My first born is going P1 soon...

I just received this email blast last Thu. The reality that I am a mother to a primary school going kid is hitting closer to home. Not that I mind it though. I am secretly looking forward to this next milestone in parenting, even though I have heard horror stories about the pressures of formal school life. I think we will be able to tackle the challenges as they come.

Children's Season at Museum

The national museum is a changed place nowadays. My childhood recollection of the place has always been one that's dingy and boring with absolutely nothing to see. But now, with excellent marketing and outreach strategies, it has become a very interesting place and one that I have brought my girls to on many occasions. They, in turn, get very excited when I mention going to the museum.

This weekend, there's a carnival going on in celebration of the Children's Season. We headed out there for some kiddy fun with Darren and Aunt V. Despite the intense heat,, we had a blast. The girls didn't want to leave till 4 hours later.

The Informal Housewarming

We visited Aunt E's brand new place yesterday. It was huge, and gorgeous, especially the walk-in wardrobe and the oriental styled bookshelf. The pictures speak for themselves (pardon the low picture quality as they were taken with my low grade mobile phone).

萝卜歌

妍妍学了一首新儿诗- 萝卜歌。

I am really really tired

I have never felt so tired in my entire teaching career. Today, I talked non-stop for 7 hours, walked around to help students solve problems for another 2 hours, and was busy settling administrative issues for another 2 hours. How much of this can I take? And tomorrow morning, my class starts at 830am and does not end till 3pm. After that, there's an event in school that requires me to drive out and pick up stuff.

It got so bad I totally forgot one meeting that I had this morning and to pay for my shares by 9pm tonight. I am feeling so angry with myself, for being the Ms. Nice Gal, who says yes to everything people ask of me to do. I don't want to compromise myself anymore.

Next semester, I am going to say no to things I don't want to do and to push away tasks that I think I can't handle. I don't want to feel this burnt out anymore.

I am really tired.

Cycling on 2 wheeler

Seeing Shyan tackling the 2-wheeler with ease motivated Rui to try it out too and she mastered it in 2 days! I remember taking a much longer time mastering the cycling skill. I guess Rui has a better sense of coordination and greater self confidence than I did.

A Night at the Movies

Last night, I took the girls out to catch Shrek 4.

Yan Yan insisted on bringing her teddy along as she claimed that teddy wants to see Shrek and eat pop corn too. I had no choice but to oblige.

We took the bus, as we had to leave the car for Ben to go for his marathon training. The girls love the public transport, especially Yan. Her teddy bear caught the attention of an old uncle, who jokingly asked to have the bear. Yan Yan was adamant about not handing it over. I had to step in in case the situation boils over.

When we got to the cinema, we picked up the tickets, bought the staple pop corn and hot dog and made our way to our seats. The movie was not great, in fact, the concept was a little too grown up for kids of their age to understand, but the girls loved it anyway. I suspect they simply love the movie experience too much.

After the movie, Yan Yan rambled on about which is her favourite character (Puss) and which are Ben's, Auntie Yayu's and Rui's, even though Ben and Yayu have not seen the movie at all.

I love such outings with my girls and seeing them enjoy themselves. A simple treat can make them so happy. I am glad.

The Movie Buff?

Yan to Mommy : " Tomorrow I want to see Shrek movie. I want to eat pop corn and see Shrek Movie."

I had the feeling she was more looking forward to the pop corn than the movie.

Pottery Pieces

Shin Rae recently attended a 4-session pottery course at Clay Cove at Funan Centre. Here are her master pieces. Pretty impressive!

Helix Bridge

We made a trip to the newly opened Helix Bridge at Marina. The bridge was nice and pretty. Pity the weather was too hot and humid, even at 9pm at night!

Feeling fatigued

This semester has got to be one of the most tiring for me. I have a 10-hour teaching stretch on Tuesdays, including 4 hours in the night from 6 to 10pm. My Tuesdays start at 8am and don't end till 10pm. I don't get to see the girls in the morning and I don't get to put them to bed at night. I hate that.

Wednesdays see me rushing to class early at 830am till 3pm with a 2 hour lunch break in between. Fridays are somewhat similar.

My only respite are Mondays (free day) and Thursdays (1.5 hour lecture). But somehow there is always lots of work to clear on these 2 days.

It doesn't help that I find myself lecturing a lot in these classes. I talk so much in class that after that, I find myself clamming up to preserve my overstretched vocal cords.
This has never happened to me before in my 7 years of teaching. This is the first time I feel so tired. Is age catching up on me or has my passion for teaching waned a little?

Celebrating Mothers' Day (without the kids)

Ben and I took leave on 10 May to celebrate Mothers' Day without the kids.

We had a swim at Aunty V's condo in the morning. We had initially planned to play tennis too but I just recovered from a flu and didn't want to risk catching it again.

After the swim, we headed to do lunch at Club Street. The restaurant was Seven on Club (Aunt E had recommended it). I loved the sweets. I had creme brulee and it was good. The beef loin and the dory fish were good too!

I had wanted to visit K Ki nearby. Heard alot about its cakes and was curious. Unfortunately it was closed on Mondays. Too bad...I promised myself that I will come by again some other time.

We managed to catch Iron Man II at Vivo city. I thought it was lousy. Boring for the good first half and only got more exciting towards the end. I wouldn't recommend it.

All in all, it was a pleasant Monday without work!

Cartoons

Yan Yan loves her cartoons. She has seen them all - Up, Toy Story, Shrek, Cinderella, Bolt, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Ratatouille and many more. She can even rattle off some of the lines from the movies. See if you can identify where these come from. (Answers right at the end of this post).

Scene 1:
"Mr Fredrickson, Mr Fredrickson! Phew...I thought you were dead..."

Scene 2 :
" Don't you like us anymore?" "Oh Chip...."

Scene 3 :
"No no no!" "Mmm... (kissing sound)"









1 - Up, 2 - Beauty and the Beast, 3 - Ratatouille (when Linguine kissed Collette)

I am not a good teacher

I pride myself on being a patient lecturer towards my students in the polytechnic. If a student does not get a concept in class, I will relentlessly explain the same thing over and over again till he or she gets it without showing a tinge of impatience.

But when it comes to teaching my own daughter, Rui, I am very very short-fused.

On many occasions when I am trying to get her to spell a word herself (simple ones such as "your", "out" etc) without resorting to memory work, I will lose my temper and start scolding her. It happened again last Sunday. Unfortunately, the main door was wide open and my neighbours heard me and they asked me about it later in the night. How embarrassing...

I am going to try to rein myself in. Put on my "lecturer" mode instead of my "mother" mode. I hope I succeed.