A proud momma

My children can really make me laugh

For some reason last Thursday morning, Adik whipped out her pencil and chanted “Abracadabra ! Make Abang a princess !!” Abang literally howled and chased Adik around. Adik squealed happily and when she couldn’t run any longer yelled “Abracadabra ! Make Abang again !!” Wa ha ha ha… Kelakarlah Adik ni.

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Or when we first went jogging at the mosque area on Sunday (Abang pegi main tennis, mummy, babah and Adik pegi jogging), Adik tried all the exercising equipment along the jogging path. Next to each equipment is a a short explaination and a picture of the correct way to use it. When we got to the monkey bar, Adik who ran ahead to study the instruction gave a loud sigh. "Susahlah ni Bah. We have to carry the ladder..." Sure enough when we looked at the diagram, the guy swinging on the monkey bar looked like he was carrying the ladder ! Ha ha ha..!!

My children can also make us shed proud tears…

Yesterday Babah and Mummy were still tired from the aftermath of the party (will write about the party at a later date when I download the pictures ). Babah especially so because early Sunday morning he had to go for a futsal tournament. He came back at 1 pm, bathed and we went out for lunch at about 2 pm, came home at about 4 pm and Babah straight away crashed on the bed. Mummy saw the love of her life baring, she also baring… tepuk tepuk Babah and alas, Mummy also went off to slumberland.

I woke up when I heard a loud bang, a bang that I recognized came from the kids’ cupboard. I raised myself from the bed and saw Abang taking out towels from it. He was naked (gloriously chubby) and was glistening wet. I then heard the sounds of the shower and my daughter singing. He vanished from my sight and I heard him say from the bathroom “Okay, Adik. Sudah.” I heard Adik replied okay, and soon I saw Adik swathed in furry toweling and Abang trailing behind. He ordered his sister to stand on the bed for easy toweling work. He then vanished again and I saw him handed her something. Adik sat on the bed and I assumed she was putting on her knickers (I found out this morning it was actually her pull-up disposable diapers that her Wan insists she put on at night).

Both of them opened their wardrobe and then returned back to the bed where they proceeded to put on pyjamas. Abang was ready first and he straightaway entered our room to watch the telly. Adik called him from their room requesting help as she encountered problems to put on her jammies. He asked her to come to him but he didn’t manage to help his sister on the first try. He then yanked the jammies off her head, straighten it properly and then put it on for her. It was successful. Adik gave him a nice smile and said “Thank you, Abang” and he replied with the usual “It’s okay..” and they both watched the telly.

I shook their Babah awake when I realised the children bathed without us telling them to do so. Therefore it was both of us who watched them from our darkened room. When they settled down to watched the telly, Babah looked at me with wet eyes. I smiled at him proudly.

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Thank you, Abang and Adik for not disturbing Babah and Mummy. Thank you for caring for us. Thank you for being you. Happy Birthday angels….

Call me Adik, my angel

I have been thoroughly entertained this weekend. Mesmerised and enchanted in fact with conversations with my daughter. Sometimes as she talked I would just look at her, watching her facial movements as she let known her feelings and messages, how her eyes would be when she is angry, or sad or when she wanted to bargain for something. I love the way her little mouth moved with every expressions and feelings.

I have forgotten what led her to say this but in the car, she was yapping away when I heard her say “then kan Mummy, you call me Adik, my angel okay ?” Babah and I looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

“What, baby.” But sadly she had already switched to another important topic and ignored my request for an explanation. Apa hal ntah.

We were on our way to A&W to book and pay for the children’s party this Saturday. When we got there, a party was already in full swing and the marketing exec asked us to sit down and have a bit of lunch before she could attend to us. When we saw people trickling out of the party room we started to make our way there. Babah said as soon as Adik saw where we were going, she hid her face on her father’s neck and held close. In the duration we were discussing with the staff, she remained rigid and hidden. She is afraid of the cuddly A&W mascot.

Macamana ni ? The bear will actually be at the party. Her own party !!

"Adik tak boleh takut dengan bear tu… He will be coming to your party..”

“Why ? Can’t he stay at his home ?”

“No…he has to be at your party. What are you scared of ?”

“What size is the bear Mummy ? Big, medium or small ?”

“Medium.”

She was silent.

“Adik.. the bear makan hot dog lah Adik. Dia tak makan orang…What are you scared of ?”

“Oh ? Makan hot dog saja ?”

“Adik… there is a person inside the bear. It is only a costume. Inside the bear is a human, Adik…” said the brother pulak.

Tak tahu kenapa, her next question was “Is there a Japanese inside the bear ?” Even Abang was shocked. I looked at her and said, “ Very unlikely will a Japanese be playing the bear Adik. I would bet it would either be a Malay, Indian or Chinese. Kadazan or Iban is more likely than a Japanese…”

She answered with and “Oh..” and remained quiet. Abang then broke the silence, “ Kalau Adik tak nak bear than there is no party for you. All the presents would be for me…”. She pondered the statement for a bit then said, “ It’s okay I don’t mind. I will sit in my room okay Mummy ?”

I was just staring at her when she said, “ The bear will be downstairs saja kan ?”

When we got home and it was time for their bath, I instructed Abang to put the dirty clothes in the laundry basket. He of course grumbled and complained about the unfairness of it all since his sister did nothing. Before I could say anything, Adik said, “ Abang, this is your room Abang. Abang lah buat kerja.”

Aiik ? So where is her room then ? She answered that she has no room. So then I asked her why is that ? She eloquently answered “Because this is Abang’s room and that is your room, so I can sleep anywhere I want…” He he… anywhere she wants to maksudnya dengan Mummy dia lah….

At the moment Babah’s parents are having the upstair’s entire bathrooms repaired. By late afternoon Babah’s mom asked me to help her mop the floor as it was really dusty from the work. As I was mopping I heard a very high and desperate, “Mummy !! Mummy where are you ?”

I went to the stairs and saw her, my little girl, climbing up the stairs, face all worried. “Kenapa Adik ? What do you want ?” She pouted her lips and said, “Adik nak Mummy…” Oh… since she put it sweetly like that, come on over then, honey.

Her grandma saw her walking up the stairs and forbade her from doing so because of all the dust. She breezily said, “It’s okay Wan. I will be careful. I want my Mummy…” Aaah….. anak ku.. Come to your Mummy then…..

Since it was really a dusty affair, the re-novation work, I decided to change the sheets on our beds too. Adik was nice enough to volunteer her services. We talked as I stripped of the beddings and put on a new one while she neatly folded the soiled pillow cases. She sometimes would sigh about the hard work she was doing and all and what a nice girl she was. She even broke into songs while she was doing her work ( macam Cinderella sungguh ), usually Beautiful Girl by Sean Kingston.

She was singing when she suddenly said to me, “Mummy, jangan bagi Babah main football lagi, okay ?” When I looked at her she was not even looking at me, still folding her pillowcases. Why, I asked and she replied, “Because nanti Babah sakit belakang. Pastu nanti dia get angry. Pastu nanti dia suruh Um stay in his room and then I cannot be with you Mummy…” He he he… rarely the abang is banished to his room alone, usually he got company because the ruckus as a rule is created by abang and adik. What will she say next ?

Adik, my angel…..

Apa Adik buat kat kelas ?

Semalam…. Wa ha ha… nak tergolak den…. He he.

When I came back from work, I attacked the kitchen first. Thaw the meat, cut the vegetables and what nots so that after Maghrib and Isyak, I could get everything on the fire straight away.

After 15 minutes, my children came barreling into the kitchen, mouth busy with news of the day. Each tried to be heard and I was trying my best to filter the news while chopping food. But then, Abang’s reporting caught my ears and I had to raise my voice to be heard above the din.

“What Abang ?”

Abang smiled gleefully. He he….. “Adik nak o-ok kat kelas Mandarin, Mummy.” He announced happily. I looked at the little girl. She frowned while looking at her brother. “Tak pun !”

“ Iye, iye… Adik tipu !” Abang danced, happy that he got the scoop of the day. “Adik, janganlah o-ok kat school. Tunggulah balik rumah, okay ? Sekejap saja.” Said I. My daughter looked trouble.

“ Dia dah o-ok lah Mummy. Dia o-ok kat dentist !”

“Ha ? Iye ke Adik ? Ivy bawak Adik ?” I asked.

“Adik, sapa basuh ? Alahai, alahai…..”. Adik was quiet. She was upset and clearly embarrassed. I was thinking if her bum was properly washed and if I need to isolate the clothes sho wore. Abang though was having a field day. He was hooting and dancing, I had to ask him to be quiet. “Abang, sudah Abang. Adik is very embarrassed about it.” Abang thankfully stopped his shenanigans.

“Adik… lain kali kalau nak o-ok, tunggulah sampai rumah. Sekejap je kan ? Okay ?” I advised. She looked at me but was still quiet. She must be rather shaken by this incident.

“Mum…,” said the bearer of bad news, “ Mandarin class tu lama Mum… It is not sekejap… So mana tahan…” Oh, pandailah pulak. Tadi mengejek…

Abang menjaga adiknya lagi

Bergaduhlah emak dan anak perempuannya pagi ini. A usual took the kids for breakfast. Since Adik never finished her roti canai I told her today I am gonna give her nasi goreng instead of the roti. Membazirkan…. People in war torn countries tak makan, depa ni boleh tak habis makan. A good piece of roti canai wasted every single day ( I sound just like my parents ).

She refused. I insisted. She screamed. Excuse me ? I told her sternly that I do not like people screaming at me. I ordered the roti canai anyway. She didn’t eat. She put her head on her folded arms on the table. Not a drop she drank or a bite she ate.

Kebetulan next to our table ada 2 policemen tengah makan. I pun apa lagi, “ Adik nampak tak polis tu tengah makan ? Satgi Mummy panggei laah polis tu suruh tangkap lah budak ni….”. She didn’t care but her abang jumped. He took a piece of the roti and tried to shove it in his sister’s mouth.

“ Adik, makan Adik…”. She clamped her mouth tight.

“ Biarkan dia, Abang.. ” said I and stared at my daughter. She peeked from the safety of her folded arms. Abang… I really pity him. Sometimes I did not think of what my actions would do to him. I should really take into account his feelings and perangai before I do anything, before I speak.

I instructed him to call over the policemen to our table. He got up but took the plate of roti canai instead. He then went to the roti counter and asked the kakak to bungkus it for his sister.

“ Mummy… I think she will eat when you are not around …” Said he as he sat down.

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Hmmm…… I still have a lot to learn. My son seemed very learned when he handled his very immature Mummy. In my defence, “ Nak, mak ko ni adik – beradik ramai.. so I am always in battle mode…” He he….