Little Miss Busy

The whole of Sunday I was without my daughter. She slept with her cousin and therefore when we woke up at 6 to play tennis at 7, we didn’t wake her up because we didn’t want to wake Aida up too.

When we got back, she was quite upset. She even refused to go to Pasar Tani with us, declaring “ Titi tak nak pegi mana – mana !”. She only agreed to come with us when Dahlya, Jazmyn and Aida wanted to join us.

When we got home, she went straight to play with her cousins. When we got out for lunch, we went without her because she said she had eaten. It was one of the saddest lunch I had, without my naughty Titi. However when we got home she was not there as she was out with her grandparents. I heard her voice when she returned home and I waited for her to come to me. She didn’t. She was downstairs for a while and when she came up she went straight to her room to be with her cousins. I only saw a glimpse of her. How sad.

After awhile I noticed that I only heard Umar and Aida’s voices. Not hers. I asked Umar the whereabouts of her sister and he said she is in the room with him. She finally came to me for a hug but before she got away again I asked her if she could spare some precious minutes with me. I lifted her up, sat her on my lap and we nuzzled each other and marveled at each other’s faces. I laid her small frame on my lap ( she could still fit my crossed legs ) and asked her to stay with me for awhile. I rocked her and sang to her and when I looked at her again, she was fast asleep. My baby.

I went down to play badminton with Umar. After about an hour, she appeared at the door, all upset. “Mum.. I am upset…” she announced. I gathered her in my arms and she was soothed. I watched her on her tricycle with her brother until it was time for Maghrib. I bathed my kids, watched them take their ablutions ( we are not allowed to say air sembahyang anymore. According to Titi, at school it is called ablutions…fine…) and we prayed.

Abah’s turn to cook dinner and he made excellent dollar pancakes with fruits and ice-cream. While Abah prepared dinner I sat with my son helping him to do extra Bahasa Malaysia exercises as his exams are around the corner. Elsa sat with us, quietly studying her new picture dictionary ( dictionary ni dahsyat oii…. It is in English, BM, jawi and Arabic… you would never guess what semi-detached house is in Arabic ). I looked at her from time to time but she was absorbed in her book.

Umar asked during dinner if Wire in The Blood is on. When I said no he asked if Without a Trace is on and when the answer is still in the negative he was in despair. I told him CSI is on tonight and he was happy.

All of us snuggled in bed to watch the telly but Umar as usual nodded of by 9.30. When Abah and Mummy struggled to get Umar to his own bed ( his sheer size made it difficult ) Elsa announced that she wants to watch the telly instead of reading that night ( every night when we bid them good night Elsa would always ask for the light to be on. “I want to read” is what she always says. She would usually fall asleep with her book on her face or on her belly. So lovely ).

“I love you, Mummy…” she said happily, her head on my shoulder as we watched telly together. When I woke up this morning, my shoulder was sore because she was still there. My baby….. don’t ever be too busy for your mother.