Posted in Monchies, tagged Parenting on June 9, 2012| 1 Comment »
On the way back from school…
Edrick: Kitreena, could you please stop singing that song?
Kitreena: But I like singing it.
Edrick: But could you please stop it, I am trying to take a nap.
Kitreena: Go ahead, take your nap.
Edrick: But I can’t do it when you sing that song.
Kitreena: Why not?
Edrick: Because your singing makes my brain tell me to dance!
*Kitreena sings louder*
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Posted in Monchies, tagged Parenting on June 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »
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Edrick had his show-n-tell today, just like every Friday. And the topic was of course ‘My Father’. It’s June. What else! I printed out pictures of him and Daddy, and Edrick was to tell his class everything he wanted to tell about Daddy.
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He practiced and practiced on the way to school. It was at least 4 rounds and every time, he would say almost totally different facts about Daddy. And in one of the rounds, as I knew he would say it after spending two weeks with Daddy, and not hearing a word from him now almost three weeks since Daddy returned to Moscow… Edrick said that he missed Daddy very very very much.
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He didn’t cry.
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I did.
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Posted in Monchies, tagged Parenting on May 2, 2012| 1 Comment »
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Kitreena obviously had been thinking. So one morning last week on the way to school, we had a few kilometers of this conversation. It was between the ramp down to Jalan Kuching and the ramp up to Jalan Sultan Ismail near Sime Darby and Maju Junction. She knows now that it wasn’t the stork that flew her down to me from the baby-making clouds in the sky. So…
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Kitreena: Mom, did it hurt your vagina when you gave birth to me?
Mommy: Errr… yes, it did. But it healed. *hesitates between the truth and trying not to scare the young girl*
Kitreena: It healed?
Mommy: Oh yeah! I’m not walking funny, am I?
Kitreena: Ha ha ha ha ha ha. No! But why did it hurt?
Mommy: Okay, imagine squeezing a takraw ball through a hole yay big… *motions a hole the size of an IKEA meatball*
Kitreena: Whoaaaaaa! Mommy! Is that even possible?
Mommy: Huh, yeah! You’re here, baby.
Kitreena: No! What I mean is… how could I come out with my head yay big and your vagina yay small? *thanks iCarly for re-introducing the term ‘yay’*
Mommy: It did tear my vagina quite a bit because you came out very quick.
Kitreena: Ouchhh! Mommmm! Tear? *shrieks*
Mommy: But don’t worry. The doctor stitched me back up.
Kitreena: I still don’t understand. It wasn’t just my head. My whole body came out. I can’t imagine it!
Mommy: Wellllll… that’s the magic only mothers have, Monch!
Kitreena: You and your magic, Mom. *she rolls her eyes and knows I would say, “One day when you have children, you’ll understand the magic.”*
Mommy: One day when you have children, you’ll understand the magic.
Kitreena: Yeaah yeaah… *rolls her eyes some more*
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Posted in Monchies, tagged Parenting on March 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Edrick committed a serious offense yesterday. He used a bad word! Though I am not going to repeat his sentence here fully, he said to Adam: “You and your family are a bunch of _____ people!” We were on our way home from school when this was reported to me by the officer in-charge, Little Miss Inspector. My jaw dropped to the pedals! I don’t use that word, or that kind of word on anyone. It has no use.
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Using bad words is a serious crime in my house (and in my car)! So I made it a big deal. Perhaps it was a bit bigger than what it should be, but I decided that Edrick had to learn it quickly. And Edrick knew what was coming. So yes, I gave him a hard time even though he had said sorry to Adam.
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I was trying to make a point that he has to manage his temper and that his words are solely his choice. I must have repeated myself more than 20 times, saying: Things you don’t say to yourself, you don’t say to others. I remember the version with Kitreena when she went through a similar phase being: “Only stupid people call others stupid.” Kitreena has long made enemy with the word. She calls it the ‘S’ word — can’t even bring herself to say ‘the S word’ with a voice.
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So Edrick is grounded for the whole week. No TV until Saturday, and no iPod or iPad for this weekend. He cried like there was no tomorrow when I read him the verdict. And now, he is serving his sentence… 20 lines per day for 5 consecutive days.
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Posted in Inside Enida, Monchies, tagged Parenting on February 17, 2012| 2 Comments »
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And every time she talks about you, her eyes twinkle.
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Posted in Humor, Language, Monchies, tagged Parenting on January 27, 2012| 6 Comments »
Ishhh! Angat ati sungguh kak hang ni petang tadi tak tau la nak habaq lagu mana. Kak ghiau-ghiau dok laghang depa bertaki beghebut TV, depa tak peduli. Bukan depa tak tau dah memang prinsip hidup mak depa ni, tak buleh lebih tiga kali warning. Asai lepaih amaran ketiga, soheh sogha mak depa ni tak dak perlahan daghipada guruh dah la.
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“Hangpa nak sangat dengaq sogha dainasurrr, mai sini! Jurasik tak jurasik. Sekali mak hangpa tempikkk, satu Mesra Terrace hilang habih kemesraan, okay! Amboooiii dia!”
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Dua-dua anak kak sipi-sipi nak kena sekehhh dah petang tadi ni. Ilang tak tau mana pi dah sabaq mak depa ni. Kak ghampaih remote control Astro mestro depa, tekan punat TV bagi mati. Paihtu hambat dua-dua oghang keluaq pintu. Yang si Adik dah cemaih dah kot mak dia ni nak halau dia pi duduk kandang kambin. Yang si Kakak berlagak cool lah lagi.
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Kak biaq depa dok menempek dua beghadik kat pangkin luaq pintu depan tu baghang 20 menet. Sambil kak kat dapoq dengan Bibik sibuk panggang ayam. Buleh dengaq yang si Kakak menyalahkan si Adik, yang si Adik tak mau abih teghiak ayaq mata dainasurrr — sungguh la baby-baby lagi anak kak yang kecik ni. Ghimaihhh kak haihhh!
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Keghin saja tangan kak lepaih dok peghisi ayam, kak pi jenguk depa dua beghadik kat luaq pintu. Dua-dua kena grounded takdak sapa buleh tengok TV sampai ujung minggu ni. Haa toddia, nak sangat hangpa noh. Hambikkk! “Mami tak mau dengaq lagi dah sapa salah, sapa tak salah. Oghang cakap baik-baik sampai tiga kali, telinga hangpa boh kat lutut. Nasib baik tak kena pulaih.”
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Depa masuk-masuk ghumah, kak hambat naik sughuh pi mandi. Kita satni nak makan ayam, kak tak mau anak-anak bau reban ayam. Tapi budak-budak ni memang kelaku dia dah. Sementagha nak menyampai bilik ayaq tu sempat lagi bertaki, tu yang kak tak paham tu. Kena bagi warning hat lain pulak.
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“Hangpa hingaq laaaa… hingaaaqqq! Sogha sapa Mami dengaq sampai kat dapoq satniiii… Mami bagi dia tulang ayam saja! Try test tengokkk!”
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Dan-dan sunyi sepi ghumah Mesra kak.
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Posted in Hurt, Monchies, tagged Parenting on January 18, 2012| 5 Comments »
It was Tuesday, twenty-three days after Christmas. I picked her up at school and while waiting for her brother who was having his guitar class, I told her that she was to Skype with Daddy on Wednesday. She looked surprised. For a few seconds she just stared at me with that searching look in her eyes. No words came from her mouth. Then she turned away.
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She covered her eyes with the back of her hand and I knew what was coming. Her right shoulder was shaking lightly to my touch. It was that silent cry that broke my heart to the finest pieces. She had nothing to say. All had been said the night she woke up crying when I kissed her in her sleep. She misses him. That’s all there is to it. What else? If it now comes down to me having to make an appointment for the kids to speak to their father, words sure don’t come easy.
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Posted in Monchies, tagged Parenting on January 16, 2012| 8 Comments »
It was Saturday and I was making some Ayam Goreng Kunyit with some French Beans. All sautéing in one pan on low heat just waiting to brown a bit, when I joined my little big man in the living room exercising his fingers on the PS3.
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Mommy: Hmmm… the whole house smells like my cooking, huh?
Edrick: Yeah, whatcha cookin’ Mom?
Mommy: Chicken.
Edrick: But it smells like scrambled eggs.
Mommy: Scrambled eggs? But I’m cooking chicken.
Edrick: But it smells like eggs.
Mommy: Hmmm… but I’m cooking chicken okay.
Edrick: Okay. But it smells like eggs.
Mommy: All right. But it’s chicken.
Edrick: I know, Mom. But I am telling you it smells like scrambled eggs.
Mommy: Sure, but that’s because eggs come from chicken.
Edrick: Oh yeah. That makes sense. Okay then.
Mommy: *is still puzzled by the instant and quick argument*
Edrick: But Mommm… the chicken sure smells like eggs.
Mommy: *malas mok argue suda, so she rolls her eyes and clucks away*
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Posted in Monchies, tagged Parenting on January 2, 2012| 3 Comments »
Edrick: Mommy, there are fourrrr things you can do with money.
Mommy: Oh really? And what are the fourrrr things, Monch?
Edrick: You can earn money.
Mommy: Yes.
Edrick: You can save it.
Mommy: Right on!
Edrick: You can spend it. Aaaand you can donate it, Mom.
Mommy: Wow! Where did you learn all this?
Kitreena: He heard it from TV, Mom. *rolls her eyes*
Mommy: You did? And you remember all the fourrr? That’s awesome!
Edrick: Yeah, I remember all fourrrr. Earn, save, spend and donate.
Mommy: So what do you wanna do with your money, Monch?
Edrick: I wanna save mine.
Mommy: That’s my boy! And what are you gonna do with yours, Kitreena?
Kitreena: I’m gonna save some, spend some and donate some, Mom.
Mommy: Awww baby, you’re such a sweetheart. I really like this TV thing you’ve been watching.
Edrick: Mommy, Mommy… what are you gonna do with your money?
Mommy: I think I am gonna have to spend some money and get a new TV.
Monchies: Horrayyyyyyy!
Mommy: *rolls her eyes*
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Our Samsung Slim-Fit TV is older than Edrick and its infra-red receiver is not working anymore. We have been cursing on the remote control for the whole month of school holidays, thinking it was the remote that had been giving the problems. Tried changing the batteries and even singing to the thing, hoping that some tender loving care would fix it. But we either have to go shopping for a new TV soon, or downgrade to our 12-year old JVC mammoth-butt TV that has been sitting in the guest bedroom waiting for the guest that has cancelled the visit at the eleventh hour. Bah!
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Posted in Monchies, tagged Parenting on November 29, 2011| 1 Comment »
I let him play his Chop Chop Caveman game on my iPad for one afternoon to compensate for Kitreena’s hogging the computer. It wasn’t his first time, but he knows, and his sister knows that my iPad is not a toy. And Mommy is never that ‘generous’ with the things she works hard for. So, when the time was up — and that is 6pm every Sunday evening when Monchies’ playtime is over — he asked:
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Edrick: Mommy, could you give me your iPad when you die?
Mommy: Huh? *thinks that this could be a do-or-die question*
Edrick: Could you give me your iPad when you die?
Mommy: But I am not gonna die for a looong time yet.
Edrick: But Mommm… I really like your iPad. It’s so cool!
Mommy: Yeah, but by the time I die you’re gonna have a good-paying job and you’ll get something better than iPad.
Edrick: But Mom… *he looks at Mommy in a slightly longer pause than usual*
Mommy: Uhummm?
Edrick: But Mommm, when you die… we have to get rid of all your clothes, right?
Mommy: Nahhh! Don’t just get rid of them. Sell them, Monch. Make some money out of it.
Edrick: Oh, okay!
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I might be sending a not-so-nice message to me Monchies about money and death. But I believe that death is a part of life and the biggest lesson of letting go. Edrick remembers what I did with my Mom’s clothes two years ago. He was with me when KaCher and I sent those boxes to HUKM. He enjoyed sealing the boxes with packing tapes while I was busy sealing the memories with many many kisses.
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To heaven.
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Happy Sixth Birthday to My Six Million Dollar Little Big Man
on November 30, 2011.
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