What 8kg, you may ask? Is that the weight I gained? If so, I must be soooo FAT!

That 8kg is the total weight all 4 of us lost over more than a week. We lost 2kg each on average in 10 days, is it too drastic? I guess so.

This healing stage takes longer than usual. Isabelle, the tougher cookie, has fully recovered. Justin’s on a temperature again today, but he’s fine. He’s off to the hospital get some med again with hubby. Hubby is probably is weakest amongst us as his fever is on and off, and he left work early again today. His boss called and asked him to take good care of his flu first, how sweet…

But I’m not too concerned about the weight lost, that can be easily gained back once everyone’s back to health and eating well. Oh ya, yours truly was also quite sick. Nothing too serious but the slight fever and flu. Hate it la… But I’m feeling much better now except a bit out of breathe. The chest is too painful for another cough!

Anyway, we shall give ourselves another week. 8kg? Ok la…2 kg each only mah. I don’t mind losing it though. LOL!

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We are back at home now. So if you read my Facebook status, you might know what’s going on. Justin’s feeling better now, and he’s walking around in the house. Unlike yesterday when he’s just lying there….motionless….semi-conscious…

But now, Isabelle’s slightly feverish. I hope there won’t be another battle for us as I’m dead tired. Forget about the house chores, laundry, dust collecting on the Samsung TV and etc. I shall leave everything until the part time cleaner comes on Thursday or after a good night sleep.

The thing is, will I have a good night sleep tonight? Let’s see…

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So, how’s things at home when mommy is away? Let’s see…

• The house is messy, and it’s already expected.
• Kids had more junks and pizzas, and that’s part of the “plan” too.
• Kids did well at SIL’s place for 3 days, under the care of her maid while hubby was working and SIL was away in Mebourne. I am not sure what they did at her house, but they were bathed, fed, and well taken care off with the help of TV and a laptop.
• Teachers helped to watch the kids too as I told them I won’t be around to pick them up on time, and hubby might be late. Indeed, he was very late one day in picking up the kids!
• The school van is reliable. Thank god for that! We arranged for the school transport to send the kids back to SIL’s maid when hubby was too busy. There is a school assistant that goes along with the van driver, and the drivers are all hired by the school, so I feel more secure that way. After the news of a driver r*ping a school girl in M’sia, you really doubt the security of using a transport home!
• No one stepped into the kitchen nor cleared out the food in the fridge. I came home not only to step on sticky floor and seeing clothes on the sofa, but also to a fridge with some super old leftover (the last meal before I left home) and a rice cooker of mold and acid which was left for almost 9 days.
• The rack was full of biscuits, cereals and dunno what packed food. Obviously, those were my kids BENTO for school.
• Kids are more attached to daddy. They want daddy to sleep with them even more, and that totally spoils my effort in training the kids to sleep by themselves FOREVER more.
• Justin is very independent, he didn’t miss me much.
• Isabelle cried for the first few nights, and called me a couple of times a day, complaining that daddy bullied her or korkor scolded her, or daddy bullied korkor and etc. As long as you raise your voice at her, she will complain that she’s being bullied. I guess hubby lost his patience over the days when I was not around. LOL!

Overall, I think hubby did a great job. So, is he complaining about the kids? NO. He ENJOYS it.

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I call back home quite often to check on the kids and how hubby is coping. So far so good, and hubby is surviving well. LOL! There is nothing much about Justin as he’s quite independent now, but for Isabelle, she cried for me on the first night and the next morning. She needs me to tug her to sleep mostly, and even if she allows hubby to do it once in a while, but I’m always around at home, and it’s totally different when I’m away.

Of course, she did tell me to come home NOW over the phone, but I told her after a few more days. During the day, she will be just fine but it’s just at night that she starts missing me a lot. We shall see how it goes when the kids go to school on Monday. Hopefully, hubby has got everything arranged and he can leave early to pick them up.

Just in case you are wondering why the kids can’t come back with me, oh well, their passports have already been submitted to the immigration in Bangkok for visa renewal, but mine has to be done here. Theirs are attached under hubby’s employment while mine is under our biz. So, it’s a bit troublesome now but at least the kids won’t have to skip School and follow me around.

If you have gone through this visa application and renewal thingy in Bangkok, you would know that it’s quite time consuming, unless you have someone or agent to help you out! As much as my kids can skip a few days of Private School,  I would prefer them not to go through the hassle like me, and let hubby’s company settle their visas. FUSS FREE!

Frankly, I can’t wait to fly back to BKK too. I miss the kids a lot!

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This month is a busy month for all of us. Firstly, we have to go to the immigration office on Monday, with the kids, to extend our expired visas for another 7 days. Then, hubby will apply his visa here in Bangkok and the kids will join under his employment. As for me, I will fly back next Sunday, and fix my visa the following morning.

I hope that my dad won’t mind driving me back to Ipoh after my visa submission as MIL is expecting me, and I need to pack some stuffs. It will only take a couple of hours, I suppose. There won’t be any meeting up with friends as time is really tight. Furthermore, my mom doesn’t seem to be happy with driving me around.

That’s the thing I hate about flying home as without a car, I feel so cacat. Very inconvenient to go out and meet with others or do my stuffs. So, now you know why I hardly go for gathering!!!!

Anyway, if everything works out fine, I should get my visa on Tuesday afternoon. If time permits, and if my dad can loan me the car, I hope that I can do some shopping! Really need to get a battery operated lash curler from Sasa!!!! And maybe some shoes? Oh well, that depends on my mom again. LOL!

I’ll fly back to Bangkok on Wednesday, and hopefully, hubby can handle the kids for 3 days on his own. This is the first time I’m away from the kids, and hubby’s taking over ALL THE RESPONSIBILITIES.

I’m not so worried about how he’s gonna feed the kids or if they have after school bentos or what, but my main concern is can he pick them up on time as the teachers leave work at 4.30pm, the latest!!! So, he better work on his schedule and don’t stuck in any traffic jam in the city.

As for this week, the kids will have some performance on Wednesday, in conjunction of Mother’s Day in Thailand, which falls on 12th (Thursday). Then, they will have a long weekend, and I might be working from home again.

Isabelle will perform a dance with some kids, and Justin is going to do his speech. He’s almost ready, but he speaks super fast and so unclear!!! It’s like a speeding bullet train trying to reach the destination ASAP. LOL! Oh well, like I’ve said before, as long as he’s got up there, it’s a big achievement already.

Isabelle’s got used to dancing on stage, so I’m not worried about her. She will be just fine.

Filed under : Bangkok, Family, Mothering Moments

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2 nights ago, Justin woke up in the middle of the night with severe nose bleed. My boy has the tendency of blood flowing down his nose once in a while, and he’s an expert in handling this himself now. Of course, the parents are not as paranoid as before, and know what to do whenever there is a nose bleeding episode. All my bedsheets and pillow cases have blood stain, and it’s quite embarrassing when I send them to the laundry. I know what’s on the laundry man’s mind, but sorry la, you got the wrong idea.

Anyway, Justin told us that he has stuffy nose, and blowing hard will only trigger nose bleed. So, he sleeps in the kids room with daddy by using the fan. Why daddy? It’s because the mommy cannot survive without air-conditioning, no matter how cold or chilly during this rainy season. We have extra bed mattresses in both rooms anyway, so the kids can choose where to sleep.

I thought Isabelle would join them, but she sleeps on her own on the queen sized bed in my room. So, I’m so happy to have the king sized bed all to myself. LOL!

I should have just ask the kids to sleep in their room with the fan huh? Maybe I should talk to Isabelle…

You know? When they are younger, they can’t sleep without mommy. But now, both prefers daddy. I guess I can fly home alone soon…for a few days only nia.

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Some of my friends think that I’m a supermom. Juggling a biz, kids, chores, cooking and etc, without a maid but only hubby. But I do have my very very bad moments, and I’ve just had one just now.

I was trying to upload Isabelle’s photobook in the afternoon, and it was not completely uploaded by the time I needed to pick up the kids. So, I left the laptop at the office, and went to their school. I didn’t arrive too late today, but I could tell that both kids were tired, as usual.

I drove them back to my office, and told Justin I would need to run up to the 5th floor to grab my laptop and I would get down. Keep the door locked and please STAY AWAKE and don’t fall asleep. So, I went upstairs, and the uploading was not done yet. Thinking that the kids were in the car, I went down again and thought that I could bring them to the photo shop to develop the photos for their school.

Who knows? Both kids were sound asleep. VERY VERY SOUND ASLEEP!

I knocked and banged on the windows but they didn’t get up. I got panic and I kept calling their names. The designing staff downstairs heard my calls and came to help too. But they still didn’t get up. I quickly went in the room to call hubby, asking if he can get the spare key at home. But then, the house key was in my car and he never brings the keys! My phone was in the car, so I tried to call my number, hoping that the kids will wake up but they didn’t. At the moment, I really thought of SMASHING the glass!

The office maid came to help too, and later on, BIL. All 4 of us tried to knock and bang but my kids just KEPT SLEEPING!!! Then, I remembered there was a mechanic shop nearby and I got the staff to go get the men. The mechanics came and they tried to open the door. They did something like opening the rubber insulating thingy around the glass window ( I don’t know the exact term) and tried to open the lock with a wire. Damn, I was still hoping that they could just BREAK THE DOOR!

When they were breaking in, all of us were still calling and banging on the car door. And guess what? Both my kids were still very much asleep!!!! I was really panic if they had too much carbon monoxide but my common sense told me that it’s only less than 5 minutes that I left them in the car, so they should be fine.

Ok, I was trying to stay positive and calm myself down. I know I DID WRONG by leaving them in the car and go grab my laptop!!! My priority list had gone haywire today.

Thank god that the mechanics managed to break the lock and the door was open. Again, both kids were still asleep. I quickly checked Isabelle if she’s ok, and then Justin. Isabelle was sitting at the front passenger seat, while Justin was at the back seat. Both were buckled up in their boaster seats, and maybe they were feeling very comfortable sleeping in it.

I tell you, you can’t imagine how relieved I feel when I touched my kids!!! BIL suggested that he carried the kids upstairs first since I still got to go develop some photos. Sigh…If we have a lift at this office building, I would carry both tired kids up in the first place too…

So, one lesson learned. NEVER NEVER LEAVE YOUR KIDS IN THE CAR!

When I was at the photo shop waiting for the photos to be developed, I really felt like the lousiest and stupidest mother in the WWW. What if the kids just can’t wake up? You know? That kind of thought of losing your kids?

Thus, after everything was done, I went back to the office to grab my stuffs and pick up the kids. Then, I went to the petrol station. Before this incident, I would just pack in front of the convenient store to grab the bread while the kids wait in the car, but this time, I dragged them along. Of course, the initial plan was just to grab a loaf of bread but I ended up paying for 2 kiddie books, a pack of jelly, and 2 kaya buns.

That’s the thing of dragging kids along while you just want to do a quick shopping…

But I’m SO GONNA DRAG THEM ALONG FROM NOW ON!

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Since I was pretty busy last week, I decided not to cook that often, and we ate out after hubby came home. Thus, I had some time rotting on the sofa with the kids, and we watched some TV together. It’s not often that I can sit down and watch TV with the kids, so it’s quite a precious moments for us. Isabelle clung on to me tightly, while Justin tried to explain the story line as he had watched the animation before. Now only I realized that most programs on cable TV are repeated!

Right now, we have only one TV at home, and it’s more than enough. Frankly, I’m not a TV freak. I would rather watch with my laptop, being placed on my bed. LOL! But if we have a bigger house, I would love to have a family room with bigger screen. Then, I would probably subsribe to another cable TV line. If you are looking for one, check out these cable specials as the promotion is quite awesome. The Dish specials are fairly affordable, and if you are a frequent TV user, they might work for you.

I think I’ll try to cook a day lesser during the weekdays so that I can just be lazy and watch TV with the kids. Let’s see if there is any specials on TV in the evening this week. On that day, we might just eat out or ask hubby to ta pao!

Now, where is that monthly TV subscription magazine?

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Honestly, I have rather low expectation for my kids. There is so much that I would love to teach or do with them, but with time and “energy” constrains, I choose to be lazy some times.

Thank god that my kids can take the initiative to do their homework on their own, if they know what to do, when I am busy preparing dinner. Then, they might do some simple work from their extra work books, or just watch the TV while waiting for me to release them to the playground. At night, TV is not allowed and hubby will ask them to do some work, probably just another page of their work book before we call it a day. We still read to them before tugging them to bed.

I hardly sit down and do their work with them. So yesterday, I was so surprised that Isabelle already knows the sound of the letters, how to break some simple 3 letter words by the sound (phonics) and join them back again to sound the word. I have never taught her that, so she could either learn this from school or while I coached Justin previously. I am also very pleased to know that she speaks Thai very well now, and she can read some Thai “sukukata” (syllabus) with minimum guidance. The only thing is she still needs some help in writing Thai character, or makes some mistake by writing the letters “the opposite way”.

Hubby and I have never really pushed our gal as we know she can’t be pushed since young. We are very lenient with her, but she always surprises us with her development. Nonetheless, she still can’t pronounce some words well. She will get frustrated if we try to correct her. If I’m not mistaken, Justin was like that too about her age, but he is doing fine in English and Thai now. Only his Chinese sounds very angmoh.

And about Chinese, both kids love this language, even if they can’t speak much. Their Chinese teachers (both at school and at learning center) said that they can understand but not keen to speak. I feel that my Chinese has also improved slightly by conversing with the Beijing teachers. LOL! Mind oh mind, their Chinese is so perfect!

Besides that, the kids are asking for swimming class, art class, and Isabelle for piano class too. But we don’t enroll them yet. Again, we try not to expect too much and pressure the kids. Just let them take their time in learning, and if they are really keen to learn more when they are older, then only we will let them join more classes. And yes, the mommy is too lazy to drive them around.

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It’s indeed a bit of everything in this post. I don’t have much time to blog here, except when there is p*id r*view. Once in awhile, I still get some blogging work, so that’s the thing that keeps some of my blogs alive. As for the rest, I will slowly kill them off.

Back to the school matters…

Justin is doing well, but he’s very playful. Oh well, he is an active boy, and I do have my headache moments with him. But the teachers said he’s always finished his work first then only he starts to play. As long as he doesn’t drag the other boys along, he’s still manageable.

As for Isabelle, she’s adapting well in her class. She’s way passed the “My friend will hit me if I go to school” phrase, and the teachers are making sure that she sits by them. As for the “bully”, she hurts a few other kids too. Frankly, I don’t think I will talk to the mother, as long as my gal is ok. I heard from the teachers that other parents are complaining as well because their kids were being bitten, poked with pencil, hit, and etc by the same girl. But I will leave it to the teachers. It’s best not to interfere with other people’s kid. Bear in mind that some rich Thai kid can be very spoiled, but it’s not my kid, so I can’t do much about it.

I can only educate my kids to be more careful, and I told Isabelle to SHOUT OUT LOUD if she gets hit. It’s best to get some ATTENTION and help instead of being quiet.

Homework wise, the kids are quire independent. I would normally just check their homework, tell them what to do, and they will do on their own while I prepare the dinner

Justin is good at guiding meimei with her Thai writing, so at least they can do some before hubby comes back at night. If hubby’s away for days, I will tell the teacher to coach them with their homework before they come home from school.

As for hubby and I, we are still very busy at work. Luckily, our kids are getting older, so they can do most things by themselves. Hubby even asked me to let them go play with their friends on their own if I’m too busy and rushing for dinner. That’s the thing I’m learning of letting go, but kind of worried. So, I shall prepare one dish dinner some times, thank god for all the recipe blogs on the internet!!! Things can be done pretty fast if I plan the meals ahead.

On the other hand, Justin has started piano lesson and he likes it. So far, he will practice with the keyboard by himself, and we don’t have plan to get him a piano yet. It’s a big investment, but that can be delayed. This house is too small to fit in any piano, so better just forget it first.

Isabelle loves her ballet too, but she’s so playful some times. She does all sort of funny acts when the teacher is not looking. Nonetheless, kiddie ballet class should be fun and not too tedious. I will help her with the exercise when she’s older. Gosh, I can’t split my legs anymore!!!! Sipeh old and stiff now.

Besides that, she asked if she can learn drawing. I still can’t find time to slip in this class for her, unless she wants to sacrifice her one and only rest day on Saturdays. I let the kids rot in front of the TV on Saturdays, if they are not tagging along with me to the office. That’s the only rest day they have, so if Isabelle is going for art, then she won’t have any rest day anymore. That’s why I am a bit reluctant. I’ll wait until she’s older and see if she’s still serious about this. No point going for too many classes and lose the fun of just being a kid. I mean, an ordinary carefree kid.

Filed under : Isabelle, Justin, Mothering Moments

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