Archive for » May, 2010 «

The Black Wednesday

19 May 2010 by

How many black Wednesdays are there in Thailand? Oh well, I lost track. Frankly, I do agree that the major crackdowns are necessary to restore the order and teach all these protesters a good lesson that they should respect ELECTION and cannot bring down the government whenever they like. They have no idea how much lost their own country is facing, and how much inconvenience they have caused. Oh ya, I forgot, they are mostly poor and uneducated.

That would probably explain how important education is, and why most Thai would rather pay for private schools. Not to say that their government schools are not good but the good ones are pretty hard to get. So, better just send for private education. But these poor people…how to say ah?

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This photo taken by a journalist, in the RED SPOT, of a parent with a kid. If you think the little toddler is the only one, think again. There are hundreds of kids there, and they are all allowed to leave in PEACE, but some still stay there. Weird parents…Just because you have FREE FOOD, a mat to sleep, doesn’t mean your kid should go along.

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Ok, my post was interrupted. I wrote this during lunch hour, talking to the phone with hubby who’s away for days. Then the school called and asked to pick our kids NOW. Apparently, schools are closed from 1pm today and will only start again next week. The Red leaders surrendered, some fled away. Cowards.

But the real violence might have just begun as some protesters are very angry with the situation, and might not go home as arranged by the authority. Frankly, they should all be put in jail, but Thailand has always been very “human”, they will be sent home by buses. Can you believe that?

I shall share some photos, taken by one of the brave journalists who cover the story in Bangkok. My condolence to the Italian report who’s shot dead today, and many others who’s wounded throughout this incident.

Maybe it’s over now, and peace and order will be resumed.

Ok, my post sounds weird as the head and tail don’t connected. But if you are a mother staying here, and picked up calls from school to get your kids IMMEDIATELY for safety reason, you might be talking nonsense like me too.

Category: Bangkok  4 Comments

Back to School

17 May 2010 by

It’s the first day at the new school for the new school year.

We woke the kids up at 6.30am but only Justin managed to get up. I must say that he’s a very good boy, when he’s not driving me nuts with his stubbornness some times. :P He went downstairs for breakfast and TV!!!

Previously, TV was not allowed on school day, and the kids only watched TV on Friday night until Sunday afternoon. But this time, hubby let them watch TV. When I asked about this change of plan, he said, “So, you think you can handle them without TV?” Wah seh, like he’s putting the blame on me for letting our kids watch TV! But I do agree that the TV is the only babysitter I have, so I really NEED it. :P

Isabelle only woke up at 7am, and she was so blur with the new routine. LOL! Thank god she didn’t throw her usual morning tantrum, and the kids still managed to leave home before 8am. The school is only a stone throw away, so they shouldn’t be late, even if it starts earlier than the old school. Hubby dropped the kids at school first to settle some payment, and I dropped by shortly after. I thought the kids might be feeling awkward with the new friends and teachers, but what to you know, they were so surprised to see me and even asked me what am I doing there?

Ok la…they don’t need mommy to be there anymore, I might as well leave and go to work….Gee…that kind of feeling was like slowly letting go of the kites…reluctantly, but so proud of my kids at the same time. :)

School ends at 2.30pm this week, thus I left work during lunch hour to do some grocery and pick them up. When I was there, I saw Justin playing with the other kids, and he’s always good at making friends. His Filipino teacher told me that he’s good at phonic (only the first sound, I think), and doing his work well.

As for Isabelle, I saw her munching on the snack and a big plate of guava, which was meant to be shared among some kids. No one was eating but only my gal. Everyone was preparing to go home. She even told me to wait for her to FINISH the guava. O.o That’s how much she loves fruits!

Other than that, I have just found out that the school serves fresh milk twice per day, so I may not need to pack UHT milk for the kids anymore. But then, I will still pack some for them this week, just in case Isabelle is picky with the taste of fresh milk.

Oh ya, I thought I’ve done all my back to school shopping, but who knows, I haven’t bought them toothbrushes, mugs and toothpastes! Isabelle needs a new swimsuit too, I can’t just let her wear bikinis at swimming class. :P After this week, hubby will pay for intensive English program, which is carried out after school. That should give me another hour at work and school ends at 3.30pm. I think I will skip the homework coaching session first, if not, it will drag for another hour and it’s too tiring for the kids.

Back to school means p*kkai to parents.

Category: Isabelle, Justin, Mothering Moments, School Matters  Comments off

Happy Mother’s Day

08 May 2010 by

The Thais do not celebrate Mother’s Day tomorrow, but hey, I’m not Thai. LOL! It might be just another to most mothers, but I hope that you will get some rest and spend the day just like you wish.

I wish that I can step into Paragon to grab some Chinese magazines from Kinokuniya and grab a nice pasta at one of the Italian cafes there. But then, this wish won’t come true due to you-know-what’s-the-reason. So, I save myself from taking phentermine because having pasta can be quite fattening.

But anyway, my parents will be here tomorrow evening, so we might be eating out. It’s been years since I spend Mother’s Day with my mom.

Again, Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers out there. Have a nice weekend!

Category: Special Day  2 Comments

SAT Preparation

08 May 2010 by

My kids are still young, so I still haven’t figured out where will they further studies or if they need to sit for SAT. If your kids are preparing for SAT, maybe your can check out these various SAT courses offered by Kwenton. The course can be done online, and a 14-days free trial of sat prep is available at this website too.

Most international schools are offering SAT preparation course too. But I don’t need to know much about it now. :P

Category: Others  Comments off

I Want a Rabbit Please

08 May 2010 by

The kids read Peter and Jane books almost everyday. Actually, only Justin can read and he’s doing 4a now, while we read 1a and 1b to Isabelle who can only recognize some words. In one of these books, there is a part where Peter and Jane bought a rabbit, and the kids love that part so much.

Isabelle asked us to get her a bunny as her birthday gift. Thus, I brought them to a pet shop to check out the price and getting a bunny is not costly at all. However, hubby is totally against it as he’s concerned with who is going to take care of the rabbit when we are away, or not around during the day. So, after 2 or 3 trips to the same pet shop, we are still putting a halt on getting her a bunny.

In the end, she just got another Barbie and a Barbie’s bed and bathroom set for her birthday. So she asked me, “when am I getting a rabbit?” I told her on her next birthday, we will talk about this again.

Since that conversation, our little girl EATS better. She said, “I want to grow up (to be) 5 years old and buy (a) rabbit.” Having this “vision” settled her fussing eating issue at the moment. :) She’s lost some chubbiness during her food strike phrase, probably even faster than me losing weight with the best weight loss products. She doesn’t eat as much as before, but it’s progressing.

Category: Isabelle  One Comment

School Orientation

08 May 2010 by

We brought the kids to their school orientation this morning, but we didn’t finish the whole session. Hubby left before it’s started because he had to go to the office. He doesn’t need cell phone signal booster for his 2 phones which kept buzzing him the whole morning. :P Forever so busy…

I left early too because the kids had started monkeying around and getting bored with the session. It’s not really an orientation but more like briefing about the school’s new programs and activities. I’ve bought the school uniform, so our kids didn’t have to stay back to try them out. As for books, I’ll get them on the first day of school. No point getting them now as being a lazy mom, I won’t let the kids start “reading” the books either. :P Oh ya, I wonder if I should wrap them? Or just leave them like this? LOL!

At the previous school, they hardly had to bring the books home except for homework or exam revision. So, if this school practices the same system with individual locker for the kids, I don’t see the point of wrapping the books. Trust me, the books will look quite new after a year, and I always dumped them to my cleaner after the last term. I don’t keep the books. :P

I think my kids will really enjoy this new school, considering that it has both Montessori and satit systems here. Too bad the school booklet is written in Thai, so I can’t really understand the contents. If I’m not wrong, the school starts at 8am, so hubby will drop the kids off on the way to work. That will give me lots of free time to get myself ready to work in the morning, instead of rushing like h*ll. School hour ends at 2.30pm, but we will pay for extra English classes and drag for another hour. So, I’ll pick them up at 3.30pm and go home straight. It should be better than bringing them back to the office as the kids can have some play time in the evening.

Ok, let’s see how things go when school starts after next week.

Category: School Matters  Comments off

Justin’s Cycling on 2 Wheels

06 May 2010 by

A quick update again. :) I’ve been very busy lately, gosh…

Firstly, the kids are back to summer camp this week, after so much complains from me. :P No choice la, got to ask hubby to korek pocket to send the kids to camp so that I can work in peace. But true enough, my productivity gets back this week, and I go home feeling happy and better too. We are sending them to their new school, and both of them like it a lot. Maybe it’s new, and bigger and the pool is awesome too. But the 2 lousy parents forgot to read the daily message book days ago, and both of them went swimming in their underwear. :P Ya la, really lousy and busy parents. Sigh…

Anyway, the camp will end tomorrow, and my parents will fly here to babysit them for their last week of summer holiday. After that, it’s the new school year again.

Another thing is, Justin can cycle without his training wheels now. At first, he said he will only remove the training wheels at 6 years old. Actually, it’s more like I convinced him to wait until 6 years old. Call me a paranoid mother, but I really sam thong if him falls or gets hurt and what-so-ever.

But last Sunday, he told hubby to bring him to the bike shop and get the training wheels removed. When he got home, he was so excited and wanted to practice on 2 wheels for the first time. But what do you know, he just cycled off blissfully, as if it’s not his first. SERIOUS. He can cycle, turn, and brake, just like that. Wah seh…we were so impressed!

So, when a kid says that he’s ready, it really means that he’s ready. :)

So, it’s another milestone for Justin, to be able to cycle without training wheels now. :)

For the past few weeks, he will go to his friend’s house on his own at 5pm and they will go cycling around the playground with his mom or other kids’ moms. It took me weeks to train him to step out from our house at 5pm. Previously, he wanted to go out and play as soon as we got home, even as early as 3pm once! He kept buzzing the doorbell but his friends were still napping. :P

But now, he knows that he has to wait until at least 5pm before I let him go out to play.  I will bring Isabelle to the playground once I’m done cooking la. What to do? His mother needs to cook mah. :P

I must say that most mothers here are quite helpful in keeping an eye on other kids. There was a day when I got to go to school to settle something, and I tagged the napping Isabelle along. Justin didn’t want to follow and hubby kept telling me to just leave him at the playground. O.o

Alamak, how to just leave a kid at the playground? Men… Luckily his friend’s mom was willing to watch him for me and I was very grateful for that. But of course, I kept nagging at Justin to be careful, don’t do this, don’t do that and listen to auntie throughout the 30 minutes I was away. That mother said he was very good, and it’s nice to have a “part time” babysitter. LOL!

Category: Justin, Justin's milestone, Mothering Moments  One Comment
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