Permintaan Ana

All of us went to my cousin Nasha’s wedding. Umar, Elsa, Esya and Anna included, of course. It was a lovely wedding (hot, but still lovely) at Tasik Titiwangsa and the kiddies were having a blast playing and eating free ice-cream, which Mak Unggai thoughtfully hired the whole truck for the occasion. Yumm…

The children were having fun, running about and looking at the lake when suddenly Esya screamed in delight. “Look ! Look everybody ! Horses !!” Sure enough, when we looked there were two horses walking about, mounted by DBKL officials. The kids were excited, Anna especially who kept begging us to get her nearer to the magnificent creatures.

Anna rode with us on the way home, and as usual sat on my lap. We were chatting happily, talking about this and that. There was a lull on the conversation and we were just content looking at the scenery (I remember this so well. We were at the traffic light, underneath the NPE bridge, wanting to turn right to Pantai Dalam) when Anna broke the silence.

“Abah…. Anna nak osh….” Said she. She was not looking at Abah though when she said that.

“Aaa ? Osh ? Apa tu ?” Asked the Abah pulak.

Mummy was already laughing.

“Dia nak horse !! He he…. Anna nak horse ke ?” I asked.

She looked at me with that beautiful face and those lovely eyes that melted me. “Ha… Anna nak osh…” She confirmed, face all serious. My kids were noisy with excitement.

“Anna nak horse ke ?” Asked Umar who loves Anna dearly.

“Yey ! Anna nak horse !! Bah, I want one, too !!” Announced Titi bouncing happily.

Kesian Tok Mi pening kepala kat belakang… but she was laughing, too.

“Pandai Anna ye… Benda mahal-mahal mintak kat Abah, ye…..” Said me, teasing her. “Okay…. Anna kalau nak horse, kena mintak kat Abah betul-betul. Come on… look at Abah and say ‘Anna nak horse Abah… please…..’…..”

She turned around, looked at Dan, grinning away, head tilting to the side. Pandai sungguh….Sadly though shyness took over and she abandoned the act. She leaned on me and hugged me from the side.

“Anna nak osh…..” She whispered.

And aku being aku dok memikir macam mana aku nak bagi Anna kuda….. Macam mana yek ?

Macam - macam hal....

My eldest brother approached me last week with the best opening statement ever, “Umar tak reti basuh o-ok sendiri ye ?” Udah…. My heart sank and sank deeper.

“Memang lah tak reti !!” I replied, rather shrilly I might add. Due to fear I think as my head was already mentally ticking where I need to mop with extra vigor with superfluous amount of soap. “Ijat ngan Mail sampai darjah 3 aku masih basuh pungkok dia orang !!”. I jat and Mail… take note, do not be rude to me. You owe the state of your bums to me and Ita.

“Habis kalau tak de orang kat rumah, siapa yang basuh ?” He asked again. “He is never in a situation where there are no adults to wash him, Pek….” I answered. “Kenapa ni ?” I asked, getting hysterical.

He shook his head, his face grim. Abang aku memang suka buat macam tu. Cakap tak nak habis, buat orang panic. “Pernah tak Titi yang basuh dia ?” I am sure my eyes grew round and round and round at that.

“HA ????” Was all I could muster. The idea was too monstrous, too preposterous my mind couldn’t even conjure up the image.

I collected my kids without much delay. As soon as I locked the car door, I pounced on them.

“Who washed your bum today, Um ?” I asked.

“Bibik lah…” He answered lazily.

“Pernah tak Titi basuh o-ok U-um ?” With that he sat up straight. Elsa who was sitting at the back moved to the center of the car. I stole a look at Umar and his face was….. well… I don’t know how to describe it but I just don’t like how he looked at Elsa.

“Tak ! Mana ada !”

“Betul ke ni, Um ? Titi ?” I pressed.

“Betul lah. Mana ada Titi basuh o-ok Umar !!” Answered Titi.

“Tapi Mamu Pek cakap …” Said I and both of them snorted. My mom reported that day both of them bergaduh satu hari dengan Mamu Peknya. Abang aku kuat mengusik… dia memang suka buat orang nangis. Dia memang rajin main dengan anak-anak and games with him will be full of laughter but usually it will end up with somebody (or everybody) in tears.

“Mamu Pek naughty hari ni !!” Said my son with some anger. “Dia main baling-baling rambutan… kena kat muka !!” Umar memang geli dengan rambutan. When I brought Umar and Dan to my first overseas assignment in Bangkok, we stayed at a luxurious hotel along Sukhumvit Road. Umar was forever attacking the room phone (he was 2) and therefore to stop him, we positioned a few complimentary rambutans on the phone.

“A-ah kan Um !!” Elsa agreed.

So… are they saying my brother saja je nak kenakan dia orang ? But why the funny look he gave Elsa when I first brought up the subject ?

“Are you telling me the truth ????” I asked again.

“Mum… smell my hand Mummy..” Said Elsa extending her hand to me. “It smells nice… it doesn’t smell bad…”

Kelakar sungguh si Elsa.

“Yelah… I don’t mean just now. Yesterday maybe… two days ago ? Three days ?”

“Mana ada lah, Mummy !!” Said now the clearly frustrated Umar. “Okay, okay… like this. Ti, do you know how to wash your own o-ok ?” Said he, looking at his sister expectantly.

“No… I don’t know….” She answered, shaking her head.

“See Mum ? If she doesn’t know how to wash her own o-ok… how can she wash mine ?”

He really got me at that. So I shut my trap.

PS : After that he kept on complaining about my brother. To calm him down I said, “Mamu kan main-main saja….”.

“But it’s rambutan ! I hate rambutan !! Anyway he is so rough…”

“Umar… what kinds of uncles do you like ? An uncle that ignores you or an uncle that actually took time to play with you ?”

He became quiet.

“When you are all grown up nanti, you are able to tell your children about your very playful uncle. Nanti Umar cakap pasal Mamu Pek who once threw rambutan at you !!”

He then laughed.

“So nanti when I grow up I have my own BUDAK…., I will tell them about my past ?” He said, grinning inanely at me.

Budak ? Merepeknya ko anak ku…

Light colours

I do laundry like my mom. Well… I do not know any other way because I was trained by her kan ? I do however make improvements. My mom only has one basket and everyday she would sort out the pile; light, dark and white.

Me though, I have 3 baskets lined up, one for each category so that everyday after work either me or Dan can just hitch the whichever basket that was full to our waists and start the washing process. Usually Dan and I have to make judgment calls between light and dark but I never thought that my children would have to do the same too. Well… because I never trained them to do so just yet. Must be their Babah.

Anyway, I was preparing for Maghrib when I heard this conversation;

Umar : What do you think, Ti ? Is this dark or soft ?

Elsa : Hmmmm… I don’t know lah, Um. It’s pink….

Umar : But it is very bright kan, Um. Maybe dark….

Elsa : Okay lah, Um.

I looked and saw my kids, gloriously naked, both looking back and forth between the 3 baskets and the bright pink trousers. Finally after much deliberation and discussion between them, Umar tossed the offending garment in the dark coloured basket.

He he…

PS : Aku pun dalam dilemma pile mana bright pink track bottom tu belongs to.

Hmm… actually their conversation answered my questions on Elsa’s usage of the word light.

We were in Perak for Raya and since my grandma was with us during Ramadhan we couldn’t stay in her house because it was locked up for the whole month. So we stayed at my Uncle Mat’s house instead.

Uncle Mat and Aunty Aisyah lives in a lovely 2 storey bungalow near the Ipoh Airport. I love the area because it is very cold and windy, especially in the morning. His house was huge with loads of rooms and were each given rooms for our use. Uncle Mat assigned his daughter Syakira’s room to us.

Elsa gasped in delight when I opened the door to Syakira’s room. The room was really cosy, I have to admit with white carpeting, white bed, pink floral curtains and the icing on the cake, bright pink walls.

“I want my room just like this, Bah !!” She announced. Since she kept commenting on how lovely the room was, Babah had to ask, “Do you really want me to make your room just like this ?” Her answer ? “Yes, please …” He he… comel.

Anyway, tired of hearing her praises and pleadings to do her room just like it, I said to her, “Ti, your room pun pink, kan ?” And she shot back, “But it’s too light !! I can’t really see it !!”

Terkejut giler Mummy dengar penggunaan too light tuh… I was thinking mana lah dia belajaq rupa-rupanya from her experience sorting out her laundry… he he.

Actually her room is extremely light purple because I thought pink would be too tacky… but Uncle Mat pulled it off…. Hmm…..

My little Elsa

Last Saturday I had the privilege of having Esya with me. The 3 of them played and rowed and played some more and of course rowed again.

I was in my room folding the clothes and the kiddies were outside, busy with the Play Station. Suddenly…

Umar : Tak boleh Esya. Itu abang Umar punya toy….. (Umar ni memang… kalau nak tunjuk authority mula lah flashing title).

Esya : Mumble Mumble Whine Whine

Umar : Cannot. Esya banyak ambik toy abang Umar. You can play it here but you cannot take it home…

Esya : Alah…. Mumble Mumble

Elsa : Kenapa ni ? What’s wrong ?

Umar : Esya nak ambik toy abang Umar nak bawak balik ! (In a condescending tone. Aku ni duduk kat situ dengor aje anak aku berlagak …)

Elsa : Esya… that is Umar’s toy. Dia nak main. Esya selalu ambik toy Umar bawak balik…

Esya : Whine Whine Whine

Elsa : Umar !! Share lah !! Why cannot you share ?

He he….. pulak….

Selepas itu….

As usual before bed Mummy and Babah would talk while drifting to sleep. We had a long day and everybody was tired. My eyes were closed while I listened to Dan. Suddenly…

Elsa : Mummy, Babah. Please do not talk after midnight okay ? I am tired, I want to sleep.

Babah : Eh budak ni. Tidurlah….

Elsa : You be quiet, Bah. You are too noisy. I want to sleep.

Mummy : Okaylah, okaylah. Dah tidur !

Elsa : (under her breath) I cannot sleep like this…. Bebel Bebel Bebel….

Lepas tu..

Elsa : Um ! Talk Talk Talk Talk

Umar : Elsa ! Umar nak tidur lah. Can you please be quiet ?

Elsa : I cannot sleep, Um !! Talk Talk Talk

Kurang asam punya budak kecik…


Selepas itu…

Elsa loves to follow Mummy around. Mummy mandi, ada orang teman kan. Mummy on the john pun, ada je budak perempuan yang tercegat depan pintu dok membebel pasal Dina lah (she doesn’t like this one), Soleha (she sits next to her), Sophia (Dina had been trying to make Elsa sit next to Sophia. For some reason Dina wants Soleha to sit alone… Hmm….) and the one that she mentions all the time….Hakim (loves to usik her, kacau dia and it seems that they spent most of their school time talking to each other. Again, hmmm……).

She especially loves it when I garden. If I water the plant, she would totter behind. If I complain, she would agree and tolong bebel sekali. Her acara favourite ? Digging.

“Are we digging today, Mummy ? Are we ?”

Kalau jawapannya yes, melompat lah dia and terus cari spade.

Satu hari as I was digging, I stumbled upon a worm. Apalagi menjerit lah aku. I was sitting on the patio and Elsa was on a stone tile that we use to make a pathway, in front of me. I jumped and screamed for my husband. Elsa joined in the hoopla.

Dan took his sweet time to inspect the screaming because I think he expected as much. When Dan scooped up the poor thing, Elsa was still standing on the tile. She looked so cute screaming with her eyes squeezed shut. Dan had to scoop her up and put her at a safe place where she and Mummy took time to collect themselves.

Then we resumed our gardening activities. She as usual talked happily while Mummy half listened when suddenly I heard,

Elsa : You don’t be scared okay. If the worm comes, you don’t worry okay. I am here. I will take care of you.

I looked at her and she was in profile, looking at me, nodding her head while her hands busy digging for whatever.

Elsa : Okay, Mummy ? Okay ? You don’t be scared, okay ?

Mummy : Okay.

Babah who was sitting near us, snorted.

Babah : Ti ! Worm !!

And melompat lah protector aku tadi, menjerit macam orang gila.

Hmm……