For Comfort

One would fall asleep twirling a string. It would most likely be the string from the bolster. The string would get tangled up among the toes. Funny way to sleep. I still remember being asked bashingly to untangle a knot when you were younger.

Another would hold a hand or better still, an elbow to sleep. It sometimes shocked the person next to you when your little hand would sleepily reach out and almost tickle as you felt for the bit of comfort. Another funny habit but fun too.

Then there is the one who had to have something soft and that sort of feel. Certain pieces of cloth would do, and not others. Just to feel the material between your fingers was enough to send you to sleep....

Funnily two out of three sought comfort using their fingers. One used the toes!

I wonder whether there are others out there?

Pimples

Most of the time, we have good skin. Most of the time, you have good skin too.

So how come you suddenly sprouted so many on your face? They look pretty angry on such fair skin!

Hmmmmm

Increase your Vitamin C intake.

Increase your fluid intake?

Sleep better. Cut down those late nights.

Go get some exercise and fresh air.

In the meantime, don't pick on them. They will scar otherwise.....

Age Doesn't Matter

He came up to me, looking forlorn and ill. His hair sticking out at all sorts of angles, the natural curls exaggerating the mess. I felt like putting my fingers through to comb them but I knew it would annoy him, so I didnt.

Instead I merely listened to him croak.

He wasn't well, that was obvious. I touched his arm and neck instead. He was hot.

The nurse in me arose and I prescribed paracetamol to get the temperature down. The "Christian" in me said, "Pray for him," so I did. The mother in me told myself not to be concerned... but I was.

He hardly ever falls ill, but when he does, it is in style.

Furthermore, soon he will leave home. When he falls ill there, who will take care of him?

It doesn't matter how old the child is. When they are ill, it is a matter of concern for any parent.

To Play or to Protect

This year, for her co-curriculum activities, my daughter decided to opt for volleyball. I wasn't too keen on that but she felt she wanted to. So I agreed.

On the first day of training, she came back with this. I don't know if you can see it, but there are tiny specks of red all along her arms - bruises and parts where the blood vessels have popped as the ball hit her arms.
It is not easy for me to see her arms like this. A mother's instinct is to protect and to say, "STOP PLAYING!"

But there is another part of me that takes over and says "This will toughen her. Let her continue".

So I let my more firm side take over and speak gently to her to continue even as I rub oil to soothe the pain.

After a few days, she is back to playing again. Phew.

Makan = Eat

Let me introduce you to a Malay word. Malay is very phonetical. That means each letter of the alphabet has its own sound and it doesn't change. For example, the vowel "A" is pronounced "AH", as in "master" or "father". It is never pronounced as in "water" or "later".

The word I'd like to share with you is MAKAN.

Why?

Because that is what I will be doing two weekends in a row! Last week I had functions on Sunday and Monday nights. This week will be the same - tonight I have a dinner function and I will have another tomorrow night.

Big MAKANS for Big Mmmmomma! Can you see my belly shaking as I laugh? No? Well, never mind. I can feel it! Hahahahahaha!

Treatment for Allergies

Many years ago, when we were in England, we had doctor friends with whom we were close. So close, that after our badminton games, we would go to the men's and women's showers respectively and shower in the communal areas there... yeah, I could see her all and vice-versa! (You can read more about it at Personality Discovery).

But that's not what this post is about.

You see, these friends of ours had two sons. The younger of the two was severely allergic to peanuts. The slightest touch would set him off. One day, when he was just learning to walk, he toddled over to where his mother and brother were. As he neared the table, he began to lose his balance. So he reached out and grabbed the table.... right at the spot where a smear of peanut butter was.

Suffice to say that it was good that his mother was a doctor and reasonably unflappable. She had antihistamine in him quickly and saved his life.

I am posting about this because of recent news concerning treatment of such allergies. I hope they succeed....

Whose Toes

When my first child was born, I was stunned to see his little toe turned and curled like mine.

As he grew, I noticed the shape change. They became more like my Hubby's.

I noticed my second was a mixture of the two of us.

My third's are entirely like mine.

It is almost as if God was being "fair" to make sure our DNA was shared out evenly.

Have you looked at your toes lately?

Rationed Caeserean Sections

I had my firstborn in England. When I was in labour with him for almost twenty-four hours, I thought I ought to have had a caeserean section. In fact, as he got tired and passed meconium in utero, I was mentally preparing myself for theatre, and trying to work out how to tell my Hubby so he wouldnt be too anxious. As it turned out, I was given a forceps delivery (that's worth another post!)

Then recently, I just read that in some places of the UK, the National Health Service there is facing such terrible financial constraints that they have to ration the number of caeserean sections performed.

Unlike my homeland where independent obstetricians can perform, and often do, caesearean sections on ladies pregnant to term on specific "suitable" dates, the doctors in the UK rarely do that. These operations are performed on a "need-to" basis. So I dont understand how they can cut them down. This sounds dangerous.... and scary.... and makes me glad that we opted to leave...

Three Lovers

O dear. Now it appears that the thirteen year old's paramour might not have been as faithful to him as he is to her. Two other young gentlemen, though not as young as he is, have stated that they were also with her during the time she conceived.

Calls are now afoot to have the paternity of this innocent baby determined.

Calls also abound to have better sex education.

But I wonder what the parents of that girl must be thinking and doing.

A Father at Thirteen, not Thirty

Go check this out.

In times like this I am glad that our children have decided to talk with us and have agreed to enlist our opinion and prayer before deciding on their partners in life. It is a conscious decision they have made, and they are open about the girls they are and have been interested in.

I feel so sad for the parents, and their parents.

Scary Scales

OK this is BIG Mmmmomma's site. The reason for the BIG is because I AM BIG.

So on this site, apart from documenting about my children, I also hope talk about FOOD and to catalogue my attempts to lose weight!

My weight was... well, let's just say it was too much. I was feeling the weight as I went about my daily business. My back hurt more. My feet too. My clothes were uncomfortably tight. I HAD to do something.

So I started in November. I went on RESET. It seemed to work but I have to confess to not following it diligently. Nonetheless, I lost about 7kgs over November into early December. That felt good.

Then the eating began. Honestly, we ate soooo much over December! What's more, we went on holidays. One day during the time away in West Malaysia, we ate breakfast in Perak, lunch in Penang (another state) and dinner in Kedah (yet another state!) Three meals in three states but in ONE DAY! You can read more about it here.

I was getting seriously worried about my weight. I was glad I didn't have weighing scales to stand on!

Then came our last few days in West Malaysia.

I got sick.

I mean I had the runs.

It was as if my body was protesting all the overindulgence.... and rightly so.

All the purging put me right back to the weight I started with before going for my pig-out in West Malaysia.

Coming back home, my weight stayed stable. Then it crept up slowly. The Chinese New Year! That was awful! I dreaded going to the weighing scales.

Then came my new job. I walk a lot. That was the added factor I needed.

I have now lost another kg in one week!

And the scales are not so scary anymore. More posts another time!

Homecooked Dinner for a Fee?

In our home, we started having special dinners on Sunday nights. We would invite small groups of friends to join us. (You can see evidence of our gastronomic adventures in my other blog The Hinge and Metamor4sis.)

Part of the reason was because we wanted to have special time dinners with our children, but not need to have the extravagance of feeding six of us in a restaurant outside. Fast food outlets were the cheap treats we would have, but that was hardly healthy.

Having friends round made the evenings more special. We had meaningful times.

It also served to teach our older children about cooking. Yes, we have "spoiled" them by not making them learn. They can cook rice. They can fry and egg. They can do a simple fried rice. They can open tin cans. What else.... I don't really know! So Sunday evenings were also object lessons.
Our children had not seen us cooking much before - only when the Household Help was away for her holidays. I did the cooking then. They hadn't seen their Dad cook - until we started this.

Recently I came across this article. Makes me think further. Perhaps we should do something like this. Would anyone pay?

LOL

Your first words were, "Dddddda". I couldn't decide who enjoyed that more - you or your Dad!

Later, as you sought to catch up with your older siblings, your vocabulary increased in leaps and bounds. At times we caught you using words you didn't know. You would get upset at our teasing and correcting you.

That was a dozen years ago. How time flies. But then, you don't feel it as much as I do. It's only all of your life. It is a quarter of mine.

Yes, today, things have changed.

Today, you have taught me new vocabulary.

I knew about the abbreviation LOL. It stands for Laughing Out Loud. Many people tend to use that when they are chatting online. It's a way to let the other(s) know that the writer is well, laughing aloud.

What I didn't know what that it could be used in verbal conversation too!

Earlier I said something funny and I heard you use it as a remark. "Lol"

Thinking I heard wrongly, I said something else.

You responded, "Oh Mom, Lol"

There it was again.

So I asked. And thus I learned.

The tables have turned.

And so I say too, "LOL"