Preloved Graco High Chair for sale

I'm slowly clearing off all the baby stuff in the house. Feels good to declutter, so that we can have more space at home :)

Much loved Graco High Chair for sale. Condition 8/10. Seat color is a bit faded. Cute print.Very comfortable. Reason for selling - BabyD no longer needs it.


Price: RM170

Features :-
- European Safety Standard EN Compliant
- Easy cleanable and washable padded seat
- Super light
- Ultra compact and easy folding system (only 10cm when folded)
- At the back rest, there are 2 slots to adjust the height of the harness
- 5 points security harness
- 3 positions removable and adjustable tray
- 2 positions adjustable footrest
- torage basket located underneath the seat

Suitable for use from 6 months up to 15kg.

Preloved Graco Pack 'n Play for sale

Preloved Playpen for Sale:  Graco Pack & Play with Bassinet  for sale 
Selling price:  RM190 (Bought at RM380)
Still in very good condition. Selling because BabyD is now able to climb out of the playpen. A very much loved product because it was very convenient and easy to use.

SOLD

 

Durable frame makes this playard ideal for travel

Automatically folding feet and wheels allow for a more compact fold

Signature Graco® push-button fold makes closing your playard quick and hassle-free

Handy wheels for added convenience

Airy mesh on all sides for maximum ventilation

Convenient carrying bag for no-fuss travel and storage

- See more at: http://www.gracobaby.com/products/pages/productdetails.aspx?ProductID=9G01SFR#sthash.kGBtKxmA.E86Ha3vV.dpuf

 Features

• Ideal for traveling, comes with a convenient traveling bag 
• Comes with a bassinet
• The folding feet and wheels make this Pack n Play easy to carry as well as give it a more compact fold 

Can view more from the link here:
http://www.gracobaby.com/products/pages/productdetails.aspx?ProductID=9G01SFR#sthash.kGBtKxmA.E86Ha3vV.dpbs

Weight: 22.9 lbs
Height: 29"
Width: 28.5"
Length: 40" - See more at: http://www.gracobaby.com/products/pages/productdetails.aspx?ProductID=9G01SFR#sthash.kGBtKxmA.E86Ha3vV.dpuf

Durable frame makes this playard ideal for travel

Automatically folding feet and wheels allow for a more compact fold

Signature Graco® push-button fold makes closing your playard quick and hassle-free

Handy wheels for added convenience

Airy mesh on all sides for maximum ventilation

Convenient carrying bag for no-fuss travel and storage

- See more at: http://www.gracobaby.com/products/pages/productdetails.aspx?ProductID=9G01SFR#sthash.kGBtKxmA.E86Ha3vV.dpuf

Be careful of what you put in the trash

Uncle Peter* and his wife, Lily* have been married for 30 plus years. They were an odd pair; he's the typical chinaman, and she's the typical chinaman's wife. He works his arse off managing his hardware shop,  while she whiles her time away in hair and beauty salons. Though they do not see eye to eye on many things, they still remain married and have 3 kids along the way.

On their 35th year wedding anniversary, they invited their friends and relatives for a sumptuous buffet dinner at their house. The evening of the buffet, Lily decided that it's best if she hid her gold jewelry just in case someone decides to venture into their bedroom and steal it. She looked high and low for a safe place  and finally decided that the trash can is the best place to keep it safe. After all, she reasoned, who will look through the trash for expensive items to steal?

 The buffet dinner was a resounding success. Everyone  partied and enjoyed themselves immensely till past midnight. Both Peter and Lily were very pleased with themselves. Days later, Lily were painting her toenails when her blood suddenly ran cold. She had forgotten to take her jewelry back from the trash can!! She quickly ran into her bedroom while praying fervently that her maid has not thrown the trash. Alas, luck was not on her side. the trash can was empty!  The maid had thrown the trash the day before, along with all her precious gold (Which was wrapped in a supermarket plastic bag) As she stared into the empty can, she realised she has thrown almost RM30k worth of jewelry away....

(Somewhere in garbage land, there will be a very happy scavenger if he happened to chance upon the loot.)

#True story.

*Names have been changed to protect the silly.

Glasses and cups in the hotel room

Have you ever wonder what hotel guests do with the glasses in the hotel room? Obviously it's for drinking, or some might prop their toothbrushes and toothpaste in it as well (or even their false teeth )

I have two friends who used to be stewardesses from two major airlines and they have flown to many countries and stayed in many hotels around the world. They always regaled me with stories  of their adventures abroad. One day C ask me.

Friend C: "Eh, you know what people do with the glasses in the hotel room?" 

Me: "Use it to drink lah, what else will you do with it??" 

Friend C: "You want to know what my friend (another stewardess) use it for?"

Me: "What what??"

Friend C: "She washed and soaked her undies in the glasses..."


Since then i have never looked at these glasses the same way again.

Hellouu

It's been more than 2 months since I last logged in, and gosh, so much has been happening. :)
 
Gonna sell off my old car finally.

Been reading lots.

Spent lots of time with the kids.

Started jogging on some mornings when I'm free (didn't think i will ever see this day)

Cooking more.

 Went for a short holiday in Bangkok and Singapore.

On an avocado juice craze. Am so addicted!!

Planning more.

A bit late but here's the second half of 2013!

Feeling so sick!!

Oh gosh..I've been feeling so sick for the past 3 weeks with only a brief respite in the middle of it that I thought I will never ever get better.It started with a very severe sore throat which took two days to heal. Then it went on to a hacking cough with lots of green phlegm. Went to the doctor, he said my lungs are clear and that what i got was a throat infection. Took some meds, and felt better after. A week later, the cough came back, more severe this time, and this round it comes with a very runny nose. I can't remember the last time I had a runny nose, i think it was a few years ago.

And over the past one week, I have been feeling quite terrible. I lost my mojo to do anything. I had no mood to cook, read, work, even shopping!!, basically anything that requires effort. I didn't even feel like talking to my mom over the phone (and I used to do this happily everyday!) My thoughts were all very hazy and  I didn't feel like talking to anybody and I lost my appetite to eat. All I wanted to do was lie down and sleep the day away. I realised something was quite not right when I went to a seafood dinner with lots of crabs and I had not much appetite! How can! Crabs are my favorite.

And I progressively got worse. Friday started off with a headache on one side. And I started feeling off, and had the chills and I felt  my feet were very cold. Checked my temperature and realised that I got the fever. Not that high..it always hovered around 38c. And over the next few days, my fever just went up and down. It came down when I took a panadol, and it went up again after the meds wear off. And my headache stayed for a few days and it hurts even more when I cough wth. My head throbbed painfully when I cough and how is that even related??  What worries me is this. I never ever had fever or headache that lasted for a few days! Being the hypochondriac that I am, I started to worry whether I am having pneumonia, or maybe some mutant bird flu!, or meningitis (cos got headache) or dengue, or maybe something even worse which I don't even wanna mention here. :X Scared the shit outtta me.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore and decided to go see the doc again yesterday. Can't just rely on panadols anymore. Got some antibiotics cos whatever I'm having seems to be a viral infection and kena persuaded by DH to go for a half body massage at Thai Odyssey (think he also can't believe that my headache can stay for so long) The massage concentrated on my head, neck and shoulder and i was hoping they can massage my headache away. The massage was so good; I can feel them massaging the knotted nerves /  muscles on my neck. I still had the headache when I left the place..but by some miracle, 3 hours later, the headache was gone!!! After 4 freaking days, it finally went away!!!!! wah...so impressed. And I didn't even had to sleep it off. It just went off suddenly. Was the massage so keng kah, or was it that 1 pill of antibiotics  that I took after visting the doc that has proven to be so effective? Nevertheless, whatever it was,  I was so so happy that it was finally gone..

Today I finally felt I'm at my 90%. I no longer have headaches and fever. I still have my coughs and a bit of runny nose, but I finally have my mojo back. I feel like doing everything again! My appetite is back, and my energy is up! And for that I'm thankful. And I have now resolved to take care of myself better. Cos when I was feeling so shitty, I realised health is really wealth. Appreciate it. 

Goldfish crackers: Local vs Imported

One of BabyD and Peanut's favorite snacks are goldfish crackers. I bring these when we dine outside as they'll sit down quietly and munch them. 

On the left is the imported version (around RM11) and on the right is the local version (RM3 / packet). Both are shaped like little fishes. The kids love both but I prefer the local version because it's more savory in taste while the left one taste like artificial cheese. And check out the difference in prices for around the same amount! haha I put them both in the fridge so they will stay fresher longer. 

This is how it looks like. Cute eh?? You can get the local ones in those mom and pop kind of grocery shops (kedai runcit). I got mine from the chinese medicine shop, of all places haha, while I was buying milk powder. 

Other kind of snacks that I will give the kids when we're out are raisins (another favorite!), koko crunch, and honey stars cereal. Hm..what else can I give them?? 

homework?

Starting from Term 2 onwards, Peanut has been given homework to do at home. Nothing taxing, just some worksheets where they can trace, write and color alphabets and numbers.

It's good that she's given some homework though. It keeps her occupied during the day, giving her some form of structure and not just watch cartoons and play all day long. Most importantly, it gives her a chance to prepare her (and me!!)  mentally and emotionally when she gets into standard 1 where there'll be lots of homeworks!:P

It's not easy to get her to sit still and to complete a worksheet. She'll be wriggling here and there, and lots of "I need to drink water! I want to talk to dadddy! I'm hungry!!!" types of excuses. Oh my. Lord, help me when she begins real school and start doing homework for real!! 

Clothes woes

Having worked in various office jobs for the past 13 years, I have accumulated quite a fair number of clothes that I will termed loosely as semi-formal. Formal enough to wear them to work, but not casual enough for me to wear at home / go out.

So I have been finding it tough on deciding what to wear on Peanut's school runs. I mean, I do have those baggy t-shirts and shorts that I wear at home but I certainly can't wear them when I go and pick the kid up from kindy can I ? Too many parents and teachers about  and I don't want to look as if I don't give a damn about myself ( I still do. For now). When I'm at home, my t-shirts are usually covered with whatever stains I get from cooking / cleaning / kids  while trying to get my work done at home. And I find it draggy when I have to put on a pair of jeans (the weather is so hot to even consider jeans) and a clean enough shirt just to look half decent. So what do I end up wearing? Shorts tend to look very "pyjamas" on me so I have been going out  in leggings and long enough t-shirts to cover my ass and to avoid any camel toe incidents. So I guess that's on my shopping list now. Get more long t-shirts!!!

Kelam kabut

Em..so I have officially begun my freelancing work at the beginning of April. Initially I had 2 freelance jobs, one is what i've been doing for the past few years and another one which is something totally different. In the mid of March, I suddenly had cold feet. WHAT IF I CANNOT COPE WITH TWO??? and on top of that I still need to do housework (no maid), fetch kids here and there (become driver) cook dinner alternate days etc and learn how to do a new job altogether on top of doing another one. Wah seh..i think i might have taken too much onto my plate. Hence the very cold feet. So after a discussion with a good friend, I decided to let one go.

And i think that was a good decision because a few days into the job, I still feel a bit kelam kabut. As in, I donno what to do first!!! Like "should I do the laundry before I start on my job,   or should I feed the kids first and I do a bit of work first before even contemplating what to cook for dinner?  And do I have time to watch tv?? Where to start, and do what first? " These are the thoughts that are running through my mind.

I'm getting a bit panicky. And on top of that, Peanut will be constantly hovering around me whining"Mammeeeeeeeeee, it's so boring without you. When can you finish work??" T T I so need to calm the f*** down and take a deep breathe and start to prioritize. Usual la, I always feel a bit blur and feel like I'm walking in a haze when there's a new routine or something has changed. Ohmmm.....

Assessment

This week is the school hols for Peanut, so no Kindy!! (yayy or boo??) Tomorrow,  we will need to go to her school because there's a Meet-The-Parents session with her class teacher and she'll give a short assessment on how she's been coming along thus far :) Our session is from 830am to 845am and I'll be going with DH. Kinda early, but no matter. I guess we'll be the first one?? Not sure whether that's good news or bad news..*nervous laughter*

Peanut in her uniform. (she's wearing skorts) Kinda glad it's not in some jinjang colors..

Mummy-in-training tips: Rattan basket to carry your stuff!

I've been searching  high and low for a rattan basket in KL, but it's damn hard to find one. I finally managed to find a makeshift stall selling rattan stuff at the road side in KL and they quoted me around RM110 for a rattan basket T T. Wtf. Siao. Why so expensive??

I remember using one back when I was a kid for my tuition classes, and it was for my own nolstagic memories that I wanted one again. in fact it was one of the standard pre-requisite bag for one of the schools in kch.   Brought back a lot of memories for me.  And i had visions of Peanut bringing it to her kindy and what not. Vision only la, it's not that practical for her to bring to Kindy in reality. For one, it's bigger than her body lol.

So when I went back to Kuching and I saw a shop (selling stationeries) selling this rattan basket for only RM36, I didn't even have to think twice.

 I have been using it everyday to bring my stuff up and down the  house. cos i am lazy. So convenient.  Each night before we go up to our bedroom, there's A LOT of things for me to carry and that includes BabyD, milk bottles, cannot-leave-their-eyesight bolsters, my tablet, keys, mobile phone, water bottle, books etc and if I don't use the basket, I have to make many trips up and down. With the basket, I can just throw everything in. And same goes in the morning when i need to bring everything down again.

It's also useful when we go out with the kids. Just need to put it in the car and I can see everything at a glance. No need to rummage through my bags and find their bottles, snacks, etc.

My mum, who saw the basket, jumped onto the rattan bandwagon as well and decided one basket is just not enough for me.  Once I was back in KL, she kept asking me whether I need anymore baskets i.e.  " do you need a bigger size, or maybe a smaller size, one for Peanut, one for BabyD? come on, you can put them in your cars etc". She can't take no for an answer and that's how I ended up with two more O_O (she got them from a shop selling baby stuff so i guess i'm on the right track? haha).  I don't know who's a bigger shopaholic. Me or her. She even got someone to sew inserts for the baskets. bless her!!!

Baskets of varying sizes.

BabyD

It's 1:30pm, and thanks to my "Babysitter" aka my sarung, BabyD is fast asleep muahaha.The sarung is like a drug. He falls asleep in less than 5 mins inside.

You have no idea how happy I am each time he takes his nap. It's the only time I can savor my coffee slowly without any interruption.  Once he wakes up, he's gonna create havoc in the house, and it's up to me to pick up the trail of destruction that he leaves behind. Sometimes I bribe Peanut to do it for me. 

 

Ah Pek attempting to draw something. Err...why is his tummy so round and big?? 

 

Homemade yoghurt using Easiyo yoghurt maker

I love Easiyo yoghurt because it's so easy to make and it's good. But sometimes the easiyo yoghurt powder (approximately RM16.50 per packet) with the flavor that I want is hard to find and I thought I can try making my own. Can save $$ at the same time hehe

Now that I'm at home constantly, now is the best time to experiment on food.

After googling (love google, endless trove of info) endlessly on various methods to make homemade yoghurt (with some requiring me to boil the milk, using thermometer, putting them in various pots and pans and cooling them down in a cool place) , I finally found a few that uses the Easiyo yoghurt maker. No need to boil, no need fresh milk, and  no need thermometer!!


All you need is this:

• A tub of yoghurt that contains live culture(approximately RM4.50)
• Easiyo yoghurt maker (perfect if you have one sitting in your pantry)
• Full cream milk powder (any brand will do but it has to be be full cream) (less than RM20)

 

 

containes live culture 

Instructions:

• Put 4 cups of milk powder into the easiyo container 
• put 2 tbsp of yoghurt 
• Fill up the inner bottle with cool, boiled water and shake vigorously!

Place it in the outer bottle as how you would do normally with the Easiyo yoghurt maker, and fill it with hot water and that's it!! Leave it for approximately 8 to 12 hours (I left it for 24 hours once, no problemo)  Once it's set, you can put it in the fridge.

Pleased to report that the kids and I do not have any tummy aches after consuming all the yoghurt so it's certified safe! haha You can add flavors, fruits, whatever you want but I prefer to eat it plain or add it to my oats.

Now, 4 cups of milk powder may seems a lot (it was to me).  I've tried experimenting with 2 cups of milk powder with 2 tbsp of yoghurt, and even 1 cup of milk powder and 2 tbsp of yoghurt. I seems to get thicker yoghurt with 4 cups of milk powder, so I guess it' up to you how many cups you want to put inside. Just experiment, because at the end, you will still get yoghurt. :)  and if it's too runny, you can make chicken curry and substitute your coconut milk with yoghurt.

 To start on a next batch of yoghurt, you can just take 2 tbsp of yoghurt from the ones you made as it contains live culture and just make your yoghurt as per instructions above.

Mummy-in-training tips: Thirst quenching tea 24/7

Isn't the weather crazy hot these past few weeks?? it's so hot that a few minutes in the sun, I could feel the sun rays searing into my skin. Ugh.. To cool myself down, I have been making pitchers and pitchers of iced tea so I have access to cold drinks at all times.

I don't really fancy sweet drinks, so this is a good alternative. Healthy and cooling!

 

On the left is oolong tea and on the right is green tea. 

My current obssession is Oolong Tea and I love this brand i.e.TenRen (Rm9.90 for a pack of loose tea leaves). I usually put the leaves into teabags I got from Daiso (one bag is usually enough for a jug) and let it steep in hot water for at least an hour before I chuck it into the fridge. I usually leave the tea bag inside the jug.


Oolong tea has lots of benefits and one of THE most important ones is that it aids weight loss. Do i need anymore reasons? I'm sold!!!

Some of oolong tea health benefits are as follows:

•  help reduce cholesterol build-up in the bloodstream.
•  help burn fat and thus, may contribute to slimming.
•  help prevent heart ailments.
•  can be used for treatment of digestive disorders.
• can promote longevity by stimulating bodily functions and strengthening the immune system.

I love the taste of Oolong tea and I can drink cups and cups of it in a day. :)

Peanut's birthday cakes

 For her birthday this year, I got Peanut two cakes. One for her to celebrate at her birthday party in Kindy,and another one for home. (Gal requested for a Mickey Mouse cake for school so a mickey mouse cake it is! Only RM80 (1kg) from a hidden and unassuming gem of a bakery in Klang.  Love the choc cake inside. Not too sweet, moist and it's super yummy! This is a third time I got a cake from them. It's never disappointing! If you wanna know where I got it from,  it's from Bread Berry, Klang. Got FB page.

A rainbow cake from Wondermilk "Cirque Du Lola" (RM70) . Frankly, quite a  disappointment. Looks good from the outside but cake was hard and dry and too sweet. :(

Interesting books

 One of the things i've been doing is to catch up on my reading. I've never been interested in any Stephen King novels because i'm not into horror or fantasy. But 11.22.63 caught my eye. It's a story about ho an English teacher went back to the past to prevent the Kennedy assassination which occurred on 22 Nov 1963. It's really unputdownable and I love it!

Once I finished it, I was raring for another Stephen King's novel and Under the Dome caught my eye. This super thick novel is 1072 pages thick (goodness me) and I thought I will enjoy it. If you love Lord of the Flies (not Lord of the Rings hoh), then perhaps you might enjoy this book, but I don't like a book that is "hai lai hai kee". Hokkien for "constantly causing harm to one another". So I speed read  this book just to see how it ends.

I just finished reading Tina Fey's Bossypants and it was light hearted and  funny. A relief from the heavy read that is Under the Dome. I'm now going into "French Children Don't Throw Food". Reallly mehh???? This I gotta see!!

Daily routine

Gosh it's almost the end of March, which means I've been on this SAHM stint for almost a month. Now that I've sort of gotten used to this routine, come April, there will be a whole new routine when I begin my freelancing.

The first two weeks of March went by in a blur. By blur, I meant me. I was in a sort of haze that when friends / family ask me how am i coping, my only answer was "everything feels like a blur". I only got used to things around the third week and now i have a "routine" down pat. Everyone needs a routine right? So this is what happens on a daily basis (on a weekday):

7:15am: wake up and get Peanut ready for Kindy!!

8am:  On days when DH don't need to go into the office that early, he'll be the one to send Peanut to kindy which is good. Because if i'm the one who has to send Peanut to kindy, it means i'll have to wake BabyD and bring him along, and having to bring him means I need to make his milk, strap him into his car seat, drop her off kindy, then go home and unstrap him which is exhausting in itself. On my lucky day, he'll be happily sucking his milk. On bad days he'll be screaming all the way to kindy and back.

8:30am to 12:15pm: Prepares lunch for the kids. Something easy. Usually different kinds of soups or fried rice. Also, use this time to just chill, catch up on news, read a book, 
clean the house, laundry etc. Sometimes i brave myself and go to get groceries with BabyD at either Tesco or Giant. Thank God it's almost always empty. Yay for me!!

1215: Strap DH into his car seat again and off we go to pick up Peanut.

12:40pm: Get the kids to eat their lunch. Zzzz..I don't usually eat lunch because (a) am too lazy to cook for myself, (b) no fun eating alone (c) I'm on a diet forever

Here, I would like to take this opportunity to give my utmost gratitude and thanks to my sidekick, my electronic BABYSITTER!!! Mwuahhh!! Without you, I will dieeeeeeeeeee!!!! (dramatic). Say hello to my baby swing cradle aka as my babysitter. 

Electronic cradle with timer function to help me to rock the cradle

1pm: So at 1pm on the dot, I will put BabyD in the cradle, and he'll be darn excited and happy. He loves it. All I need to give him is his bolster and  bottle and within 5 mins, he'll be in dreamland. He can sleep for at least 3 hours in this thing and during this 3 hours, I can do my own shit. Bliss. Peanut usually watch cartoons, does some art, play with her toys, or naps in this period of time.

4pm: Everyone is usually up. We either lepak at a shopping mall nearby my home if i need to get something (that's the furthest I will venture with the two of them), or just hang around at home and try to do something "useful while I prep dinner,  or for every Tues and Thurs, we will go to their Popo's house. She will usually cook a lot on these two days as well, so I will usually tapao dinner home. No need for me to cook! :)

630pm to 730pm: Shower the kids and get them to eat their dinner.

730pm onwards: Lepak while waiting for DH to come home from work.

So that's it!!

Asia's next top model ka?

Recently, everytime I attempt to take a pic of Peanut, she'll inevitably do one of these poses:

 

Head tilted to one side? Check!!!

 

 

 

Hand under chin and legs crossed? Check!

 

 

 

Hand under chin and legs crossed, (sitting down version)? Check check check!

Eyes closed to give a dreamy look.

Hand on hip? check!

"Good-girl-I-can-do-no-wrong" pose

 

This one. Aiyo. See also wanna laugh.

No idea where she gets all these poses from. When I asked her,  she said " I learn maiself wan!!!!!!!"

Sorry BabyD

This picture is so salah on so many levels. BabyD on a super pink bicycle wearing a pink diaper cover. No wonder he can't even muster up a smile.

Time to buy him more "manly" stuff and not  use Peanut's.

"Yah, you better!!!!!!!!!"

End of an era

The stars dark clouds have been aligning in such a way, that I have no other options but to finally, resign from my job. And I'm going to be a stay at home mom, or to put it bluntly, a housewife. This is not something that I thought I will do at this stage, but seeing how things are and due to my mounting frustrations, I think the best option is to take care of the kids on my own, and not to depend on others.

Frankly, I'm a bit worried about stepping into this new role. Now one of the biggest change will be that I no longer have my own income! This is definitely something i'm not used to.  I have worked since 2001, and stopped asking my parents for money upon my graduation. Even when I was still college, i worked in various part time jobs, from a banquet waitress, to a tuition teacher, a cafe waitress and an administrative assistant. Now..I will have no money aside from the ones given by DH and my current savings (which i rather not touch).  No more random shopping sprees and random, impulsive, purchases. And everything is so expensive nowadays especially anything related to children. Eeeks. Now that I'm reflecting on my past part time jobs, I can't believe i was paid a measly RM10 for a few hours work at a wedding banquet. RM10!!!!. Gosh, you can't even buy a cup of starbucks with RM10. Well, to be fair, that was in 1997 but still! I can't believe I was happy with it.  Maybe because I was working together with   a couple of friends so it didn't really felt like work.

Anyway..back to my story. Secondly, i'm not really a housewife material. I can clean (though i hate ironing i can never get the clothes to be wrinkle free!!), and sort of cook up decent meals for the kids and DH, but i have the tendency to be all depressed etc if I cooped up myself at home 24/7. I might go mad with the kids screaming at me all the time! I love them  of course, but i definitely need more external simulation so this leads me to search for freelance jobs. I now might have a possible 2 to 3 freelance jobs in the pipeline which will give me a fixed income each month so I guess that will help me to have some income and a window to the outside world. Hohoho. But can I work with the kids around? Ok..too much to think about at this point.As it is, I'm already very overwhelmed by all the changes coming my way.   I'll cross the bridge when i come to it.

On the other hand, I'm also looking forward to spend more time with the kids. For the past few years, I'm too tired to play with them after work because I still got to do some chores when i get home. As a result, I'm sometimes a bit cranky with them. Kesian la. Want to play with mummy but mummy is cranky and too exhausted. But now I will have time. So, this, is a good change too.

We'll see how it goes. Ganbatte! \ 0 /

Timetable

Peanut's timetable at school from her memo book:

So far.. she seems to enjoy arts and craft, mandarin, phonics and outdoor play.

She told me she doesn't like malay?? No idea what letterland or sensorial is but nevertheless, she seems to enjoy her classes a lot. :)

Still crying

Now let me see...*counts the days on the calender*

It's been 14 days since Peanut started her school, and my goodness, she's still crying every.single.freaking.day. I'm quite mentally and emotionally prepared for this because she's a mummy's girl and is very, very sticky to me. So I more or less expect this from her. My mum told me I took a month to recover from the shock of going to school when i first went to kindy, and I vomitted almost everyday (really pity the poor teacher who have to mop up my spew..). So i should be grateful i don't have to deal with any vomitting from Peanut.

Though she still cries everyday, it's still not as a bad as the first few days. Everyday is the same old routine. She wakes up fine. I don't have to nag at her to wake up. In fact she seems quite excited every morning to go to school. Sometimes i'll prepare some snacks for her like a nutella sandwich, or some raisins. Though her school prepares snacks for them, she once told me her classmate brings food from home cos his mummy prepares for him, and she wants the same thing. Okay lor..so long as she eats something. Sometimes she'll tell me to hurry up and drive faster (school is just less than 5 mins away) because she wants to play. So..all these are good signs that she loves her school rite? However, the moment i stop my car in front of her school, she'll start with "are you going to work mummy", if it's the affirmative, she'll start her"i'll misss you at school mummy...x100"

I'm touched, i'm truly am touched, haha but.....how? i really need to go to work! Everytime she starts her whining, i'll either say i miss her too, or i will change topic. If I indulge her whining more, she'll go on and on and on..Once I open the car door, the teachers will be there to 'greet' her and "carry +hug" her if her crying goes overboard. She'll hang on to me while sobbing while I faster give her a kiss, wave goodbye and drive off!! I'm truly gone in 60 seconds haha.  I have no idea what happens after that, but the teachers have mentioned that she's fine the moment i leave, and she sounds very happy and excited when she calls me after school everyday, so i'm guessing that she actually enjoys herself?

Everyday, i ask her what she does at school. Sometimes she'll layan me, sometimes no. On days she layan me, she'll tell me what she learn at school. Once, she belted out a chinese song. When I ask her what it means, she just shrugged. Since we are a non-chinese speaking household, it's quite funny to hear her singing in mandarin. It's cute.

Fingers crossed, let's not keep my hopes up, but I hope she stops crying within a month .

Choosing the right kindergarten

I started looking around for a suitable kindy for Peanut in the second quarter of  2012. Was a bit kiasu as I was worried that the kindys i want later might be full. It happens right?

I first started off by identifying the location that I want her to be in and decided that she should be at least somewhere near where we and her Popo lives so it'll be easier on all of us.  One of the kindys that was on our shortlist was a christian kindy that was recommended by my MIL. I also went on forums and started reading up reviews on kindys near our house and shortlisted around 5 kindys.  After shortlisting those, I called each of them up. This is where I try to get a first impression of these schools. Out of these 5 kindys, 3 of them took their time to answer all my questions and was very welcoming when i said I would like to pay a visit to their kindy. The other two, however, were very short and curt in their replies and did not bother to elaborate on their activities. They sounded impatient and when I tried to make an appointment, I felt very unwelcomed so naturally, I cut these two kindys out. If they were already impatient with my questions (one sound like a pasar malam auntie) then how could they be patient with children?

My questions were pretty simple over the phone:
a) what methods of learning will they be using?
b) will the kids be well prepared for primary 1?
c) will  mandarin and malay be taught in school, and if yes, at what age?
d) are there any additional optional classes that they can choose to take up after school?
e) how many students are there in a class. 
f) school hours and if there's daycare, what are the latest pickup time

Armed with these answers, we then visited each of these potential kindys. The first kindy we visited was the Christian Kindy.

a) Christian Kindy

pros: 

• On first impression, i like this kindy. it's big (it's a 3 storey building of its own), though quite old,   with a playground,and has been around for around 20 years. 
• Love the principal. She was very welcoming and showed me all the books that will be used in her classes. 
• Teachers are experienced and seems loving. 
• Montessori method of teaching 
• Saw a chart where children are reminded to drink their water (good first impression haha) 
•  They incorporate bible teaching in their lessons
•  Very cheap fees - RM150 per month
• Menu for breaks and lunches looks healthy. No sausages / nuggets / fries 

 cons

• Classes are dark and looks a bit gloomy 
• Though clean, toilets are all squatting kind, and it's dark and gloomy too, and old. Mirrors are cracked and have patches on it because it is too old. 
• Maximum 25 students in a class - I think this is a bit too many. I don't know how the teacher and her assistant  are going to control 25 4-year olds, and get them to learn. When I passed by a 4 year olds class in progress, the teacher was teaching them reading with a big chart. I noticed that quite a number of students were looking disinterested and not paying attention but the teacher did not seems to do anything about it.
• Outdated learning tools - the teacher showed me a cassette tape with an audio book that  they use in class. A cassette tape! I haven't seen this since.........17 years ago???
• Much further from my house compared to the rest of the shortlisted kindys 
• They only start  teaching mandarin when kids are 5 years old. Kind of disappointed in this. I prefer Peanut to pick up other languages sooner, as they pick up language faster when they're younger right?
• No daycare
• Kids temperature are not checked when they enter school
• lots of stairs& hidden corners (kids can get lost easily in moments of emergencies i.e. fires?)
• In case of fire, i can only see 1 possible exit

b) Kindy B

pros: 

• Principal was very warm and friendly over the phone. Took the time to explain. 
• Can feel that the principal loves kids
• Montessori 
• Near our house
• 15 kids max in a class
• you can drop your kids off on Saturday mornings if you have errands to run and they can watch over your kids by giving them work to do / or do some reading 
• They have day care till 630pm on weekdays, an option if you need to do so
• Toilets and kitchen area are very clean

 cons:

• school is small and cramp
• Walls are not so clean in the school, can see finger prints, some graffitti by the kids 
• Lots of children's books in the house but all look so koyak 
• Saw a stack of matrresses thrown haphazardly in a corner in one of the rooms for those daycare kids (doesn't give a good impression)
• Principal is too easy going and cincai. When asked if there's school uniform, she said depends on parents (??) and since some parents say don't need, then she feels there's not a need to. Feels very unstructured.
• She said she just decided to do this because she used to open a tuition centre, so as more parents asked her to open a kindy, she decided to open one. Sound so...random, and not thought out properly.

Kindy C

Pros

• Principal was very warm and patient over the phone and took her time to explain everything in detail. Asked me to visit her school in the afternoon so that she can show me around fully since classes will have ended by then.
• 12 students maximum in a class (i like) 
• Bright, airy, has a facebook page where I can see tons of photos. Kids look happy, and there are lots of arts and craft / nature type of activities. Looks very well balanced and not too academic.
• Montessori method. Can see lots and lots of montessori tools around the school arranged neatly
• Lots of optional after-school programmes (need to pay additional fees of course but prices are reasonable) - mandarin, karate, art, Little Mozart music class, CMA mental arithmetic. Mandarin and Maths are already taught in their normal school hours, so these are additional if you wish for them to learn more. 
• Mandarin and malay are taught to 4 year olds
• Huge garden, with a  playground, and a vegetable / herbs patch 
•  Kids are given hand sanitiser lotion and their temperatures are checked before entering the school 
• Lots of shelves with their names on it to put their school bags / shoes / water bottles 
• Fees are very reasonable. Daycare option is available if there's a need. School doesn't use mattresses, but uses cot beds instead which are light, airy, and easily cleaned.
• School menu  looks home cooked and healthy. No sausages / nuggets crap.
• Feels very structured.
• Toilets are very clean. They have toddler sized toilets. 
• Students need to wear uniforms. Might not be a necessity to others but somehow i feel that wearing uniforms are important; if not it doesn't feel like a school at all haha
• Lots of exits in case of fire

Cons

Can't think of any yet so I guess you know which one I chose in the end haha

Peanut's first week of Kindy

Today marks day 7 since Peanut began her new school life. Truth is, I LOVE sending her to school. I'm probably gonna get  tired of it later but for now, I'm really relishing every moment of it. I feel so...motherly.

School so far, has its ups and downs for her. She cried more and more each day wtf. Seriously, shouldn't it be the other way round?? I still hung around at her school for day 2 and 3, as the classes are only 2 hours then. During those few hours, I hung around with other parents /grandparents just like me. i.e. The paranoid-cannot-let-go type and got to know them a little bit better.  And realised..we're the same after all. :)  Yes, it's pretty hard for me to let go, because I have never left her alone with strangers for hours. So as I did my mommarazzi duties at school, I tried to stay away from her view, so that she'll get used to the fact that I'm NOT going to be there all the time. She tried to stay strong in the class, but when she saw other kids crying and wailing, she started to waver.. her eyes became really watery..her lips trembled..and finally she cried and  begged me to stay with her. Alamak...so kesian, and hence i flew to her side. Every night before school, i will try to make school sound as much fun as possible. Trying to psycho her so that she'll look forward to it. Does it work? I don't know, and I don't think so because she still whine each day.


Day 4 onwards, parents are no longer allowed to stay in the school compound and school hours are back to regular programming. Day 4 was the toughest because she knew I was not going to hang around anymore. She begged and begged for me to stay, and kept repeating "but i'm going to miss you" over and over again. Oh well..this time, I just drop and ciao!! Not like I have an option also as I need to get my butt off to work.  I could hear her screaming (shrieking more like it) and kicking and thrashing (I heard tables and chairs moving, and things falling down O_O ) when i left and the teacher was trying to hold her down. The teacher later apologised for leaving red marks on Peanut's arms  because she was holding Peanut too tightly to prevent her from trashing about. Gosh..think Peanut is one strong kid. I know she can be really strong because I have problems in holding her down too when she wants her way. And the poor teacher is very skinny and I'm obviously much bigger than her!  She (the teacher, not Peanut) must have been traumatised. But I guess it went well because Peanut later called me after school and  said she had fun! and she can't wait to get to school the next day. These words are not to be taken seriously as i have learned because the same process (crying and whining and the "i miss yous" ) happened again the next day, and the next. T T. I'm just thankful there are many teachers around to hold and comfort and play with her when i leave for work. There's one day when i saw her hugging a teacher tightly and sobbing as I quickly run out of the door. I'm secretly happy though that she allowed the teachers to touch her and that she'll speak to them, because this would never happened prior to school!!!!

Today is Day 7 and as usual I just drop her and go within a few minutes. There's still a little bit of crying, but it's no longer as loud and dramatic, and it stopped within minutes after I left the school.  (me thinks she's just putting a show to make me feel guilty for going to work). I think she's beginning to like her class teacher because last night, she made a drawing for her teacher, put it in a huge envelope and said she wanna give it to her today. Aww...So hopefully, by next week, she will stop crying once and for all! Hurrah!

Peanut's first day of school

It's been almost a week since Peanut started her first day in kindy. She started on the the 2nd of January which fell on a Wednesday. School was only an hour (830 - 930)  for the first day, and 2 hours on Thurs and Fri (830-1030). I like the idea. It gives a chance for these newbies who has never gone to a school in their lives to get used to a whole new life in the next 20 years haha.

Preparation for kindy
I have been hyping up Peanut on school since June 2012. Knowing her and her shy personality, she WILL definitely need time to get used to  new surroundings so I have been bringing her to look at the school constantly which happens to be just 5 minutes away from where we live. Selling her the idea on how wonderful school is, how she's gonna make new friends, and how she will get to play in their playground with swings and slides. The kindy has a HUGE garden and there's lots of space to run around. She was pretty sold on the idea, especially when she saw the playground slides. She's a huge fan of slides.

It was great that 3 weeks before school starts, the kindy also organised a playgroup for 3 days, where parents can bring their children into the school and just hang around and get used to the new place.

First day of kindy 
I have to do mummy duty for the first three days of school. Took half day leaves so that I can hung around like a paparazzi to make sure there's no major sniffles / dramas from her.  I'm already prepared for the worst. Peanut is very shy when it comes to strangers, she will not say hi, she will not talk,  she will hide behind my back, she will not let anyone touch her!! So basically, I  was not expecting an easy breezy path since the school is full of strangers.

Would you know it?? I woke up late for the first day of school! Damn the alarm.. Fortunately, lao gong whatsapped me at around 8am just to see how we are, and i was woken up by his ping. Rushed through the shower, woke up Peanut who was very excited and she jumped out of bed in a nanosecond, and she even had time for a shower. Made some milk for her and we were out of the house by 815am and reached school just in time. Fuh.

Honestly,her first day of school was pretty much a breeze if you wanna compare it to days after. She didn't cry much (just watery eyes), and even let the teacher hold her hand and lead her to her classroom. Usually she would have resisted people touching her.   Being the mommarazzi, I stood outside her class for that 1 whole hour haha. 1 hour flew pretty quickly. I took her for breakfast at Old Town Kopitiam after as I need an ice cold kopi kao to wake me up. Usually I prefer to go Papparich Kopitiam  as I like their decor much better but I needed a change for my usual half boiled eggs and toast. I haven't been to Old Town for the longest time  and i was pretty impressed by their breakfast menu sets. SO many choicesssss compared to Papaparich. I like!! and it all comes with coffee / tea. Nice! I'm a new convert. Good place to go  if you need to go for your usual coffee / eggs/ toast in an air-conditioned place and you need to bring your anak along.(clean and not so crowded mah)

I wanted to do a happy dance right after the first day of school. I thought i have winged it and was pretty convinced that Peanut rose above my expectations and that she'll have no problems adapting to school at all. I thought i got off easy. I must say I am pretty delusional. Someone should have warned me that some kids can get sucked into a bubble of happiness on first day of schools. And that the bubble will burst on the second day.

More school episodes to come next!