at least 48 long story books (she only started recording this in June, imitating her papa).

Also in 2021, Nikki joined the ‘party’. She read aloud 336 books (this also mean we read THAT many books with her).

This is not a reading competition but to cultivate good reading habits.

Good job to the girls!

Norrah, are you joining next year? 🤣

Reading list:https://youtu.be/MKFB3n-hqr0

Happy 9th year of motherhood!

On this day, 9 years ago, we went for our routine check up at the Gynae. We were caught by surprise that I need to undergo emergency c-sec because of irregular heartbeat. We didn’t choose ‘29 Dec 2012’ as THE day and we were practically ‘unready’ mentally for Noelle’s arrival.

3 years later (or 6 years ago), we actually chose THIS date eventually (29 Dec 2015) – because we HAD to be ready for Nikki since no one could look after Noelle (except hubby) and hubby (being an accountant) has books to close which means he just can’t go on leave as he wish. Despite being ready, I had to face the c-sec myself. What were unexpected is a 3-hours complication.

Fast forward today, we enter 9 years of parenthood. There are countless and priceless experiences as parents – sweet and sour, obstacles, etc. As we are walking away from ‘babyhood’ and stepping into pre-teen years, we got to admit the challenges are different. It will be another whole new experience.

In the year, I think I have become more like their ‘teacher’ than their ‘mother’. 🥲 I have to admit 2021 may not be my best motherhood year. My temper is ‘hotter’ and I became more naggy compared to all those years (so much so that when they get into ‘trouble’, they rather ask for help from their papa than me). At times, they (especially the elder two) will turn their deaf ears on me. Nevertheless, they are still very forgiving and I can still feel their love towards me.

I am not a perfect mum; but I will always try my best. There are times when I am just frustrated with myself than them; and they are not wrong in any sense.

Looking forward, I wish to improve on managing my own emotions to help me better respond to them. I wish to continue to have a good relationship with the girls and be their confidant.

Happy 9th year of motherhood to myself.

…..

Happy 9th birthday to Noelle and Happy 6th birthday to Nikki!

Hope both of you will enjoy the ‘programme’ of the day!

We brought them out for lunch at Sushi Zanmai.

our second dine-in in 2021, and surely the last for the year 🤣🤣 because papa is going office on the next two days 🙄🙄

Photos: https://youtu.be/fgqfemnhLa0

Chocolate brownies tower and chocolate moist cake

Plus waffle ice cream for breakfast

I baked two ‘cakes’ (besides the different choices of cakes by the two sisters, it is also just in case one of them fail 🤭🙄🤣; if two also fail, plan C – go buy😛). I started baking the afternoon/ evening before.

I cut and decorated the brownies tower in the morning while I let them deco the chocolate moist cake themselves (part of the birthday programme 😂). My chocolate ganache failed after I put it back into the fridge after I whipped it. It hardens. 🥲🤣 We settled just with some minimal deco.

I woke up in the wee hours (two nights consecutively) to DIY from scratch and set up the minimal decorations.

Photos: https://youtube.com/shorts/X44sprsDPpM?feature=share

This year, Noelle and Nikki prepared a little note and gift for everyone else (who is not celebrating birthday today and ‘attend’ their party). 🤣🤣🤣

Papa was in charge to write them a note on their birthday gifts too.

I prepared ‘door gift’ for them three 🤣🤣so that Norrah doesn’t feel left out. She is much more accepting this year that she ain’t receiving a birthday gift because it isn’t her birthday. Only when I took out Aunty Rachel Ong’s pressies for the jeh jehs (which she gave far back in August 🙄🤣), Norrah did pondered and asked me ‘how about me?’. I explained to her that during August, she received hers (which is THAT thing) in which her jeh jehs didn’t receive any that time. She nodded and agreed. Oh, my baby girl has grown up! 😘

Consumer lesson for the kids

After two years of not buying anything physically (the kids), time to teach them some consumer lesson, I.e. being street smart. Noelle has got money from her savings from school allowance. She decides to take RM10 out while papa gave both Norrah and Nikki RM10 respectively (since they both are not given allowance).

We brought them to Eco Shop and also Mr DIY (at Citta Mall, since it is an open mall), where they can buy anything they want within their budget.

Both Nikki and Norrah bought 4 items each at Eco Shop leaving them left RM1.20 each. Noelle was able to resist more; she only bought two items, leaving her more money for Mr DIY.

On our way to Mr DIY, there was this claw machine which attracted them. It was RM1 per game. It means Nikki and Norrah can only play once if they wanted to while Noelle has more play. But if they choose to play, they might not have any money left for Mr DIY. Noelle was intelligent to suggest we go to Mr DIY first.

At Mr DIY, both Nikki and Norrah chose two pencils that cost RM1. So they ended up with 20 sen each and hence, they have no chance to play claw machine. 🤣 Noelle chose two items and still leaves her with more than RM3, which meant that she can play 3 games.

It was fun doing this ‘lesson’, where they got to make strategic decision. 🤣🤣🤣 They also agreed that it was fun!

Photos: https://youtu.be/2dxwzzJhkkY

Trying luck at the claw machine: https://youtu.be/t3O6S8FCEBo

They say they had one of the bestest morning! 🙄🙄 Beside getting to (window) shop and playing claw machine, they get to eat McDonald’s sundae and did Christmas cupcake decoration. Papa ended the trip by buying them Baskin Robbins! 🤣

Photo: https://youtu.be/0Io8VbCRAyE

……..

Today’s spending activity, I realised that the papa is the ‘Angel ’ who will ask them ‘you want this or not?’ 🙄🙄 while I am the ‘devil’ who will ask ‘you sure you want this?’ 🙄🙄🤣🤣 He says he wants to test their temptation. 🙄🙄 While I think I don’t want to regret buying something which at the end they don’t really want.

But we stick to our pre-agreeed principle that we are not going to top up for them. 😂😂

Hopefully, they learn and understand about ‘trade offs’. Noelle was telling Nikki that she gets to play the claw machine. Then I told her, while she gets to play, Nikki and Norrah end up with more items. She agreed with that – it is a trade off of feeling (joy/excitement) over materials. And it is a game of probability that she might get a reward from that chance.

This is basic money 101, which is age-appropriate for them. I think it is really important for them to learn this early (because they are not born with silver spoons🙄😛😂) and I always wish I learn this early too.

They have been doing well with delay gratification, so far, at their age. They won’t ask for anything for no reason, unless it is a need. Similarly, we only buy stuff based on our needs (ya, I have many Shopee packages but those are needs, ok? 🤣😛). Despite Noelle doing well in her assessments, she didn’t ask for any rewards.

When they have this foundation, we can then move on to investing 101.

I know there are people who talk about their kids being investing savvy and talking about technicals at the early age of 8/9 years old, I would say either their kids are super genius or they are total bullshit (you know who you are ya. Siapa makan cili, dia rasa pedas🙏🏻) We still wish our kids progress at their current rate as they won’t miss out their childhood.

Our 10th wedding anniversary

It was our wedding day a DECADE ago.

A decade equivalent to 10 years of really living together and building a family. It is a long journey with joy and of course sorrow as well for two person with similarities cum differences. To be frank, I am NOT an easy person to be with. 🙄😛 And, he has a lot of habits that pisses me off. 🤣

A lot of things have changed over the years. But what binds us together besides our kids are our tolerance with one another (ok, I have to admit lately he tolerates me more than I do🙄🙄).

It is not the number of times/hours that he allocate for our ‘we time’ (which is practically nil🤣), but the time he chooses to be around us (our kids and I) than doing his self-interest stuff/hobbies. And that matters to me more than ‘we time’. Because – he knows that we have no one to trust with our kids and I can’t go having ‘we time’ with peace without kids attaching along.

Referring to my FB memories, in the past few years, there wasn’t much mentioned about wedding anniversaries but this year worth the mention as – much was planned than expected. 🤭😛🤣

Thank you for the ‘Happy Bunch’ vegetables prank yesterday, the gift this morning, our first outdoor dine-in lunch just now and later’s dinner😋.

Happy 10th wedding anniversary, lao gong! 😛🤣

>> Photos: https://youtube.com/shorts/S4vMNxGgy5E?feature=share

Our FIRST dine-in in 2021 (and probably the last too🤣), after more than a year plus

(Last dine in: 17.08.2020)

To satisfy mummy’s criteria outdoor dining: Jibby in the Park 😂

Photo – People comes before food 😛

Re-visited Rabbit Fun Land

The last we came here was 9 Sept 2018 (as per facebook’s memory)! 🤣 Three years back, we paid RM32 for everyone’s entry. Today we paid RM60 for 5 persons (RM12 per person – above 2 years old). We bought food from the farm too to feed the pets. No outside food for the pets allowed; reasonably said that it might cause problems to their animals. (I actually checked with them before coming).

Since it was 3 years ago, the kids have vague memory about it. Moreover, the farm has changed too. They used to have an enclosure where rabbits run freely; now they don’t. All animals except some goats are kept in cage. The kids love the rabbits and deers most. The goats are hungry and ‘scary’ to them! 🤣 They have other farm animals such as ostriches, peacocks, cows, goose and ponies.

Their cafe has also renovated and served ‘fresh’ food (as they are promoting). We were still with our no dine-in policy; so we had our picnic in car after our farm visit. The farm ensure a policy of mask on and visitors must be vaccinated. The farm is quite big. They have a play area – but our kids know that they weren’t allowed to play there (by mummy😛) at the moment.

It was an hour drive from our place; but no fuss by the kids. They were happy with the journey and the morning in the farm. We spent 2 hours there!

Video: https://youtu.be/U-QqfrFKJ2o