I Am Good

My boy is coming back after a year of intensive study at a college. When I visited him about a week ago, I was reminded not to come early. "Take your time, mum." said he.

In contrast, my friend's daughter, who is also expected to join her family soon; has reminded her mum to be at the gate (of the college) one minute before her exams are due to be over.

God! It's either because he is not a girl...hence, he possesses a different set of hormones; or he knows how I dislike driving very fast, I only reach 140km/h; or worse still, to him- coming back home is a nightmare!

No, no, no. He's my boy... home is the place he wants to be.... and mum is the best chef...hehehe..

It Takes Two To Tango

One of the fears that teenagers face is the fear of not having a true friend to share their secrets with.

Maybe an adult like me never really has to think of it as I have my family members to turn to.

But teenagers are not the same. They are selective of their own family members for (another) fear of being laughed at. In short, they may end up feeling helpless........

So, parents out there.... and a reminder to me..... try ask our children if there is anything they wish to share with us. After a 1000 no's , they might say 'yes'. Hence, keep trying.... give them the opportunity to open up.......... and learn to keep our mouth shut while they relate to us their experience / problems.

They do have one.

And So I Thought!

Another 30 minutes to breaking fast, Wednesday 3 Sept 2008.

My youngest daughter, Zainab liked to treat mum as her idol.

Q : "Zainab, why are you doing that?"
A : "Mak likes doing it this way".
Q : "Zainab, what do you want to become?"
A : "A teacher, like Mak".

Sometimes, she could be exaggarating too. Eg:
Q : "Zainab, why are you wearing such tight pants?"
A : "Mak also wears like this".
(What????????)

And so my perception was that Zainab was trying to be Haslina Junior. Whatever mum did was good to her.

Things took a turn, one day. (I am not very sure whether it is for the better or worse).

On Tuesday, 26 August Zainab came home, looking very determined when she entered my bedroom. At that time, I was still weak after the operation.

"Mak, please sign here, below my essay"

"OK"

Out of curiosity, after signing at a space marked 'Dibaca oleh ibu:...', I read her essay. Let's read it together:

Cuti Sekolah.

Pada cuti sekolah yang lalu saya melawat ibu saya di Hospital Selayang. Ibu saya dibedah kerana ibu saya banyak lemak jadi itulah akibatnya sebab tak berjasmani.......

Oh gosh, I must have got the wrong message about being her idol!

Boy Oh Boy!

I was again smiling today after a very enlightening Staff Development Course in my school. "How To Counter Stress?" Err, when I read the topic I thought I liked it (even though to me it was very ordinary.....).

But this speaker was quite extraordinary. Fortunately I sat right in front of him, just the right place to 'absorb' every single word uttered by him.

At home, I was quite pleased to find that everyone had something productive to do. As I was cleaning my house, I stumbled upon my eldest son's trophies. I am proud to say that he has been chosen as "Tokoh Sukan (L) 2008 of SAMER" and "Tokoh Olahragawan SAMER 2008". At least his efforts have paid off! I had a tough time convincing him to attend tuition last year as he was extremely concerned about his co-curricular activities. To him these activities were very important but his obsession with the co-curricular activities sometimes irked me!

He finally earned his reputation not through club activities (even though I heard that he is a versatile emcee) but through the athletic event (long jump) that he took part in this year....(see who his mother is, ehem).

He finally gave in to my persistent 'nagging' at the end of 2007 and I think he would like to thank me for doing so as the tuition centre is really an eye-opener to him.

A few hours ago, I received a call from an unfamiliar caller, the ringing was brief and I decided that it could be a wrong number. When it rang again, I discovered that it was from my boy (no. 2). who had asked me to return the call immediately. As I looked at my husband with a puzzled look, my wise husband's reply was "He must have lost his handset".

Thanks to the OLYMPICS coverage from Beijing for taking 50% of my husband's attention while I was talking over the phone with my boy. True enough! "Mom, someone stole my handset. Could you please bring my old handset tomorrow? Also please can I have a new Simcard?"

I am pretty sure all those words will never reach my husband's ears 'coz mom is always the one to turn to when things get stolen, or need replacement....

Boy oh boy. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Little Sarah

As you can see, my little Sarah looks awfully unwell. Well, that's not all. Since yesterday her elder sister began to show the same symptoms.

I am acting doctor again.... who says raising children is easy?

Happy Birthday!

'23 May 1991' is a very important date....... I still remember that it was a Thursday, and it was 9 months and 18 days after we were married. And on that particular day, we were blessed with our first child who was later named M.H. b. M.

Now my little boy is 17 years old, and he has spent a good 17 years living with his mum, dad, a brother and 4 sisters.... I feel that we are trying the best we could to groom this little boy into a responsible man. It is too early to say that we have successfully achieved the desired results, but we would like him to grow up steadily............ anyway, life is a journey and not a destination.

My dear H, I would like to wish you a very Happy Birthday! Enjoy your driving lessons........