Trying to keep Adik quiet

Semalam, more drama with my kids. Adik buat drama dah lama, though. She will start her conversation innocently enough.

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Adik : Esok Mummy pegi work ?

Mum : Pegi.

Adik : Babah ?

Mum : Pegi.

Adik : Abang ?

Mum : Pegi.

Adik : Adik ?

Mum : Duduk rumah ye ? (with a groan as this happens every single day so Mummy knows what is gonna happen next)

Adik : Waaa.... Adik nak pegi sekolah ( x 100 ). Adik nak pegi school ( x 100 ).

Mum : Pegi tanya abah ko ...... Dia yang tak bagi....

Adik : Bah !!!

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This has been going on since start of this year, stopped for awhile, surfaced a few times each proceeding month and repeated with intensity every day since this very month. I don't want to handle this because this is her Babah punya kerja. She cried and cried and cried even promises of sushi was of no help. I finally said, " Adik, you can go to school after your birthday okay ? After your party I will send you to school okay ? But if you cry, there will be no birthday party.... ".

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She agreed and stopped the hullabaloo. Just to goad her Babah further, I whispered to her, " Tell Babah kalau Babah nak Adik diam pasal school, you have to buy me Mickey Mouse necklace... ". She perked up. " Nolah Mummy. Mummy lah cakap.... ".

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" Adik lah cakap.... " " Mummy cakap for me okay ? " Then came Babah's voice, " What are you two whispering about ? ".

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I looked at her and she avoided looking at me. " Adik kata if you want her to be quiet, you have to compensate for her non-schooling year with a Mickey Mouse necklace. " Babah looked at us. Since Adik is Babah's princess, what can he say but " Okay .... ". He he...

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I looked at Adik and she grinned, her thumb up. I reciprocated. Babah..... he he.

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Anyway, since we did mention sushi, Adik of course membuat tuntutan. Pegilah kami ke Sushi King. Before masuk kereta, Adik suddenly remembered a new purple dress that her Aunty Su bought her. Dekat pintu kereta ni dok " Bah, I need my purple dress... " " Adik you are wearing a purple dress.... " Countered Babah, patience slowly ebbing from his body...

" Not this one. This one pyjamas... I want my purple dress Bah... ". Sigh.. I sternly ordered her to get in the car and be quiet.

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Of course she was not quiet and was sobbing uncontrollably. Tensionnya aku. After one fight to another !! When we got to a quite dark place, Babah pulled another trick. " Adik, if you are not quiet, I will leave you here. "

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When she raised her sobs an octave higher, Babah literally stopped the car and I opened the door. Abangnya pulak started wailing. " No ! No ! She is my only sister !! No ! No ! " Babah and I exchanged smiles. Adik got smart and shut her mouth. Abang sobbed, hugging his precious little sister.

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Hmmm.... how long do we have to keep this up ?

Bukan I !!

I came home yesterday to see a frowning husband and a missing daughter. My son was his usual happy self. He however showed me his remote control car that looked brand new yesterday morning when I left for work and Adik was playing with it. That evening though, the aerial was broken.

“ Adik did this Mummy, she broke my toy.” informed my son, eyes round, face solemn. “ But the problem is dia tak mengaku !! She lied in front of everybody !! ” He added. Ohh…. That is serious indeed.

“ Where is she ? ” I asked. “ In Wan’s room. She went there when Abah marah dia…. ” Abang answered, tone scandalous. I instructed him to fetch his sister.

As usual since Abah was still in the room, she entered with eyes covered by her hands. She ran to me and gave me a hug.

Mum : Adik broke Abang’s toy ?

Adik : Noo... bukan I.

Mum : Adik…. You know what we feel about lying. Adik rosakkan toy Abang ?

Adik : Bukan. Not me.

Mum : Adik, orang yang tipu masuk neraka remember ? Adik nak masuk neraka ?

Adik : Tak nak. I don’t like here anymore. I want to go to bilik Wan.

Mum : Adik, dalam neraka ada apa ?

Abang : Ada api ( menyampuk pulak budak ni. He was standing next to Adik, looking intently at his sister ) and big, humongous monsters that will eat you.

Mum : Adik nak kena makan api ke ? Tak nak kan ? Okay, say sorry to Abang.

Adik : Sorry Abang… ( She leaned on her brother, looking remorse )

Mum : Sorry for what Adik ? Say sorry because I broke your toy.

Adik : Bukan I ( body instantaneously erect ).

Mum : Adik, remember neraka ? ( at this point the abang was squirming )

Adik : Not me.

Mum : Adik, say sorry to Abang !

Adik : Sorry Abang ( this time she hugged her brother and Abang was holding her tight. She did look sorry so I was very hopeful ).

Mum : Sorry for what Adik ? Come on. You are sorry because you broke his toy.

Adik : ( again she was defiant ) Not me. Bukan ( and shook her head ).

Mum : Adik, nak kena bakar dengan api ke ?

Abang : Adik, it is okay Adik. Abang tak marah pun. It’s okay.

Mum : Go on then, say sorry because you broke his toy.

Adik : Sorry Abang because I broke your toy… waaargghh….!!

Abang : It’s okay Adik. I will still love you even if you break my toys. Many, many toys.

And they hugged. And Adik was smiling again. Ya Allah, please lembutkan lah hati si Adik ni macam abang dia…..

9 days with my kids

I had wonderful 9 days with my children. I was happy to be with them and them.. well they showed me what they really are capable of doing.

Let’s start with Abang. I think I have mentioned that we trained our kids to be able to talk and express themselves. I teach ( well taught now since we are thinking of stopping this particular type of training ) them to be able to do things for themselves, have no fear of voicing out what they need and what is required.

Then one fine day during Raya, we found that we have actually over trained him…Selamatkan lah aku, Ya Allah….

We were at McDonald’s ( save me again, Allah ) and as usual, with the Happy Meal comes a toy that is gender specific. Since I have a pair, I asked for one boy toy which was a dino-robot thing and a girl one which was My Little Pony doll. Adik dislikes toys with flowing hairs and asked for a change. We of course sent Abang to do the deed. He approached the manager, a guy with a protruding belly and looked nowhere near my son’s age.

“ Dik, dik… boleh tak adik saya nak tukar toy ni ? ” It was a horrifying moment for any mothers. I looked at the guy and he was looking down at my son, one hand on the counter top and lips one thin line. Babah clutched my arms.

I think the guy asked what sort of toy Adik wanted because Abang answered, “ Dia nak toy robot jugak. Boleh tak ? ” He bent down and handed it over to Abang. Abang shook his head and said, “ Adik saya tak nak yang ini. Dia nak yang lagi satu…. ” and proceeded to the toys’ display and pointed at the desired toy.

When he came back, he informed us that they do not have any other toys but the same one that he has, so Adik has to be contend with it. Babah and I looked at him as he resumed his eating.

“ Why did you call that guy dik ? ” I asked.

“ I don’t know… ” he shrugged.

“ He is older than you, you know… ”. He looked at me and nodded his head. “ So, you should call him abang.. ”. At this point he looked at me, realizing that this is another lesson of life that we are bestowing on him, also means that he done a whopper yet again.

“ That was quite rude, Abang calling somebody older than you adik…” said I again. At this point, his eyes went bigger and rounder, a sure sign that he is going to cry. I sighed and shoved a calorie laden fry inside my mouth instead.

The next morning, he was hounding us to get him to a pasar mini. “ I want to buy Transformers card ” said he, raya money burning in his pocket. “ Which pasar mini ? ” Seksyen 9, he answered. I racked my brain for a pasar mini at Seksyen 9 and took him to the one at seksyen 8.

Babah went in with him and before Babah could open his mouth, he asked the shopkeeper, “ Pakcik ( he got it right this time ) dekat sini ada jual kad Transformers tak ? ” The pakcik answered in negative form but showed him a Transformers packet that has a toy inside. Hmmm…. Well he had to make a sale, I suppose. My son took it and started to feel the packet, to gauge the toy inside. “ Boleh pecah tak toy ni ? Sebab kalau senang pecah nanti mak saya marah…. ”. Aduih, tensionnya budak ni. You don’t have to rat on your mother you know. The pakcik of course said the toy could survive brimstone and fire. Without asking for his father’s permission, he said he’ll take it and paid for it and left, leaving a bewildered Babah in the shop.

Hmmmm………….

Si Adik pulak lain ceritanya. I took them to their piano class on Saturday the 8th of Raya. I waited on the bench in front of their classes when Adik came out first with her teacher in tow. She took my handphone and showed it to her teacher. The wallpaper of my phone at that time was Babah’s picture, taken by the princess herself.

“ Look at my father teacher…” she said, holding the phone up to her teacher. When she politely looked at the picture of the dashing Babah, Adik added, “ He is so cute !! ”. I went red with embarrassment. I swear the hallway went quiet. I dared not look at her teacher when I grabbed her and pulled her to me. She really couldn’t shut her mouth when she helpfully said, “ My father is just a boy.. ”. Eh ? What does that mean ?

I smiled awkwardly at her teacher because you know, my daughter looked like she was trying to get a replacement for her mummy ! Surely her mother must be horrible if she was promoting her father like that. Aduih…

Abang then emerged from his class. When Adik saw him she said, “ Have you met my brother, teacher ? ” Without waiting for her teacher’s answer she said, “ This is my brother, Abang. ” Her hand gesturing to him lazily, like an old hand at introducing people.

Hmm……… ( again ).

Cerita minggu ini

Last night I slept on my sejadah after Maghrib. I was so tired I decided to baring sekejap and then terus lelap. Babah woke me up at 9 and was quite upset because I missed my Japanese class.

I then decided to go down and cook for our sahur. Abang requested for pasta. Adik decided to follow me to the kitchen. While waiting for the pasta to boil, we sat on the floor for a cuddle. She was on my lap and I was fiddling with her hair and singing. When I finished singing, she said to me, “Mummy, you are a good mother.”

Mummy : Really ? Why ?

Adik : Because you make me things and give me something to eat and you like to hug me.

Mummy : Thank you honey for the appreciation.

Adik : ( Grinned ) You’re welcome Mummy.

Babah then came down to announce that he is going out to buy Abang’s chocolate milk. Adik of course wanted to follow. She held her father’s hand, looked at me as she was about to take a step and said, “Don’t forget the mushrooms Mummy for the basgetti.” He he….. comelnya.


2 weeks ago, Abang again complained why Harith ( Babah’s nephew ) is older and bigger than him. I have tried explaining to him in various ways. That day, I tried a different route.

Mummy : Abang, you must understand that Harith was born first. He was born before you. He was born before Babah and Mummy got married even.

Abang : Oh ? Why didn’t you get married yet ? Because Babah was not ready ?

Babah and Mummy looked at each other. Dah start merepek dah budak ni.

Babah : Merepek lah ko ni Abang.

Abang : Bah, is it because you have another girlfriend Bah ?

Dengan itu Mummy dengan muka yang berkerut dan tangan kat pinggang swiveled around to look at Babah. Babah looked shocked, then scared.

Babah : Apa ko merepek ni Abang ?

Abang : Yelah, usually the fathers tak nak kawin because they are not ready Bah. Because they have another girlfriend Bah.

Aiseh, buku apa yang ko baca, cerita apa yang ko tengok ni Abang ?