Azizul ?

Last week Elsa came home with a straight scar, a gash, on her neck. It was quite long and when we saw it, the scar was still red.

“Who did this to you ? Sakit ke ?” Asked Mummy.

“Tak…. Tak sakit… Azizul kat sekolah buat…” Said she.

“Why did he do this to you ? Is it because he likes you ? He wants you to be his girlfriend ?” I teased.

She blushed and gave me a “Taaak… laah….”. He he…..

When we were getting ready for bed, I realised that I hadn’t heard anything from her brother. Impossible…

“Um !! Nampak tak apa jadi kat leher adik ?”

“Leher tu apa, Mummy ?”

“Aiyoo !! Neck lah. Neck. See ?” I pointed at the gash. He had a horrified look on his face when he saw it.

“Sapa buat tu, Ti ?” Asked the very concerned brother.

“Azizul….” Answered my daughter in a small voice, playing the victim although I know it doesn’t hurt.. well anymore that is.

“Azizul ? Why did he do that to you, Ti ?”

Titi just looked at him and I decided to test the fire a bit……

“What are you going to do about it, Um ? Somebody hurt your sister.”

“Slap his face !!” He announced. Pulak…

“No, lah. Don’t use violence lah…”

“Mummy… you tell Cik Ta to pick up me first from school tomorrow. You tell Cik Ta that, okay ?” Said he, face all serious.

I stifled my giggle. “Okay, Um..”

He looked at the gash again. “Sakit tak, Ti ?” He asked.

Titi sniffed imaginary tears (or maybe snot) and nodded. Umar’s anger was suitably refreshed.

“You tell Cik Ta to pick me up first, okay ?” Before I could agree, he added, “But what shall I do ? What shall I do to him, Mum ?”

Wa ha ha ha ha !! Adui le, Umar.

Hmm…. That question is actually quite crucial. My answer could potentially turn my son into a hooligan and became a brother just like mine. I don’t want another (actually me goading him is already quite bad…. but moving on…) Syafiq in terms of brotherly conduct.

“Okay… why don’t you just tell him that it was not nice of him to do that to your sister. Maybe you should ask him if tak sengaja ke or memang deliberately wanted to hurt your sister…..” Said I carefully.

Then I can’t resist adding, “If you mess with my sister, you mess with me !!” Mummy ni memanglah.

He then put his arms around his sister and steered her to their room. “Come, Ti. Let me look at it properly, okay ?”

The next day he complained that Cik Ta failed to pick him up first. 2 days after the incident though, Cik Ta did pick him up first and when they arrived at Titi’s school, he was sent to fetch Elsa.

Cik Ta waited and waited and waited. When Cik Ta finally went to search for her niece and nephew she found the so-called protective abang playing football with some kids.

“I couldn’t find Azizul !!” Was his defence when he saw Cik Ta standing with her hand on her waist.

“Kurang asam punya Umar ! Dia biar aku tunggu lama-lama. Dianya pergi main bola !! Aku ni tunggulah macam orang gila !!” Complained Cik Ta later.

Apalah Umar oiiiii….. Nak belasah Azizul konon…

Ants and laser beams

Many Saturdays ago found me driving my husband’s car. I had to send my car to the workshop (Courtesy of Elsa and the window screen episode). Amelia followed our car to the shop and then sent us home. Babah borrowed Atuk’s car to work.

We were in the car on the way home when we noticed there were quite a large number of ants running around the dashboard. I instructed Umar to open the glove compartment and lo-and-behold, there were loads of ants swarming a packet of sweets !!

Umar quickly slammed the compartment door shut. Some ants managed to escape and was running around the car.

“Ti ! Quick ! You kill all the ants that go this way and I will handle the ants around here !” He instructed. However Umar tried to kill the ants with the tip of his finger rather than slamming them with his palm. So bloody dainty.

“Umar, macam tu mana jadi. That is not going to work !’ Said I. “Buat macam ni !!” and I hit the ants with my palm and showed the amount of carnage on it.

Umar of course was hesitant. “Taknak lah, Mummy ….” But he was forced to do so by the sheer number of ants running out of their cave in the glove compartment. Maybe they were attracted to the light.

I managed to produce a face towel and my children wiped the ants away. Easy peezy lemon squeezy. Success !!

However after 5 minutes, a few more managed to get out and was running around the dashboard again. Umar screamed. “Mummy !! There’s more !! Oh my god !! So geli !!”

I then heard my daughter groaned. She rolled her eyes.

“Umar….” She sighed. “We are the giant, Umar. We are bigger. We don’t have to be scared of them… They are scared of us, Um….”

He he… she had this weary look on her face, so funny like she was thinking when will her brother grow up. Semut pun nak takut ke Um ni ?

Last Sunday we went to Ikea to furnish our new kitchen. As usual we trooped to The Curve and certainly browsed through the weekend bazaar. Naturally we stopped at a toy stall and even though Babah warned that we will only be looking at stuffs, my kids managed to come home with a toy each.

Anyway while we were there, Umar picked up this finger laser thingy, where you strap this small laser guns on each of your four fingers. Umar read the packet and instructions then looked up at the guy manning the booth.

“Is it real laser beams or just lights ?” He asked.

“Aa? Just normal lights lah…” Replied the guy.

“Oh… okay that is good. Because if it is real laser beams, it can seriously hurt people. Laser beams can slice people you know !!”

Waa ha ha ha ha… !!!

Your little sister

How do I find a word that means Umar and Elsa ?

Hmm…..

As usual on Saturday my kids will be with Ivy until 1 pm. When I arrived to pick them up, Ivy informed me that Umar used up the last of his art block and needs a new one. Elsa jumped in delight because she wanted a new one, too.

I sighed and waited for the tears and protests.

Ivy lives by a golden rule, do not spoil your children and gives in to all their demands. The sub-rule of that rule is, there is no reason to replace something that is not finished yet.

Therefore Ivy gently told Elsa that since she still has 2 pages left on her art block, she is not getting a new one today. She will only get a new one when hers is all used up. Elsa protested, “It’s not fair because Umar got a new one !” And then cried.

I agree with Ivy. What she said is true and I although I cannot stand the crying, my children needs to understand about a teacher’s authority. Kids nowadays lack that. No more respect for teachers.

And so I dragged my crying child to the car. She didn’t stop crying. Neither did she stop with the “It’s not fair !!” declarations.

Umar being Umar tried to console his sister.

“Ti… come and baring at me, Ti…” he offered. Elsa dutifully put her head on his lap, still sobbing. He stroked her hair and face lovingly. “Ti !” He exclaimed. “You are heavy, Ti ! I can feel you are heavy !! Look how you have grown !!”

Aku tergelak kat depan sorang – sorang. He played with his sister’s desire to grow big and tall. Suddenly Elsa sat down.

“Ummm…..” She sobbed. “Next time can you wait for your sister ?”

“Wait for what ?”

“Can you not finish your art block first ? Can you wait for your little (she stressed this bit) sister to finish together ?” She pleaded. Aku dah start sengih.

“Itulah, Ti. I don’t understand why we didn’t finish together… Oh… I think I know… yang hari tu Umar tak datang sebab demamm…..” Said my son, wiping the tears away from his little sister’s face with hand.

Aduhai anak ku.

Elsa

Elsa…. Elsa kena sayang abang because abang loves you very, very, very much.

Saturday night you guys were fooling around, wrestling and such when your ulcer bled. You showed it to your precious abang and he inspected your mouth. He then took you to the bathroom, opened the tap and instructed you to gargle some water. He scooped water to your mouth many, many times before he is satisfied that the blood is gone. He wiped your face dry with a towel before hugging you and telling you everything is okay. I can’t sleep that night as I keep thinking about it and I want you to think about that incident too if you ever decided that you hate your brother.

Or what about when you swapped your iced-tea for my sirap limau. Umar was aghast that I allowed you to drink something with ‘biji’ in it. During the course of the meal he kept reminding you to watch out for the ‘biji-biji’ and whenever you took a sip, his eyes watched the beverage like a hawk, making sure none of the offending ‘biji’ is swallowed by his little sister.

Remember that Elsa whenever you think what a jerk your big brother is.

Please also try to remember throughout the course of your life that you love your brother very much too.

We were on the way home from watching Get Smart and the 2 of you of course played rough at the back seat. Umar accidently socked you at the mouth and hit your ulcer. You must be in an excruciating pain but you hid it well so that Umar wouldn’t be in trouble. You kept saying, “I’m okay, Um… I’m okay… Tak sakit pun..” when Umar gave you his once over but I saw you winced in pain. That was really nice of you my darling and I know you did it because you love your abang.

But what I will always remember is how much you re your abah’s little girl. I am not ashamed to admit that I am jealous of the amount of love you bestow on your abah. You took out his picture from my purse and showed it around, saying how cute your father is. He he…

Well… last night, I was cooking when you approached me. “Mummy…. Abah is hurt …” Said you. I asked who had hurt your Abah and you with a disbelief look said, “You did, Mum !! It was you ! Abah sekarang dah sakit kepala !!”

I have to say that I was shocked that you decided to confront me. I tried denying it. You insisted, “Mum… Abah terantuk kepala when you slam dunk him !!” You shook your head when you said that, one hand on your forehead.

For the record I didn’t slam dunk him… I was just trying to wrestle the remote control from him and in that process he hit his head on the bed headboard. In all fairness it was all Rashdan’s fault because he stuck his tongue out to me when I requested for the remote nicely.

“Mana ada… I did no such thing !!” I protested in mock horror. Again you rested your forehead on your palm and shook your head. “Ada !! You did it Mum !! Now Abah is hurt …”. You stood there, looking at me accusingly and I felt so wretched for hurting your Abah eventhough he deserved it (and really all in good fun lah… no biggie…..).

But the thing that I will remember the most is the way you, Elsa at 5 years old, spelt teh-o-ais … T-O-S… a bit of English and at the T and Indonesian at the S but it was music to my ears… my funny, bunny….