Ramadhan Menjelma Lagi...

Syukur kepada Tuhan kerana memberi kesempatan kepada kami menjalani Ramadhan lagi..this will be our 6^th Ramadhan as a family. Alhamdulillah..

Banyak betul yang perlu disettlekan during this month…preparation for hari raya especially baju for Adam and Layla.. finalise kuih raya (even diri sendiri tak beraya, kena berpantang..huahuahua..)..and finalise plan tuk new baby and berpantang..

Not to forget – preparation sepanjang Ramadhan..plan berbuka puasa and bersahur..

Im just plain lucky sebab husband tak demand makan berat time bersahur..he will settle for a bowl of cereal, kurma and hot drink..my niece pulak tak cerewet during sahur, ape yang ade dia bedal aje lah.. or kalau terlambat bangun, minum air je lah..(selalunye most of the time dia tak bangun sahur..hehehe..)

Plan berbuka pose..nak kena stock up groceries for one week..nak kena plan masak ape for a week..itu lagi pening nak fikir..

Last night ade terfikir nak bukak buku resepi, nak cari idea nak masak ape..tapi rasenye it is more practical buat all those heavy cooking over the weekends..when time is not an issue…

Weekdays during bulan puasa, bole keluar office paling awal at 4.00pm. Smooth traffic will bring me home latest by 4.45pm. So simple dishes je lah yg sempat dimasak for juadah berbuka puasa..my niece akan pergi pasar ramadhan for kuihs or for other things that she fancy..thats basically the plan lah… Setiap tahun memang masak tuk berbuka puasa…I should be proud of myself for this..hehehehe..

this time around kena banyak minta tolong from my niece..to prep for the things untuk masak..thanks ye Haena..you really helps us ALOT!

Final weekends sebelum Ramadhan, I need to finalise new baby punye barang-barang..

Oh no, where did I put the list?! It was prepared a few weeks ago… macam tak percaya, anak dah nak masuk tiga orang pun, I still need to prepare a “newborn must have” list..

I’m sure mak-mak kita dulu don’t do this thing even anak lagi lah ramai…*hats off to our mothers*..

Dah siap semua barang, akan terus dimasukkan dalam beg hospital. In any case of emergency, senang! Still teringat time delivery Layla..datang hospital for normal and scheduled check-up, terus kena masuk ward..emergency Czer. It was during 35weeks of pregnancy..lucky dah kemas semua barang.. 

Selamat berpuasa to all Muslims. Semoga Ramadhan kali ini adalah lebih baik dari yang sebelumnye..

Parenting for Four Years Old

These past few days I have been reading alot. It has been months aku meninggalkan aktiviti ni (read for the kids tu ade lah)!. Maybe I was too engrossed with other activities..plan pindah rumah, fikir and coordinate reno rumah, office work, plan bersalin, mengemas rumah...and the list goes on and on..
without me realising the exertion and strain that building up inside me..

I read about parenting for four years old. I search the net endlessly for information..

These are random thoughts from my own experience :

First of all, Adam is attending pre school. I need to be aware that it takes A LOT of energy for him to hold it together, follow the rules and listen, not to mention sitting down and focusing. 
Most four year olds, according to traditional childhood developmental standards, have the “wiggles”, have short attention spans, and have more physical energy than they know what to do with.  Compare that description to what is going on at school, and plan for lots of outside time to blow off steam when they get home.
Thats explain why balik sekolah je,Adam will ask for a few rounds of bicycle ride, and after that nak siram pokok pulak (adoi, tgh2 panas anak ku sayang dgn tak bukak baju sekolah lagi..). nonetheless, we let him do it for a few minutes..susah jugak lah nak ajak masuk rumah..

"Adam, jom masuk rumah..petang nanti we can water the plants again.." No response..
"Adam, masuk rumah lah..its hot outsides..nanti demam.." "Adam dah minum water ibu" ..*adoi lah..*
"Adam, masuk lah, kesian adik main sorang-sorang.." No response..
"Adam, jom masuk, simpan your water spray, park your bicycle, mandi and have your lunch.."
" Can I have 3 more ibu.."
After a few minutes, still tak masuk rumah...
"Adam, if you are not coming in now, ibu tutup pintu.." "Yelah, yelah...*reluctantly*
How many words / persuations am I using to this angel? Most of the times, rase frustrated because im out of idea dah...and I had to threaten him..

A four-year-old doesn’t need a lecture or a speech or guilt.  Short explanations, possibly. 
Restitution for what they did – fixing it in some way- is so important. 
But not the lecture or guilt-trip.  They really cannot comprehend it the way we as an adult can!
Many four-year-olds in a stage of disequilibrium actually need less words, less choices, more warmth and more CALMNESS from us.

The inner work of our parenting skills at this time is several-fold. The key word is to stay calm.
Take a deep breath everytime these angels spilled a cup of water, get cranky all of sudden, want things to be his way..*this is also reminder to myself :)*

Having break for a few minutes without any kids is essential. You can reflect, recharge and reconnect yourself..*maybe tido is not a really good choice tho, tapi oklah..bole recharge our energy..hehehe..*

This will definately help me to be better mother...mungkin sekarang ni, this opportunity for me is limited only after the kids are in bed...sebab balik office nak kena siapkan household works, masak and at the same time attending to the kids..susah betul nak spend quality time with the kids without maid sekarang nie..*as energy pun dah berkurang during 3rd trimester*

I need to be easy on myself.  Parenting a four-year-old is a lot of work, working to structure and balance your daily activities..
Need to work toward less words, less explanation, more warmth to these angels..*more hugs and kisses for them*
Expalin on how to fix something.. rather than just talk about the anger, upset and tiredness that I'm feeling at that moment – whew, it is hard work! 

Be easy with yourself, stay clam, love yourself and your angels as you grow as a parent.

Maid ku lari..kaburrrr…

My maid run away last night..arrggghhhh..ya Tuhan..sabo aje lah…

We were home last night around 9.00pm after completing a heavy groceries round in Carrefour. I still can vividly remember how excited Adam and Layla when we parked our car at the garage. They were jumping up and down while lloking at us from our maid’s room.

Our maid – Ani, helped us carry all the plastic bags to the kitchen and asked on where to keep and how to arrange the stuffs..while the kids swamped my husbands with all their demands for the day. I coordinate Ani’s work and assist her on what I can..

I did realised that her handphone was non-stop ringging (with vibrate mode lah kan..) but she did not pick up the phone.

I was under the impression the she wanted to complete her tasks first and will return or attend the call later..(lagilah aku bersangka baik – it must be her family from kampung agak..)

She finished keeping all the groceries and only left to bersihkan ayam..aku buat susu for the kids because it was already 9.45pm, need to put the kids to bed..

She continuded to bersihkan ayam, “ Ibu, naiklah atas dulu, saya bole selesaikan kerja-kerja di bawah ni. Lantai pun saya dah mop tadi..”

Me and husband pun naiklah atas nak tidokan Adam and Layla..

Around 10.15pm, my husband turun bawah, as the kids dah tido and he wanted to wash all the milk bottles..he can’t find our maid anywhere inside the house (dlm her room pun takde) and the kitchen door was closed without been locked up. Ingatkan Ani pergi buang sampah, tengok kat luar pun takde..she already gone..

We realised that she had geledah our house (including our bedroom) to search for her passport. She found it and took it with her lah kan..tension nye waktu tu..Tuhan je lah yang tahu..her work permit (by JP Visa) jus approved last Monday..baru tiga hari..now dah lari pulak..

Husband immediately called up police and they arrived 15minutes later. We gave them her description, passport number and also her picture.

Me, selongkar her room. Turns out she leff a note saying minta maaf, tak sengaja buat macam ni..bla..bla..bla..

She only brought with her a shirt and a pants..memang nekad betul maid-maid indon ni..

Police petrol car was outside our house until 11.30pm and they still cannot locate her…pelik betul as malam-malam at my neighbourhood, if she was on her own..sure dah dapat tangkap dah..she must been picked up by someone..

It’s a gone case lah..malas nak fikir or nak carik ke apa lagi..wasting our precious energy je..

We are really lucky (syukur kepada Tuhan) that first, she waited for us to be home and handed the kids safely, she did not leave the kids and terus cabut lari while kitaorang takde kat rumah and secondly, she did not take anything from the house..

Maid..maid..dapat majikan layan baik..tak nak kerja..lari..

Dapat majikan yang layan teruk-teruk, tak pulak lari…

Lesson learnt :

1. Tak nak bagi maid ade handphone sendiri (my first maid dulu memang takde)
2. Nak simpan pasport maid kat office (kat rumah diaorg bole cari)
3. Nak keep away all my kids punye tabung..takut nanti duit hilang tanpa disedari..
4. Mungkin nak kena tambah ‘kegarangan’ sikit..hahaha..