Elsa tak sayang abang ke ?

Few weeks ago, my sister Ita called me while I was working. It was Tuesday, a Mandarin class day and boy she had a story to tell me.

“Kau tahu aku pegi ambik budak-budak kan… bila aku sampai Umar kat luar rumah tengah nangis and Elsa kat pintu marah-marah….” Said Ita.

“Elsa halau Umar keluar rumah !!” She added.

I don’t know why the phrase terperanjat beruk was coined, but what Ita said was so unexpected I am sure terperanjat beruk was what I felt when I heard that.

Ita said she stumbled upon U-um storming out of the house, crying. When Ita asked him, he said Elsa asked him to leave so he is leaving.

“Emotional gila U-um, La. Dia terus nak keluar rumah. Yang dia pergi dengar cakap Elsa kenapa ?”

Although I laughed, Ita didn’t. She was thinking more in the line of if she didn’t come when she did, where would Umar be ?

When I got home, I rounded my children.

“What happened ?”

Nobody said anything. When I asked Umar why he attempted to leave, he said because Elsa asked him to.

“Elsa… where do you expect Umar to go ? This is his house too. Umar nak pergi mana ? Kalau Umar hilang macam Sharlinie karang macamana ?”

Both of them were quiet. When I tried to prod the reason of the fight, they were incommunicado.

“Please don’t do that ever again Elsa. And Umar pun, stay put. Where did you think you were going to go ?”

I left it at that because there is nothing much that I can say, right ?

Wrong.

A few days after that, abang and adik were having a hushed fight. You know, bickering with furious whispers. I couldn't make out what they were fighting about of course, but then as I was surreptiously watching them, I saw Elsa hand on her hips, nudging her head to the door. Was that another eviction order ?

I had plenty to say after that !!

ELsa bila demam

Elsa bila demam equals fights and cryings. Why ? Because she hates taking her medicines. “Sikit saja, Mummy !! Wa ! Wa !” Or “I do want that colour !! I want yang pink tuh !!” Well.. you get the picture.

Elsa tergolong dalam golongan yang kena marah bila demam. People especially children who are unwell usually get sympathy and extra tender loving care, but Elsa actually got more anger thrown at her while she is sick.

During her recent sickness, she was plagued with high fever. It was worrying. We bathed her constantly and kept her on skimpy, airy and light clothes. We also had to keep cajoling her to take her medication. After awhile cajoling turned to threats. Haii….

The thing was she pretended not to be sick. I suspected she was sick a day before she got any fever. Her voice was screechy and she was listless. “Are you sick, Elsa ?” Asked I. She laughed. “No !! I am not sick !!” She said and ran away.

The next morning I greeted her with a “Panas tak badan ?” and she replied with an angry “Don’t ask me that question !”

By the second day after a night of fighting to get the medicine to her throat, I instinctively reached for her forehead as soon as I opened my eyes. However the little minx caught my hand before I could touch her.

“Don’t touch me there !!” And quickly scrambled up. I was too shocked for words because I thought she was asleep.

“Okay Mummy ? You cannot touch me at all okay Mummy ? You don’t touch me here, here, here… okay Mummy ?” She instructed after successfully putting herself at a safe distance from me.

Tak payah pegang dahi, Elsa… your hands pun cukup panas. Malas to cause her more distress, I shrugged my shoulders and prepared for Subuh, knowing fully well that she will take her medicines no matter what.

When I got out from the bathroom, I saw her lying on my bed and my son who was buttoning his school uniform was by her side, talking urgently to her.

“Ti !! You must makan ubat, okay Ti !!”

“Tak nak…. Tak sedap… I am not sick…..”

“Ti … you have to makan ubat. Kalau tak nanti Titi mati… Titi nak mati ke ?” Asked my son.

“No, Um… I am not sick !!” She insisted.

Umar started to get desperate and when he next spoke, his voice was laced with desperation and tears.

“Ti…. I don’t want you to die… Please makan ubat…… Please, Ti !!” The abang pleaded.

Kesian aku nengok abang si Elsa ni. However Elsa was not moved at all and was still adamant that she was healthy. Umar gave up and went down for his breakfast weeping silently.

I remember Dan’s sister recounted me a story of Elsa who had some ailment while she was around at her mom’s house. She managed to persuade Elsa to drink her medicine however when she swallowed, it triggered a coughing fit.

Umar was at his sister’s side in an instant.

“Aunty Wawa … did you give my sister racun ?” Asked he in a scandalous tone while helping his sister up and took her away from Aunty Wawa…

He he… …

My nieces

I miss my nieces. Since Umar and Elsa go home after school, I hardly ever see my 2 girls. So 2 nights ago I ajak Babah to bawak Esya and Ana keluar dinner. Ana is always game, she is very rajin that one, but Esya is a different matter. She loves to stay home and usually malas nak keluar. Nak tengok tv lah, nak tidur lah, nanti ayah cari lah…. Ada aje alasan dia. Mummy vows that she will do something to get Esya out of her laziness.

So imagine my surprise when Babah honked the car, both of them came running out of the house.

“Esya ikut ke ? Esya ikut Mummy ke ?” Asked the very excited Mummy.

“Mummy ! Mummy !” Cried Ana happily. Tapi Esya went,

“Is that Abang U-um ?? Abang U-um ! Abang U-um !!” She yelled while frantically looking for her shoes.

“Esya ikut Mummy ke ?” Asked me, still could not quite believe it.

“Abang U-um ! Abang U-um ! I saw abang U-um tadi !! Is that abang U-um ?” She ignored my questions and kept on with her abang U-um.

“Sapa Abang U-um tu, Sya ? Umar ke ?” Asked me in a frown. Abang U-um ? I know Umar liked to use his title whenever it suited him but I never heard anybody calls him that on a permanent basis.

“Ha ! Abang U-um !! Abang U-um !! There he is ! I saw him kat sekolah tadi, Mummy !! Abang U-um ambik hadiah. Is that really Abang U-um !!” She was all-euphoric, yelling and jumping at the same time.

I looked at her questioningly then Kak Idah, my mom’s maid came out.

“Dia rindu tu, Jang ! Kan dah lama tak datang…” Lepas tu Kak Idah pulak menjerit-jerit, “Umar !! Titi !!” and ran to the car, arms waving and trying to get hugs and kisses from my children. Kelakar gilo eeii dia orang ni. Rindu bebenor.

In the car I asked Esya why she called Umar abang U-um. Marlin helpfully answered, “Haii…. Umar kan paksa dia orang panggil dia abang Umar… Dia kan boss….” Umar grinned sheepishly at his parents who just shook their heads. Gila kuasa budak ni.

“Tadi at school saya nampak abang Umar ambik hadiah, Mummy !” Said Esya excitedly.

“Really, baby ?” Said Mummy, stroking her face fondly. “You did not point your finger and say, “Hey !! That’s my cousin !!” out loud ke ?” He he… cheekily planting havoc-inducing ideas to my progeny.

“No !! I did not but I did jumpa dia when dia jalan..” Said Esya.

“A-ah, Mummy. She called me when she was beratur tu pergi class….” Said Umar and then I couldn’t say anything anymore because Esya was busy talking and laughing with Umar. Rindu sangat gamaknya tu.

We had a lovely dinner where Ana refused the orange juice we ordered for her but instead wanted Babah’s ‘ayer gash….’.

When we got to my mom’s house after dinner, Ana looked stricken and worried. She refused to get out of the car.

“Titi sayang Ana…” Said Ana, face unhappy, stabbing her cute finger to her chest repeatedly.

O-oh..

Ana memang sayang Titi. When my kids were with my mom, every late afternoon when I came to pick my children Ana would be distressed because I came to take Titi away. Her trick is usually, “Ana nak tidur, Titi tidur Ana…” and off Ana would go to her room, tugging Titi along and they will baring and Ana would pat her bum as a signal for Titi to do that to her. So Titi pun pok-pok lah Ana’s tooshie, sambil nyanyi-nyanyi. Of course since it was 7 pm, who in the right mind could fall asleep ?

If I tried to tell her that Titi has to go home, Mummy is tired, Mummy nak sembahyang blah, blah, blah.. she would start wailing. Worse if she crossed her arms, lips in a pout and announced importantly “Ana ajuk ni…”

“Titi sayang Ana !!” Said Ana again, face so sad.

“Titi kiss Ana okay ? Titi sayang Ana…” Said kakak Titi pulak.

“Nanti Titi datang rumah Tok, okay ?” Pandai Titi pujuk.


“Titi sayang Ana….” She said again. Sedih hati Mummy tengok tapi Umar dah nak lelap (boys and their 9.30 pm bed time theory). But I cannot see Ana like that. I was about to say, “Okaylah,jom masuk sekejap…” Ana climbed down the car, waved at Titi and run shrieking happily into the house. Cepat betul berubah mood budak ni. Belum ada PMS lagi tuh… he he….

Umar and his mouth

On Sunday we went to Elsa’s concert at Dewan Jubli Perak. It was really, really long from 8 am to 1 pm. The concert could have been good I suppose if it had been better organized. Seriously I had more fun at Umar’s CEC’s concert.

Anyway we were late and went there without breakfast. They did supply one doughnut and 1 karipap per family (please concentrate on the per family part… well actually that is quite good because CEC never thought about the condition of our bellies…. ) but being parents, GOOD parents, we let Umar ate it all, our healthily sized (read fat) boy.

Anyway all the waiting was a revelation. Why ? Because I found out that Umar has a very sassy mouth.

At 9 am Umar had started complaining about his hunger and the failure of the organisers to start the concert made him more anxious. Predictably the concert started late and it started with speeches. The speech given by Adun Bandar Anggerik, a Yaacob Saperi was good though as his was the one I listened to from start to finish.

Then the emcee (there were two, funny enough. One was speaking in English and the other did Arabic translations. Dan and I looked around in vain, trying to locate any Arabs among the guests but we couldn’t find any. There were a few mat sallehs, but no Arabs… so that part was a bit intriguing) announced that they will be closing the drapes because they are going to assemble all the students for the hafazan.

Umar of course was not concentrating but when they closed the drapes he was on alert. “Apa payah tutup curtain tu. Beratur, jalan duduk…” said the all-knowing me.. he heh…

“I think maybe somebody is going naked….” Was Umar’s reply…. Orang keliling was clearly not paying attention either and a few looked at him. Mummy and Babah punya segan tok sah cerita lah and Mummy pun marah lah Umar… he he…

Anyway while waiting for the children to be organized, the emcee and his nasyid friends sang a few songs for us. Hmmmm…. not that I want to be critical but practice, practice and practice okay ?

The concert was seriously very boring and I blame the teachers. They lack imagination and the drive to produce something nice and entertaining. Maybe I am being over critical, I don’t know but as I mentioned earlier, I attended CEC’s concerts for 3 years and theirs were good. Luckily the show was performed by children and their antics was what that saved us from boredom. The kids were cheeky, energetic and funny and oh so adorable. There were a few shy ones too which I found really endearing. Some forgot the routine, which made us laugh, and one boy was really cute. He had forgotten his lines and his teacher had to give him the script. He then recited it beautifully, tapi malu-malu of course.

Apa anak aku kata ? “Luckily he can read kan Mummy ?”

Udah… apa ke halnya Umar ? Mummy gave him the severest of jelings that he went quiet.

There were a few other stuffs he said that wasn’t nice but the most severe one was when they again closed the drapes to arrange the stage for the graduation ceremony. And again the nasyid boys went on stage. The emcee said, “Please allow us to entertain you again..” or something in that manner and my son… waaahh !! My boy said, “Not in a million years …” Masa tu aku dah tak tau nak buat apa dah and just hid behind the papers.

As I mentioned earlier we woke up late. What with nak sembahyang Subuhnya, then preparing the kids, then doing our own toilette plus having to go buy local fruits because the school asked for local fruits donations. To make matters worse, Dan is a punctual being and therefore had this unnecessary need to be there by 8 because the programme stated parents' arrival was to be at that time. So who had time for breakfast ? Defensive ni.... he he

When they closed the drapes again which was around 12, we thought we could get Elsa since she was not graduating.The task fell on Dan and Umar who went backstage to get her. However apparently all students will be getting something so we were asked to wait. So we waited and waited and waited when I noticed my son was missing. I looked around but couldn’t find him. I located Dan who sat at the furthest back, and was informed that Umar was backstage again, trying to get his sister.

Aisehman… My face flamed with embarrassment because I have seen him being insistent. They are not pretty for the mother’s eyes. 2 minutes later, he emerged triumphant from backstage with his sister in hand. “What did you say to the teacher, Umar ?” Asked me as we raced to Kelana Jaya for a much needed nasi padang.

“That I’m hungry and my sister is hungry because we did not have breakfast…” Ceh… cannot jaga your mother’s air muka ka ?

Anak ku Elsa …

Last Friday Dan and I went to Subang Parade to get new tennis shoes from Al-Ikhsan for me. Umar deicided not to come so we went a-trois. Kebetulan it was Halloween and therefore some places were suitably decorated.

“Look, Mummy !! Pumpkin tu ada mata…. Macam Halloween…” Exclaimed my daughter.

“It is Halloween, little girl….” I confirmed.

“Really ?” She said with a skeptical look on her face.

We walked some more and saw a few more Halloween decorations.

“Is it really Halloween, Mum ?” She asked, brows furrowed.

“Iye…..” Yelah… apa lagi nak jawab kan ? However her face still looked disturbed.

I wasn’t that hungry and Dan couldn’t find anything appetizing in Subang Parade, so we went to Khalifah Sek 3 for tosai.

Dan and I were chatting when suddenly Elsa interrupted. “Is it really Halloween today, Mummy ?”

Aiseh… awatnya budaknya ni ?

“Yes it is….” Said I and before I could ask why she added darkly, “Then why isn’t everybody wearing a costume ?”

Mummy and Babah burst out laughing. While I’m writing this, my mind keeps going to her face when she said it, disbelieving with a hint of anger…. He he….