Thursday, July 20, 2017

Once upon a time, I was thinking of sending my son to school when he was 2 and half years old. But Mother said he was still too young. Then he turned three. By that time, my husband always bring him to his hometown, plus my work commitment, then we had our vacation, then it was fasting time, and Raya...

Finally, we enrolled him to a kindergarten.

My criteria are
- it must be Montessori (just because I know my son is that kind of person)
- my aim is not him being able to read or write or count. My aim is for him to be independent, kind and smart
- it must not be a shop lot. It must have a compound. I just like the idea of an open space for the kids to run around, although, I know they would be spending most of the time indoors anyway...
- English medium
- near to my house
- schoolbus is available

We narrowed it down to two- both have its pros and cons

Kindy 1
- cheap, about RM100+ per month
- Islamic based- I especially like the fact that kids must pray before they leave
- the principal has 20 years plus of experience and has a diploma/ degree from UK for childhood education or something like that
- flexible- they have the 8 until 10.30am class, and 11 until 2.30pm class
- they provide real food like mihun goreng etc

Kindy 2
- new, clean and more vibrant looking
- small class- only 9 kids at the moment with 2 teachers
- multiracial
- expensive, about RM300+ per month

Guess which one we chose?

The second kindy!

Because...

- my husband likes it better because of its small class, it looks like it is more organized and they can pay more attention to my kid
- the teachers are not Malay and with its multiracial kids, we are very convinced my son just has to learn to speak English properly!
- the principal of the Kindy 1 is kinda old school...Although she is experienced, she even treated me like one of her kids!
When we visited her kindy, I asked my husband, who was keeping my son occupied, "Macam mana? Okay tak?"
She thought I was asking my son, so she started to lecture me that we, as parents, must make the best decision for our kids, because kids can't make decision for big things like this, bla bla bla.
I didn't want to embarass her, and I repsected her as an elderly, so I just nodded my head and agreed with her (which is true, I was not letting my son be the boss!)
But she went on, and onnnn...
And then", I finally said, "Actually, I was asking my husband".
- my son looked more relax when we visited the second kindy
- we visited the Kindy 2 twice, and he really made himself comfortable there. Haha. Tak malu.

I was actually torn, because I really didn't want to be a bad Mommy. You know, we should make Islam number 1 in our lives, I want my kids to really have strong foundations in Islam...

But then again, I want to shape my kids morally first. Respect people of other races, learn how to carry himself in public, socialize without prejudice, you know, be a morally good person.

Besides, Islam tells us to shower our kids with love first, then only teaches them how to pray and fast when they are seven years old and so...Soooo...We probably would change kindy later when he is older.

Since Kindy 2 only has 9 students, (haha!) this is so laughable, because sometimes, at 8.30am, my son would be the first person to arrive, the rest only arrive at 9am or so! What kind of discipline is this! Haha!
And the teachers are more attentive and they would send me photos of him.

We think we made the right decision, because my son has stopped crying after 1 week. I'm so proud of him!

I sent him to school on day 1 and day 2, didn't even take a day off from work and just left him with the teachers. I was in rush, didn't have the time to be melodramatic about it.
My husband sent him on day 3, 4, and 5. Then, my mom.

He really enjoys his school.

Butttttttttttt

Today his teacher told me he is quiet.
QUIET?
OMG, at home, he acts like he is the biggest demanding little boss ever!

Me: Really? Because he has been telling me the stuff he did at school and he is happy.
Teacher: Yes, yes. He joins in the activities, he listens to our instructions, he can remember what we told him. I don't know whether he understands me or not. He just smiles...
Me: I think he understands you. He is just not speaking English yet because we mostly use Malay at home. But he watches English cartoons.
Teacher: One time, I asked him in BM, then he answered me a little bit and smiled.
Me: Haha.
Teacher: He can't hold a pencil yet.
Me: Oh, okay. (I think his teacher is asking me to have more practice with him).
Teacher: And sometimes, when we are having our activities, after a few minutes, he would wonder off. But that's okay, we just let him be. We don't want to be pushing him....
Me: Ohhh...

(Haha...Memang expected pun...My son ni memang kurang fokus sikit!)

So, anyway....I just feel like writing about my son going to school...Tak lama lagi nak pergi big school, susahlah nak holiday lepas ni...

----------------

Me: Abang!Jom kita pergi Morocco. Sekarang Malaysians dah tak payah pakai Visa!
Husband: Morocco ada apa?
Me: Ada souk. Ada unta...Boleh tengok orang Badwi. Haha.
Husband: Boleh shopping apa?

(-__-")
My husband ni...Bilalah nak jadi cultured sikit! Shopping je keje...

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

I miss my son. He's with his father. He will be 4 years old this year. Awww...4 years! I still remember how small he was, how round he was, how cute and how cheeky...Man...I should really start digging his old photos again.

Anyway, suddenly remembered what he said earlier during Ramadhan.

Was breaking fast when I asked him not to interrupt.

Me: Pergi duduk depan. Jangan kacau Mommy. Mommy nak makan.
Son: No! Mommy tak boleh makan!
Me: Mommy kena makan! Mommy nak buka puasa!
Son: Tak boleh buka puasa! Mommy tutup balik puasa! Tutup! Close! Close! Tak boleh makan!

Haha.
Sometimes, I wonder, what funny things I said when I was little...

Sunday, July 2, 2017

This year, we broke traditions.

My husband didn't buy me batik.
My husband didn't buy me gold jewelleries...

Well, he wanted to. We went to our regular shop, and it looked like that it just got robbed. The ones that were left did not look appealing at all. New stocks are only coming in 2 weeks time.

I didn't have two weeks. I'm gonna start working tomorrow :(

Anyway, I hope we still get to go for our yearly vacation tradition. The memories are priceless.

Did I tell you we went to Tokyo again earlier this year? Love it. And such an awesome feeling that we survived with two kids! Haha. We make such a good team, my little family...
Things my son said

(1)
Son: Kita nak pergi mana ni?
Husband: Pergi rumah nenek.
Son: Ni bukan jalan pergi rumah nenek.
Me: Nak pergi rumah nenek lain.
Son: Tak nak!
Husband: Kita kena pergi melawat dia. Kesian dia duduk sorang-sorang.
Son: Kenapa dia duduk sorang-sorang?
Husband: Sebab suami dia dah meninggal.
Son: Kena tinggal! Kenapa dia kena tinggal?
Husband: Bukan kena tinggal! Dah meninggal! Dah mati!
Son: Dia pergi tinggal dekat mana?

(2)
In the car, leaving the house.
Husband rolled down the window.
My son popped his head out and waved.

Son: Bye! Bye bye! Bye bye! Bye bye!

We never saw him that enthusiastic with strangers. He must be in a really, really good mood, we thought.

Son: Bye! All aboard the express train!

Hah! No wonder he was so semangat. He pretended to be on a train leaving the train station!
Pengaruh kuat si Thomas and Friends.

You guys should see his satisfaction look for being able to board his 'train'. Haha.

Saturday, July 1, 2017

Every time I am depressed, I will think about happy times. Like just now, I got depressed reading about the child abuse case. So, I now, I am thinking about how joyful my raya celebration was.

I am so grateful to Allah for this life, Alhamdulillah. My children are a handful, but they are so precious, love them to bits!

I am glad that I married a kampung man. We really celebrated it the traditional way. And for all the failures I've had in my life, at least I have my family which I am proudest of.

My son is such a kampung boy. He salam-ed the elders, made conversations and he was comfortable.

I was not like that. I used to really hate it to balik kampung when I was a teenager. Hated the dust and sand, hated the mosquitoes, hated the heat, hated the toilets, hated the fact that we couldn't get proper TV channels...I used to bring the shortest skirts/ shorts and was such a brat, OMG, why was I like that!

Anyway...My children really enjoyed Raya and I will always remember their laughters and smiles. In 13 years, my boy will be 17 and ready to leave the nest. I, on the other hand, will never ever be ready for that.




Today, before coming back to Klang Valley in 12 hours time :(


I hugged a pillow crying, imagining myself was there next to a scared, hurt child, I so badly wanted to comfort him, alleviate him from the pain, protect him...

Oh, child, you innocent, pure soul...You must be so happy now up there.