Saturday, May 26, 2007

School Holiday has started

Umph...school holiday has started , where should we go?

1st option would be..stay at home, do some gardening, try new recipes, read novels (I still got 2 more, nicely wrapped in plastic-untouched), go watch movies with the kids (Shrek 3 & Pirates of the Carribean)and window shopping. Part yang last tuh I can just forget it ...no money...must wait for Abah to belanja ...nasib orang tak kerja...

2nd option would be..going back to Abah's hometown in Penang. But have to wait till Tuesday, then only can decide coz Abah has 2 meetings to attend on Mon & Tues. If I go back this Wed, still have to come back by Mon coz got kenduri kahwin on Tues next week.

Anyway...Izzat has tuition every Mon, Wed & Sat...so kalau balik kampung ....ponteng le all tuition classes. Sofea has Mental Arithmetic every Sat and swimming every Sun...kalau balik kampung..ponteng la....and every Wed...both Izzat & Sofea got piano class...if balik kampung...must inform Cikgu to cancel class...

So, banyak rugi if balik kampung....but its school holiday U know!! how can we not go anywhere? Pity the kids. They deserve a vacation after finishing their Mid-year exam..flying colours or not, results not out yet la..

However, I have another family vacation planned for this July to Kota Kinabalu...I booked the tickets since early this year if I'm not mistaken...well..its Air Asia U know...if u wanna cheap tickets, U have to make booking months in advance! So, I can just tell the kids that our vacation is planned this July and not during this school holiday...I hope they'll understand..(I'll use this excuse if Abah decided not to balik kampung..ha..ha..ha..) But I'll still bring them somewhere near ...maybe we'll go Aquaria...my kids been asking about it. If only they have another Book Fair. Then I can borong and make them occupied for 2 weeks. Kejam ke? And if we didn't go anywhere pun, the kids can still have fun at the swimming pool at the club everyday, if they larat la..

Whatever we decided to do for the next 2 weeks, first & foremost...must visit my beloved Mak ...dah lama tak visit since the kids preparing for their exam. Manusia yang paling aku sayang besides my kids & Abah. She is loved by everyone around her. Be it my siblings, my kids, nieces & nephews and even my ipar duai and neighbours (she used to stay with me for 5 years). Nantilah, one day I will dedicate a special posting just about Mak...I bet it'll be lengthy..

My daughter Sofea has been nagging for her flippers...now that she's in the advance class, her swimming instructor had asked her to get it since 2-3 weeks ago. Until now, I haven't get for her (bila dah tak kerja nih, malas betul nak merayau...I was once Ratu Rayau during my working time...maybe I had enough of window shoppings sampai jelak nak gi shopping complex). Last weekend went to Subang Parade, but they didn't have her size. Tot of looking in One U..kat sana kan ader Speedo boutique...sian Sofea, dat day she borrowed Izzat's sampai ader blisters all over her kaki coz the size is too big, too much of movement/geseran between the empty space and her foot... sampai jalan terjengket2. Next week must go out for flippers hunting trip...

Btw, Izzat was nominated for Head Prefect post for next year, he and one more Std 5 student...cepatnyer nominate?? belum habis 1/2 year lagi. Anyway, pakcik tuh dah berangan that he's gonna get it since he has been in the 1st class since Std 2. So I took this opportunity to brainwash him by telling him dat he has to buck up in order to win the post. Better improve your result coz to be a Head Prefect, ones has to be an all As student. Its the criteria set by the Kementerian... Aku agak aje, tapi betul ke?

Like I've mentioned in my earlier posting, sometimes he gets B for BM especially and English too (occasionally). His results for both subject if dapat B pun will be in the range of 75 to 79...but still B la..So I hope, in the next 2 exams, he will excel...knowing dat getting all As will brighthen his chance to win d post...InsyaAllah.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

A busy week

It had been a busy week for me & the kids. Since the last posting I made in early May, I never really had the chance to do any posting or visit any other blogs which I normally do. Since early last week, after the movie trip, I was busy preparing my kids for their Mid-Year Exam. I've never sent my kids for any tuition since they were in Std 1. As long as I can still teach them, I'll do that on my own.

When I was still working.... not so long ago, in the week before their exam week, I'll normally schedule all my sales visits in the morning so that I can be home by lunch to teach and monitor their study and to prepare them well for their exam. (In the sales line, we are free to come and go as we like, schedule our sales visits as and when, up to our liking and mood. It is so flexible that sometime, we don't even have to apply for leave if something came up.. impromptu ie. old friend calls for lunch, school events or even shopping. To my boss, as long as I'm bringing in new prospects and clients and meeting my targets, nothing else matters. You can go shopping, do errands, even sleep at home..nobody cares)

Back to exam....My daughter Sofea is in Std 2 and until now, she still hasn't understand the need to study for exam...exam or not, she couldn't care less. I really need to lecture her about the needs to study & prepare for exam...No doubt she's a smart girl but if you don't practise to answer exam questions properly, still U won't get good result. It'll be full of careless mistakes. Even if I managed to get her to study, she won't stay for long...after 5 to 10 mins, she'll start to wander off or play with Adib. But if she can grab hold of her storybook, amboi!!!! 1 hour passed just like that! Sometime siap boleh argue ngan mama dia..
"Sofea, study lah..kan nak exam"
"Nak study aper Mama..."
"Study all the subjects la...read the school books & do the exercise books yg Mama beli"
"Kan Cikgu dah ajar Sofea dah...kat sekolah"
"Cikgu ajar dah lama...mesti Sofea dah luper sikit ...kena read again, so U remember the answers"
"Sofea sill remember la Mama"

I remember when she was in Std 1, she hardly study for exam, main jawab ajer....ok pulak...but anyhow, I still need to instill studying habit in her. Std 1 is still pretty easy...more common sense. But now, she's in Std 2. The questions getting harder n harder.

As for my eldest,Izzat, not so much of a problem. He knows when to study, but, his only interests only in Science & Math....but most & foremost.... History...any kind of histories, he'd be interested especially sejarah para Rasul, Nabi & Pahlawan Islam. He knows most of the histories of our Nabis, Rasuls, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, Iskandar Zulkarnain (or Alexander The Great-he'd read both versions) and many other ancient histories. His superheroes are Umar Khatab, Uthman Bin Affan, Sayyidina Ali & Abu Bakar Al-Sidiq and their stories are at his fingertips. Too bad, they don't have History subject in Std 5...

As for BM & English, so-so only. Sekejap A...sekejap B...Since early this month, he insisted to go for tuition as most of his friends go tuition and they scored in exam....so as he said la.." Takper la Darling, U want to go tuition, I send U " (he has since started tuition begin early May)... we'll see your result this July & final whether it makes any different.


Anyway kids, I have done my best to teach all the subjects my way....all the best to you!

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the Mamas especially all the blogging Mamas out there!!!! But most importantly...to my dearest Mak ....sorry, for not being there with U to celebrate this auspicious day like we normally do every year.

I plan to go n see my dearest Mak this Sat for a belated hugs & kisses. Need to remind myself to bake a carrot cake and Pizza(her absolute favourite)for her.

Last Saturday on eye of Mother's Day, Abah bought me a new HP..Thanks Abah. He knows I been wanting that Motorola -Motto Razr since late last year when I was about to resign knowing my -canggih company owned Nokia phone- will have to be handed back to the company. So I've been planning to buy Motorola using my last drawn salary...tapi tak terbeli lagi until my beloved Abah gave it as a Mother's Day gift..Yeay!!! Ya Allah....murahkanlah rezeki suami ku...Amin.

Anyway, sempat juga gi celebrate Mother's Day with several closed friends in the neighbourhood. After telling Izzat the pages he has to do in the exercise books, my friends and me (plus Sofea la....if I don't bring her memang confirmed takkan study, so I brought her along since 2 of my friends brought their daughters too, happened to be Sofea's best friends) went to have Hi-Tea in Sun & Surf at Sunway Hotel & Resort; of course with Abah's permission. After Hi-Tea, we (the Mamas & daughters)went merayau at Sunway Pyramid for a while...got myself a blouse...nice one...then on our way home sempat lagi having nice chats at Secret Recipe in our neighbourhood before adjourning ourselves. Merayau sakan kaum Ibu while our husbands golfing. Once home....continue ajar anak... nak periksa!!!!

Sunday, May 6, 2007

A movie trip

Last Saturday we fulfilled Izzat's wish to watch movie with 3 (he demanded 5, but my car couldn't fit in more)of his best friends. On that auspicious day, my 7-seater MPV had an extra 1 passenger than its limit of 7. Anyway, since Sofea is the skinny type while Adib is only 4+ so they shared a seat with so much refusal at first. Anyway, Izzat brought Imran, Akeem and Wafi all his best friends n classmates to watch Spiderman 3.

When he first suggested about this trip a couple of months ago, I wasn't paid attention to it. Well...its Izzat you know..he has all the plans in the world to do this and that but the bulks of it still remained as plans. Only some managed to materialise.

But for this trip, he's been nagging me for the past few weeks since publicity on the movie started to flame...

So back to the trip, bila gi berlapan tuh, fuh terasa cam ader keluarga besar pulak aku.....camni agaknyer kalau aku ader anak 6 orang erk..teringat kat citer Rombongan Makcik Kiah...he.he..he...

Luckily, the boys were all very well behaved...yelah..dah bujang ..11 years old dan dah ader perasaan malu pulak. We went to watch at TGV Sunway Pyramid, our usual place for movie. I had to book the tickets twice, since there were 8 of us and only 6 can be booked at one particular time. Dah ader booking numbers pun masih ader problem masa kat ticket booth. My 2nd booking was cancelled it seems, as per the computer screen la...anyway after much arguing and begging, they gave seats jugak...God knows who its belong to. I hope I didn't ruin anybody's booking.

The movie was good, full of actions, funny pun ader jugak bila part otak si Peter tuh dah mereng sikit sebab pakai suit hitam ..sekali-sekali tergugat jugak jantung aku ... overall the kids had fun. Perut pun kenyang...Abah ( hubby....aku pun call dia Abah) belanja sakan .....sampai aje di Sunway Pyramid lepas gi amik tickets terus makan di A&W nearby..then masa watch movie Abah beli popcorn & drinks. Then once the movie finished, we had pizza at Pizza Hut.

Masa tengah makan, sempat diorang citer kat aku pasal another movie yang diorang tonton. Aku ingat movie aper, ruper2nyer a chinese couple in front of the buat movie ...u know what....

Masa nak balik, Izzat siap minta another trip for his other friends whom we couldn't bring earlier, to watch Pirates of the Carribean....aku cakap ngan dia....InsyaAllah..Mama taknak promise anything.....kena tanya Abah dulu ye...

Seronok bukan main aku tengok si Izzat tu n his friends. Bukan diaorang tak biasa gi tengok wayang, tapi kali nih ader kawan2 lain la sikit....Then when we sent each n everyone of his friends home, Wafi's mom gave us a large pizza from Dominos...rezeki la pulak...baru aje lepas pekena pizza...so that was our breakfast the next day...

Saturday, May 5, 2007

A housewife...I am

I pity my kids nowadays. Before, when I was still working, Almost..everything they asked for, nak beli toys ke, games or baju ke, I'll get it for them almost instantly... Being a working mom, masa tuh duit pun penuh kocek..top up with that, I was also in the sales line, which made me very mobile..so takat nak gi shopping complex kat mana2 tuh tak jadi hal le..bila2 masa aje I boleh gi..

But now that I'm not working anymore, everything become bersyarat...tunggu Abah bagi Mama duit dulu, Abah belum dapat gaji lagi, kids...remember.. I'm not working anymore k, pakai duit raya you all ok, improve your result dulu baru Mama beli, ingat duit turun dari langit?.. and many more answers/excuses from me.

I'm the generous type of mom tapi masih bertempat..Tak le sampai my kids mintak aper2 pun dapat...(they have been taught to ask things when necessary only) but most of the time they will get what they asked for. Izzat usually will ask for his xbox games, pirated DVDs, board games (favourite dia la tuh) and other sport stuff like racket la, baseball bat la, bola la ...Sofea will normally asks for Barbie related stuffs like stickers, DVDs, baju, stationeries dan anything Barbie...and my youngers plak...nothing but kereta mainan...yang kecik, besar, remote ke takder remote ke semua dia sapu...dan buku of course , as my kids semua hantu buku...Tapi aku tak pernah le guna lagi excuse2 cam kat atas tuh...not that I know of..ye la...semua yang diorang mintak pun bukannyer mahal sangat...so aku bagi je..mama loaded plak tuh..

Tapi bila dah berhenti kerja nih...takleh la nak beli ajer...akupun survive on allowance fixed and agreed by hubby masa aku decide nak memperhambakan diri untk anak2,jadi housewife..No doubt aku ader jugak fikir pasal nih sebelum quit...tapi bila the real event took place... ohhh..camni rupenyer...patutla kakak aku asyik aje membebel kat anak2 dia bila diorang mintak itu ini...now kena kat batang hidung sendiri...

So sekarang after 5 months aku tak kerja, my kids pun dah faham... beli aper yang termampu..tapi takes time le...this is what I feel most during tak keje nih...fulus...bukan tak cukup...tapi kena berjimat...

Inilah pengorbanan Mama buat korang......harap2 anak2 aku membesar jadi manusia yang patuh pada perintah Allah, memghormati orang tua, murah rezeki serta hidup yang diberkati Allah..

The important things of all....I feel so good to be with my children..tengok diaorang membesar depan mata...taklah cam dulu..selalu bila aku call mykids at home, aku punyerlah rindu yang teramat sangat...mesti nangis kat office..(masa tulis ni pun aku dok nangis..teringat masa dulu2 nak tinggalkan diaorang gi kerja) I don't have datelines, meetings, targets and site visits to think of. No need to pening kepala pagi2 dok fikir what baju to wear, which tudung to match...Syukur Allah murahkan rezeki hubby tok support all of us..

So to those career women out there....don't hesitate to follow your guts.

Listening to my kids' stories about school n friends during lunch, stopping their arguments, drying their tears and sharing their hugs, supporting them during problems ... and victories, helping them with their homeworks, chauffering them to and from school, tuition, religous school etc. I can never turned back the years that I missed spending enough time with them, but look forward for the years ahead. To be a fulltime housewife is my best career of all!!!!