Zaryff's homework

Zaryff had problems doing his homework last week. He wanted to go to sleep instead. After school it seems that dia asyik main with his bike, and by the time after dinner, dia dah mengantuk and cranky.

"Zaryff nak tidur!!" he shouted.

"No! You do your homework first. Tadi janji macamana?" I was beginning to loose my temper.

"Zaryff nak tidur! Nak tidur! Nak tidur!"

I carried him to the study room, and sat him next to his school bag.

"Ni mama dah bukak kan bag, cari buku mana ada homework, mama tolong." I tried to pujuk dia lagi.

"Taknak!!!!!" he shouted and started to cry loudly.

"Please la, Zaryff... kita buat homework sekejap aje, lepas tu boleh tidur" I bukak the bag besar2 depan dia.

"Zaryff ngantukkkkk!!!!!" his crying became louder and started sobbing.

At this point, he started to cough....

"Zaryff, jangan nak buat batuk pulak" I said.

He continued his crying and coughing.

"Zaryff, jangan buat batuk macam tu, nanti mun........"

"Uwek!!!!!" Zaryff muntah betul2 dalam beg sekolahnya yang FULL of his school books.

Sigh................

Zaryff can really be charming if he wants to.

They just can't be separated ...........

Puteri forever ready to pose.


Puteri won consolation prize in a State Level Arts Competition.

Mia and Anastassia in one of the wet rides in Genting during the last hols.

Mia in her taekwondo outfit in one of the activities that was held in her school.

Big House vs Small House

My mom's house, which has gone through several renovation, can be considered big. The kids have been staying there all their life. I moved in when Mia was about 1 year old. The reason, my mom wanted to take care of the kids and she was very against me leaving the baby (Mia) with the maid alone in our house in KL.

I have a condo that I bought, just for the sake of buying. Dont plan to stay there, dont plan to rent it out. Its just that since I was young, It was my dream to have a condo or apartment which has a pool and secluded, especially no garden to maintain. And it has to be cute and small. And when I saw a newly built Villa, perched on top of a hill with European designs from the entrance to the condo itself, I knew I just had to own a unit. And syukur, the unit that I chose is located in the most beautiful block, best location with easy access to the pool, although not so near, hence giving us a bit of privacy. The clubhouse is also another plus.

Few months ago, me and hubby decided to decorate it, for us to spend time there during weekends. My parents merajuk, (their house sunyi without the kids) whereas i am starting to fall in love with the place, even rushing back to the condo during lunch time.

Spending the time in the condo made me realize the huge difference in staying in a big house and a small house. The environment is different, and there's an impact in family interaction. What made me write this entry is because of a question by Mia, when she called yesterday. She asked "Mama, I'm coming back home on Friday. Nanti kita balik rumah Wan ke, balik kat Villa?"

"Tak sure lagi. Why?"

"Mia nak balik rumah Wan...."

"Kenapa pulak? Mana2 pun tak kisah, kan?"

"Mmmm..." giving the tone that it does matter to her.


All the other kids LOVE staying at the condo. They can't wait for Friday to come and pop up the question. "Mama, are we going back to the villa? Please mama.... say yes...."

Mia in the other hand, prefers my mom's house.


Things that I noticed :

1. In my mom's house, you can get a lot of privacy. Macam when I was sick dulu, I stayed in my room. Selagi I tak keluar and turun bawah, memang tak berdecit dengar suara my kids. Its as if I'm alone in the house.

2. If hubby were to watch tv in the living room, dia tak akan "ter"serempak with the kids, unless he goes to the study room tengok mereka buat homework.

3. The family will only gather as a one big family during lunch and dinner.

4. At the condo, we will able to see each other all the time, unless one of us masuk bedroom or pergi toilet. From the kitchen, I can see the kids doing homework and also see hubby watching tv. Tak dapat nak hide. Well Anastassia selalu lock herself in her room, but still, we can see pintu bilik dia and tau her whereabouts.

5. Family interaction at the condo is more.

6. Its hard to get the kids to concertrate baca buku at the condo. It makes me appreciate having the quietness at the study room in my mom's house. And the small library, which we made last year to separate the elder kids with the smaller kids masa buat homework. (Puteri and esp Zaryff bising masa buat homework, kacau concrntration their sisters)


I guess, Mia at her age, wants more privacy and quiet, and she would get this more at her Wan's place. I guess dia rimas at the condo. Come to think of it, the entire condo is almost as big as my mom's kitchen.....

Siapakah yang patut dipersalahkan?

One of the things that irritates me is to see kids dengan selambanya naik motor. These kids blatantly bawak motor with no helmet and from their sizes, I can bet that some of them are still in their primaries.

Budak2 secondary school, malah SPM leavers pun ramai yg bawak motor especially dalam kawasan Taman Perumahan. And yang Helena sakit hati, they are very aggresive on the road, bawak laju, konar baring and agaknya they think that kepala mereka kepala batu kut. No helmets.

Budak2 perempuan pun sama, ada sekali I honked these 2 teenagers yang bawak motor terhoyong hayang sebab sambil bawak motor tgh dok smsing, budak2 bertudung (no helmet) ni actually gave me tunjuk isyarat lucah pada I. If I was in such in a hurry, I would have followed them home.

Salah siapa?

Pada Helena, salah IBU BAPA. Tak ambil kisah pasal anak dan apa yg dia buat. Dan mereka lupa, perkara2 begini endangers the society. Menbahayakan road users yang lain.

Kenapa bagi motor kat anak kalau takde lesen?

Kalau ye pun ada lesen, bila anak keluar tu, kenapa tak tengok whether they are following the rules? (Assuming budak2 ni still below 20)

I asked a friend, kenapa dia beri kunci motor pada anak lelakinya yg baru Form 1 tu? Senang aje jawabnya.... sebab nak mintak tolong pergi belikan barang kat kedai. Habis tu, apa guna perdana yg parked kat rumah tu? Apa guna kancil kat rumah tu? Adakan ini contoh emak pemalas? Adakah ini contoh emak lepas tangan? bapaknya pun tak reti nak jaga anak? Siap belikan motor utk anak yg umurnya 13 tahun?

Sorry if I'm a bit rough here, but I just dont get it.

Polis ni pun satu. Konon stumped dengan accidents yg meningkat every year. Cant they go to the root cause? Bilakah seseorang itu diperkenalkan pada kenderaan bermotor. Mostly, I would say at 13 la kut, sebab mak bapak bangang dah kasi motor bagai pada anak. And at that young age, the kids will learn to be irrespectful of the law. So benda ni dah embedded in them dari kecil lagi la. So bila dah dapat lesen, apa lagi, who cares about the law right? Thats not what their parents taught them.

Itu baru motor. Family yang senang sikit, belikan kereta. baru 15 tahun dah kasi anak bawak kereta pergi kedai. Hello? Lepas tu accident, pandai pulak bila buat report kata si ayahnya yg bawak. Elokla tu.

Mmm.... sorry tu say la, BODOH sebenarnya parents like these. I dont know what they are trying to prove.


Note : I dont normally use the word bodoh and bangang, but in this case......

A TRIBUTE FOR WORKING MOTHERS WHO DOES NOT HAVE MAIDS.


I've been going maidless a for 2 weeks now. Although I acknowledge that I am lucky to have a maid, but these last 2 weeks made me realize how much.

I would like to make it known here how much I respect the many working mothers out there who manage to organize their household with no maid. (Especially working mothers who still have small children at home) From cooking, to washing clothes, hanging clothers, ironing, clearing up the kitchen after every meal, mopping, sweeping AND monitoring the kids with their homework, giving the "soft nudge" to study at least a page per day, giving emotional support and being there for them every time they gaduh among each other, etc...... Itu tak masuk lagi driving them to their tuition classes.


Without a maid, I noticed that .................

1. I could not sit next to my children when they do their homework.

This would create problems especially for Zafry, so instead of spending 1 hour for homework, he'll end up with 2 hours. (asyik dok main dgn ruler and pencil, imagining them to be aeroplanes and rockets) And in the end he becomes cranky sebab its almost bedtime and he gets sleepy and panicky sebab homework tak siap.

Untuk Anastassia pun problem jugak sebab she would curi2 do her drawing.


2. I could not monitor my children punya studies.

Bila dah busy, I could not make them do their revision. Janji siap homework and school bags are packed, kira dah untung sangat. Hanya harap pada tuition aje.

3. I could not create a fun environment in the house.

I would not talk much as I would concerntrate in racing against time to do my house work. The time that I would open my mouth are only to order the kids to do this and that. If I get no response (which normally that is the case), you can hear me shouting.

4. I could not be there 100% for my children.

Although I do listen to their stories and frustation and complaints, I can just do so while I do my ironing, for example. I cant like sit them on my lap and hug them sambil belai rambut mereka as I normally do. The personal touch is lesser.

5. I would loose my temper easily.

With hubby not around most of the time, it is hard. Driving them to tuition, piano classes, art class, etc does take a lot of my time, esp since, the classes I sent to are not near my house. As I only send them to the best places, most of them would be a good 30 mins from home.

Yesterday, Anastassia came back from a 3 day camping trip. I really lost my temper as she told me that she lost the sarung of the sleeping bag, her much loved sentimental value umbrella which she bought in Hong Kong and her syampoo. I counted to 10 to make myself cool down as I can feel I was about to naik hantu. (Masa tu memang dah serabut because a lot of baju tak berlipat and of course belum gosok, have yet to clear the wet swimming suits dari pagi, and dapur tak berkemas)

Mmmm............ please God give me strength.....

I really dont mind, but..................

Since I was in my secondary year, we used to have this makcik who would come membasuh baju and mopping at the house twice a week. After I had Mia and then had a maid, we still retained this makcik, saja2 aje knowing that she needs the monthly dough.

As she got older, we decided she should just basuh baju, especially after she started complaining sakit kaki most of the time. A lot of people wondered why we didnt let her go, esp since it was obvious that with the maid around, we really didnt need her. Akan tetapi, as her husband is sickly, and anak2 tak membantu, infact ada yg drug addict and infact sorang meninggal from AIDS, we knew for a fact that she needed the job. So we kept her.

After I moved to my mom's house from Ampang after Mia was born, I started to give her a lift home, whenever bertembung di tengah jalan. Sometimes, I would send her to the kedai runcit for her to buy groceries. I pity her for having to walk a good 3 km each way. (Our house is not the house dia pergi utk upah membasuh) Dulu2 when her husband was well, her husband would pick her up via motorbike.

After her husband passed away late last year, she stopped working altogether, citing that she wants to balik kampung and furthermore her health is deteriorating. We were happy that finally she can stop working and have her sons support her instead. However to my suprise, last month she came back, asking for her job back. We had no problem with her request, and said ok. Tapi hairan jugak....

During the first two times that she came to work, after she's done, she would use our phone to call her son's hp. And her son would pick her up, apparently dengan muka mencuka. Her son is in his 30s, and nampak sangat makcik ni selalu kena marah dengan anak dia ni. The third time, she came to work, she called her son as usual, but he didnt pick up the phone. As I was at home at that time, I sent her home. The same thing happened the forth time she came to work.

The next time she came to the house, dia mengadu kat my mom, that her son refuses to fetch her anymore. Her son said that dia mengganggu her son nak tidur. My mom read between the lines and told her, "No problem, Helena can send you back. You dont have to ask your son to fetch you anymore" She nodded in relief.

So now, twice a week, I would send her home, on my way to work. Although her house is on the way, but I do have to do a bit of a detour. I have no problem doing this, although this little detours always make me late for work.

I really dont mind helping her out, infact I always did volunteer hantar dia balik for the last 13 years. There are other things that I do for her, tapi tak payah cerita lah. But what disturbs me is the thought that her son is at home, snoring away. Nak kata sakit, sihat walafiat. Nak kata penat kerja shift malam, anak dia is actually not working. So what gives? Her son's wife pun pagi2 keluar babysit anak orang, suami kat rumah melengkar kat rumah. Tak ada rasa bersalah ke emak yang dah tua bertongkat itu dibuat sebegitu? Senang pulak hidup ye, kena tanggung bagai.

Entahla. Infact, everytime I sent the makcik home, I would always see a few guys in their 30s and 40s loiterring and lepakking around kat tepi longkang. Some still in their baju tidur and kain pelikat! Tak pergi kerja ke. Or if nak bersangka baik, I would say maybe mereka kerja shift malam..... but I doubt it.

Mmm............. Like I said, I really dont mind, but.......

TAGGED FOR CHARITY

I was tagged by mamamia & nj. Tagging originally started by Idham.

In the name of charity, Mr.Idham has created a meme to collect at least RM10,000 for the Darul Izzah Orphanage in Bangi. For every person (tagged by someone or self-tagged) who completes the meme, Mr Idham will contribute RM127.

Remember, we need 100 memes by 26th August. Once this tag is done, please leave a comment on his blog to inform him that you have done the tag.

Okay, this is the rule.

If you are tagged, you need to write an entry related to the meme. At the end of your entry you just need to tag as many bloggers as you like. You will then leave a comment in their blog to let them know they have been tagged. And to include this message, "By doing this meme you are contributing rm127 to the Darul Izzah Orphanage".

Then please copy and paste this rule somewhere in your entry.

The meme is about completing at least seventeen out of the following twenty seven sentences.

*These can be copied and pasted to your entry*




I decided to complete all. Here goes....


1. A person is only as good as his intentions and actions.

2. Friendship is always about sincerity.

3. To love is to give your all, though not stupidly.

4. Money makes me smile...... and smile.... and smile..... hey I'm grinning now.... hehe.

5. I miss standing on the weighing machine and see the number 42.

6. My way of saying I care is by being there during the bad times.

7. I try to spread love and happiness by living my life my way and loving it and be happy always.

8. Pick the flowers when you feel like it.

9. To love someone is to love his bad habits too.

10. Beauty is something that most people yearn for.

11. When I was thirteen, what I remember the most was experiencing my 1st year of secondary school, and realizing that...... hey.... boys exist! haha!

12. When I was twenty one, I remember being hopelessly in love with hubby, with admirers wanting to steal me away from him...... hehe.

13. I am most happy when I'm spending quality time with my children.

14. Nothing makes me happier than having the whole family in good health.

15. If I can change one thing, I will change my outlook in life when I was a teenager.

16. If smiles were given a price tag, then I would still be the way I am now. Haha. Yeah, I dont have a smiling face.

17. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just not go to work but still get a paycheck at the end of the month?

18. If you want to be successful in life, then you have to study very hard. (Told this to Anastassia last night)

19. Money is not everything but money is so very very important.

20. The most touching moments I have experienced is when I delivered my 4 babies. I would visualize and remember the overwhelming experience every night before I go to sleep for the next few months after I deliver a child.

21. I smile when ever I think of my children, especially the cute things that they do.

22. When I am happy, I go shopping and raid the stores!

23. If only I don't have to go on a diet, then I would have had a more "meaningful" life. Hehe.

24. The best thing I did yesterday was I became a working mother AND a full time housewife. Very tiring, however very fullfilling.

25. If I ever write a book, I will give it this title,"My love for my children".

26. One thing I must do before I die is to perform the Hajj.

27. Doing this meme, I feel like I'm doing a small part in making the world a better place to live in.



To help Idham expedite his effort, I would like to tag :

Aku Betul!

Izz Sofead

Ahni

intan

sherrina

Maidless

I feel so tired! My maid left on Tuesday, and i have been doing house chores nonstop.

I am a bit particular on clothes, so I did tonnes of ironing. Saturday was the worst, as I picked up Mia's laundry and have to have it washed and ironed by Sunday petang. It wont be so bad to just concerntrate doing house work, but as I had to also send the kids for tuition, swimming class, art competition, etc, it was very rushing and hectic. I was almost late for an office dinner function on Saturday night!

Friday was the kids Canteen Day. Started our PIBG burger stall as early at 7:30 am. (The whole week tidur lambat buat cards for Gerai Seni) After that I bukak counter teka kacang. Penat jugak nak kira kacang - 1669 nuts altogether! The kids had fun, the canteen day as a success sampaikan kupon kena cetak 3 kali! Obviously profit this year would be much higher than last year.

Saturday - there was another Arts competition for Anastassia and Puteri. Anastassia won 3rd prize, Puteri won 5th prize. It was tiring tunggu results under the hot sun.

Sunday, hubby bought 6 biji durian, asalnya sebab Zaryff nak durian. Tapi bila dah beli, Zaryf nak seulas dua aje. And I was expected to eat the rest of the durian! ALamak! In the family, only me and Mia yg hantu durian, Zaryff pulak baru start suka durian few months back, but not much of an eater.

Cant wait for the last episode of Heroes this Wednesday.