Wee morning fight….

Dunno why Mummy and Babah were awake so early today. Mummy knew Babah was awake, but decided to savour the time on her own. She felt Babah slipped away from her, went down to watch the telly. 5 minutes to 6 am, Mummy followed suit, feeling lonely in the big empty bed.

Watched telly awhile then we went upstairs again when we heard the adzan. Woke up the kids too, and by 6.30 they were already in the kitchen having breakfast.

6.45 am Babah opened the room door to hang the towels when we heard a loud bickering going on downstairs.

Hmmm…. hudak-budak ni… Sighed Babah.

The noise got louder and louder, footsteps heard. Babah waited at the top of the stairs. Mummy was slapping cold moisturizer on her face decided to listen from where she was.

“Adik ni… She thinks that she is sooooo smart !”

“But I am smart !” Came a little voice. Little but audible…

“See, Bah ? See ? She said I am stupid…”

“No… I said I am smarter than you !”

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHH !

Mummy was glad that she was not visible to her children. They needed discipilining, not laughters.

Babah by then was in the room again, looking at them from the door frame. He widened his eyes to Mummy, asking for help. Mummy just shrugged her shoulders.

“Babah yang paling pandai dalam rumah ni, okay…!” I expected that. What lah… doesn’t he know I am the smartest in the house ? Takpelah, bagi chan…

“Nak tahu siapa yang pandai masa exam nanti… Sapa yang dapat nombor 1-5 tu yang pandai…. Sekarang toksah cakap banyak … Pegi pakai kasut !”

He he…..

I wonder now how the fight got about…

Tak boleh gaduh ke ?

So… Mummy and Babah had a small fight.

We took all the necessary precautions to ensure that the kids were oblivious to it, protected from it, but the closed door and hisses weren’t enough.

Adik knocked on the door as we were concluding the matter. “So… sapa yang start ni ?”

I pointed at Babah. “Bah… you started it ? Why are you so garang ?”

He he…

Babah said he was hungry but Mummy was all tired from the fight, declined dinner.

“I nak pegi Up Town tau….” I simply nodded, pulling the duvet up to waist, book within reaching distance.

Babah harrumphed.

Babah went down then 5 minutes after that came back up again, doing God knows what before going down again. Then there were more footsteps.

“Mummy… you are not hungry ?” I shook my head, looking at my children. Abang was wide eyed, Adik was all-knowing.

“I don’t want you to starve…” Sebek, followed by the waterworks. He leaned over to hug me with so much feeling, even Adik got sad.

“I don’t like hearing you fight…” He said. No sobbing, just tears flowing freely. Hmm... I made a mental note to get a more sound-proofed door. Or maybe I could tampal bekas teloq all over the room to muffle the sound.

“No lah… we didn’t fight. Mana ada…..”

“Yes you did ! Just now you said Babah started it first !” Yeah Adik, thank you for that.

“Mummy…. You will die if you don’t eat….”

He he… No I won’t I explained. Mummy has plenty of fats to keep her alive…..

But I got up anyway, seeing how much it meant to him. Plus I know Babah asked them to come and get me. Well hey, if he is extending the olive branch, than I am making olive oil with them… No I can’t. I can only produce oil from the fruits itself.

Anyway, got ready and we went on our way.

It had started to rain as we neared our destination so we got out with brollies. When dinner was done, the rain was getting steadily heavier.

Adik and I shared a brolly while Babah shared his with Abang. As we waited for Babah to buy his rojak (teringin after tak dapat lepas watching Men in Tutus), Adik looked up at me and asked, “Do you want to share this umbrella with Babah ?”

I shook my head, frowning at her.

“Are you still angry with him ?”

I shook my head, smiling at the sight of her cocked head and raised eyebrows.

“If you share… you won’t be angry anymore… You will like each other again….”

Hmmm…. our dinner wasn’t a frosty affair. Sure I was still a bit peeved, but I thought we did really well. Maybe my kids knew better.

“You and Abang would not be able to manage this payung yourselves, okay ? So one adult for one little people….”

She shrugged.

Then as we tackled the stairs, she suggested, “If you are falling down, you can hold Abah’s hand, okay Mummy ?”

He he……. Can Babah and Mummy live a life without fights ? No lah, my darling babies, we can’t. Fights are actually quite healthy. It is recommended by the experts.

We went to get VCDs. Then as we waited to cross the road to get to our car, Adik screamed every time a car passed by.

“Adik, please don’t be dramatic….”

She answered with “Oh Mummy.. I am a Drama Queen….”

Well… what more can I say to that ?

Nanti Adik bising

Monday morning Abang woke up complaining about his tender left foot. He had been complaining whole of Sunday really but we can’t do much but sapu Counterpain and wait for the next day.

So of course Babah said he could skip school. “When I get back we go to the clinic, kay ?”

Since I am the one who sends Abang to school, I took my own sweet time to prepare. Well, I will still be early if I leave at 8 am, so why want to start my journey at 7.15 ?

“Anak awak pergi sekolah tau….” Said Babah when he saw me dilly-dallying

“Why ?”

“He has to. Katanya nanti Adik bising….”

He he….. I snorted. Typical. Why am I not surprised.

“Bah… we really have to find his wife for him. Adik bising pun dia ikut aje, bini bising lagilah… Kena Queen Control anak kita…..”

“Aah… and we have to give duit hantaran to Adik’s husband… as compensation….”

He he… So true.

In the car, I asked Abang why he decided to go to school.

“Sebab kalau saya tak pegi nanti Adik bising. If she sees me in baju biasa when she comes home, she will definitely cry… And it will be entirely my fault… ” Alahai kesiannya.

Then Abang asked, “Mummy… Adik has a lot of issues, kan ?”

“Errr…. yeah… probably.” Fuh ! Issues.

“She does. She has a lot of issues…” he said with a deep frown. I love it when he does that. Then,

“What does issue mean ?”

He he…. “Well, in this context it means, problem or concerns….. So you are saying that Adik has a lot of problems and non-satisfaction about something to deal with…”

“Like macam she has a lot of things that can make her upset lah….. Which is sooo true… A lot of things can make her upset. That means she does have a lot of issues….” His voice trailed….

Hai… Sometimes Abang, that means being a girl.

Thank you, Abang.

But next time keras kan hati sikit... Jangan asyik dengar cakap Adik..

Dulu dan sekarang...

Last year,

“Ana nak Mummy pukul kakak ke ?” A question I post to her everytime she came crying to me because “Kakak buat shaya !” Usually when the crying went on and on and on and on.

Geleng kepala.

.

Sayang kakak kan....

.

"Nanti Mummy nasihat kakak okay....?"

.

"Okay...."

Half a year after that, “Ana nak Mummy pukul kakak ke ?”

Nodded her head this time.

“Sampai darah ?”

“Eh jangan… Tak yah Mummy, tak yah…”

Sayang kakak kan….

.

"Nanti Mummy nasihat kakak okay ?"

.

"Okay...."

Last week,

“Ana nak Mummy pukul kakak ke ?”

Head nodded in agreement again.

“Sampai darah ?”

Fully expecting the conversation would end, I resumed watching the telly.

“Sikit aje darah okay ?”

Hmmm…. tak jadi tengok tv…

Teruklah Ana ni….

This morning Cik Ta reported that yesterday Ana had wanted to eat fried chicken with her nasi goreng for breakfast. Cik Ta asked her to wash her hands first. Alih-alih, Tigger dah ambik. Last piece pulak tu.

Naughty Tigger.

Nothing could be done as chicken in the fridge pun dah habis.

Cik Ta naik atas and saw Ana like 10 minutes after that climbing up the stairs, holding a piece of fried chicken in her hand.

“Ana, where did you get that ?”

“Ana punyalah. Tigger punya dah habis dah….”

Cik Ta screwed her eyes suspiciously. She knew there were no more fried chicken anymore in the house. Nada.

“Ana… cakap betul-betul… sapa punya ni… Ini Tigger punya kan ?”

Her smile faltered, body slumped.

.
“Yelah… tapi Ana nak !”

He he… Cik Ta forced her to throw it away and washed her hands nice and clean.

Well… Mummy took one before Ana woke up. Tu lah, bangun awal sikit…

Tomorrow she will be four. He he… dah besar anak Mummy ni…

Happy birthday Ana Banana…

.

Sayang Mummy dah besar...

“What instrument you think I should play, Mummy ? After piano ?” Asked Abang one day.

“I dunno. What do you think ?”

“Errr…maybe drums ?”

“Drums has no volume control. Pick another one.”

“Yang macam gitar besar tu.. ?”

“Okay... a cello you mean or double bass if it is bigger...”

.
“Atau inilah… clarinet ke, macam Squidwork… Mummy tahu tak Squidwork kan…*story about Squidwork that I just cannot remember*… HAHAHAHAHAH ! Kelakarkah..”

“Or maybe guitar ?”

“I don’t knowlah… guitar looks a bit hard….”

“Sure but guitar is great because you can take it around with you. Nanti if you go camping, then you can play the guitar in from of the fire and entertain your friends…” Tak sah kalau aku tak mengusik kan, “…pastu all the girls would go ‘Awww…. Abang is like a rock star…’ and they will like you and think you are handsome and all….”

I waited to hear him go “Mummy !!!”. Dulu-dulu he would cry but usually dah besar-besar ni dia buat muka fed-up aje. However… when I turned to look at him, he was smiling, eyes wide with anticipation and nodded his head eagerly.

Oh, anak ku dah besar.

I only want to hear happy stories...

I love to read newspapers with my children.

They love it too, especially kalau ada gambar yang mencengkam jiwa.

Anyway, we were having breakfast at Ani Sup Utara, before going to the cinema to watch Sherlock Holmes. As we have plenty of time still, we took our time at the restaurant, opening the newspapers and taking short sips of our tea… He heh…

Anyway, the news of the day was a child died in the hands of her/his parents. So I explained to my kids about capital punishments and hanging. They don’t understand hanging so I had to explain, making it as vivid as I could. Luckily, Sherlock Holmes had 2 scenes of hanging so my children should understand it by now.

Anyway, it took quite some time for the kids to understand, plus Abang had a lot of question and his own theories but then suddenly Adik shivered and said, “Mummy, can you turn the page…? Can we talk about something NOT creepy ? Can you tell us a nice story ?”

Ha ha…. As it so happened, it was the day UPSR results came out and I showed my children the pictures of anak petani, and pengayuh lanca that was successful. I of course painted how hard it was for the fathers to find money to afford schooling and how now the successful children had managed to repay all the hardwork.

“Bayangkan lah, Babah dia naik basikal, keliling Bandar cari orang nak naik beca dia… Pagi-pagi, okaylah… Masih redup, the sun not so high up… But by tengahari when the sun is high ? Peluh-peluh Babah dia. “Encik…. Nak naik tak beca saya ?” Sapa yang nak naik beca sekarang ? No air-cond ? There are plenty of taxis with air-conds nowadays. Pusing-pusing lagi and then adalah one passenger. Tapi because beca is slow and no air-cond, he got like 1 ringgit after cycling for 1 hour (sorry, exaggeration to the max). So bila dia balik rumah, dia punya wife mintak duit nak pegi pasar, he can only give her 1 ringgit aje.

Nasi lemak kita makan ni 1 ringgit. So kalau dia ada 3 anak, campur mak and bapak sekali, ada 5 orang. So 5 orang share 1 nasik lemak ? You had 3 Abang… They had to share 1 with 5 people…..(Aku taulah things are not that dire for them but I have to make a point… Lagi sadis lagi dia paham… ha ha....)..”

I was about to make my conclusion when Adik butted in, “Mummy… I thought you are going to tell us happy stories !”

He he…..

Two days ago I read in the papers about Sharlinie, about how she should be in Standard 1 now. I got so sad when I read the article. She got a baby brother now. A brother that she didn’t even know exist.

So that night instead of reading from a story book when I tucked the kids in bed, I talked about her. I talked about what could have happened to her. Abang silently was shedding tears. Hai Abang….

As I got up to leave, Adik pesan, “Mummy, tomorrow apa ni, aaa… apa ni… don’t talk about this anymore okay ? Apa ni… can you talk about something happy ?”

He he…. Ko ni….

Nanti Abang penat

“Mummy…. Why are you using this road ?” Adik asked me just now when I picked her up from school. Because Adik finishes at 12.10 and Abang at 12, and the distance between the 2 schools is like… er… 15 minutes drive ( I cannot give you in km or m to save my life… Sorry…), I have to split the chore with my sister.

“Balik lah…”

“Mummy ! Abang ?”

“Err… I dunno. Jalan kaki kot ?”

Keh keh…

“Mummy ! Mana boleh ? Penatlah dia….”

“Takpelah… Once in awhile… apa salahnya…”

I turned to the road leading to our house. Minah ni bukan main panic.

“Mummy ! Please ambik Abang… Please….”

I answered with a lopsided smile.

Then, “Ha … I know… Mesti Abang dah kat rumah… You picked him up just now kan ?” Eyes looking at me from the side, lowered lids, head cocked a bit, face all knowing.

“No….I didn’t…”

Spine straightened.

“Mummy… just tell me the truth ! Where is Abang ?”

Ha ha….

In front of the house, she said, “I know… Abang is inside already. I know already… You like to do this…”

Aku sengih aje.

From inside the car she craned her neck trying to see the array of shoes in the porch. She then quickly jumped out and raced to the door.

“There ! That is his shoes ! Mummy ni !”

Then, “I can hear his voice ! He is inside ! He is inside !” Jumping up and down happily.

“Mummy ni suka saja macam ni tau. You picked him up just now kan ?” One hand on hip, the other one with 1 finger up, waving at me, face all smiles.

“I really didn’t Adik…. Maybe he walked …”

“Walk ? I don’t think so. He will be tired, Mummy.. I will ask him !”

“No !” Said Abang after Adik’s hug and barrage of questions.

“Cik Yin yang ambik saya….”

“Told you….” Said I. She who was walking in front of me towards the kitchen, turned to look at me and smiled.

Ha. Aku suka buat pasai….

Ana buat Mummy susah hati

I still feel guilty today about not making any effort to bake cookies for Ana last weekend. Bukan apa, teringat what my mom told me last month, after Ana left my house.

“Ni Ana cakap, dia kata ko buat cookies ?”

“Ha… kenapa ?”

“Taklah, dia cakap, ‘Tooookkkk… kat rumah Mummy kan best. Mummy buat cookies. Shedap shangat. Shaya shuka !’” My mother is a not too bad storyteller. Keh keh…

I laughed. “Mana tak suka, habih dia makan…..”

“Ye ke ? What cookies did you make ?” Mum asked.

“Chocolate chips yang biasa tu je… Tapi masa tu baru buat lah… Itu yang sedap sangat gamaknya….”

“Haaa… ko kena buat lagi… She kept mentioning shedap, shedap, nak lagi…..”

Of course I didn’t immediately because cookie making is usually reserved for weekends (except for 2 nights ago when Kamil angin-angin kan nak chocolate cake with strawberries…. Buat jugak… Pukul 11 malam dia makan….). Pastu lupa. And then one weekend I made chocolate cake instead of cookies.

SO now, I feel guilty, knowing how much she loves it. Luckily I stocked up the fridge with butter so nampaknya, one batch of cookies coming up for Ana Banana !

Anak pegi sekolah..

Monday I sent my kids to school.

Adik dah boring duduk rumah. After 2 weeks of holiday she had started asking when school starts. So Monday morning tak sempat nak gerak, she jumped of the bed.

“Is it school time already ?” She jumped happily at my yes.

Ha ha… sekejap je tu.

I was quite sad when I helped her pun on her clothes. Dah besar anak mak. Takde dah baby lagi… WAAAAAA !!

Aku tanya dia, "Awat tangkap gambaq muka macam Yoda ni ?" teruih wooo mintak cermin and belek-belek... Hmmm....

But then, well… kalau aku ada baby karang, lagi 7 tahun pun aku tensen gak lagi… So kena tambah baby baru lak…Bila nak habis ? Ha ha…

Send Abang to school first. I got a bit teary when he walked towards school. “Bye baby…. My baby…. Bye baby boy…. My little boy ! My little boy….!” Luckily he didn’t roll his eyes but smiled indulgently at me. Aww…. My sweetheart….

Adik was excited. Super excited. Sampai-sampai, there were loads of parents milling about. Sekolah baru kan, so mak bapak yang anak dah season pun masih tunggu lagi.

Anak DR was already seated on the second row. Sampai awai kan. But when she saw Adik, teruih angkut bag and pindah to the last row. Sorry aa DR…. Nanti aku bagitau cikgu suruh pindah kat depan. They need it pun. Dari mula sampai habis sekolah dok pot pet pot pet. Hai…. Macam mak depa gak.

Orang lain dok termenung ingat mak kat romah, depa dua dah buat havoc...

I had high hopes for the school, it being under JAIS and all but to know that JAIS had forgotten about the new school wasn’t very encouraging. The students had no books and no teachers. NO TEACHERS for standard 1 okay.

Also, asking the stand-in teacher and getting “Saya tak tahu…”each and everytime was very frustrating. Tanya rehat pukul berapa pun tak tahu. Hari Jumaat balik pukul berapa lagilah.

Babah being a nervous parent wasn’t happy. Things were bad even during recess. Makanan tak cukup. My friend Jubei got upset when 10 minutes before recess, seeing the dwindling amount of food left asked the makcik kantin, “Cukup ke makanan ?” was answered by ,”Tengah nak masak ni…”

Apa dia tu, Bah oi...

Ada ke. As expected my daughter didn’t get any food. Nor DR’s daughter. So when the bell rang, none of the kids went back to class. DR’s daughter got her plate of meehoon almost 30 minutes after.

Sigh.

We went to Abang’s school after Adik’s first recess to pay his school fees. Seeing my niece Esya sitting in a very calm classroom, colouring and all was quite despairing when I thought of the chaos at Adik's school.

Sigh again.

It was Abang’s recess time when we got there. I couldn’t locate him in the canteen at all, so I started shouting his name. Baru nak jerit kuat sikit, Babah covered my mouth. “Ish awak ni… Malu dia nanti…”

I turned around and my heart soared when I saw him walking towards the canteen. Pegi toilet rupanya sayang Mummy ni…..

With his friends, dok bersembang apa dia tak tau...

We left him to his friends. Babah and I sat on a chair at a walkway connecting the canteen to the school. There were a few pengawas standing near us. Imagine our shock when a sweet girl wanted to pass, they started interrogating her. She must have not given satisfactory answers as she was turned away.

What could a sweet little girl do ?

“Dik… dik…” I called to them.

Tak jawab.

“Yang.. yang…”

Tak jawab gak.

“Pengawas…”

Teruih pandang.

“Tak boleh lalu ke kat sini ?” I asked.

“Tak boleh… Cuma boleh pegi kedai buku atau tandas sahaja..”

Hmmm..... Yeah... I remember this. I was a pengawas twice. Keh keh… Saja je…

“Makcik ngan pakcik nak lalu boleh ke ?”

Terkulat-kulat budak 3 orang tu, but then tak sempat jawab, the bell rang. Cess. Would be interesting to know their answers.

Anyway, we went to Abang’s class to pay his fees.

And I had a glimpsed of how very different today’s 10 year old are when compared to when I was that age.

While Babah talked to Abang’s teacher, I saw a boy trying to unbutton the collar of a prefect classmate. When he was unsuccessful, I of course offered my help. Malu budak tu but he agreed. Must be suffocating for him. Sian.

As I struggled to help him, a classmate (well Umar’s classmate too) passed by and said, “Gatal bang…”.

Excuse me ?

Berani nya hang ? Aku ni ada depan hang ni. Tak takut langsung ke ? Tak hormat ? Aku of course kerut muka when I looked at him tapi tak sempat because he had already taken his seat. I hope Abang tak kawan dengan budak tu. I am sorry. But having no respect for your elders is something that I do not want my son to catch.

Anyway, we went home for awhile before going back to Adik's for her second recess. Haluihnya anak aku…. Seriau tengok. I wouldn’t let Babah help her, so it was excruciating to watch her calling the makcik kantin but makcik kantin tak nampak.

After watching her walk back to class for… well…playing, we rushed to pick Abang up. When we went back to the school to take her home, we weren’t allowed to as all students must perform their Dzuhur first before going home. Then why lah you tell me her class finishes at a certain time when it is not ?

All in all, I wasn’t happy but I take it as a dugaan from Allah SWT. I had wanted my daughter to go to this school, for her to be in an Islamic environment which I feel could save her from what ails the world today, so I must be patient. This is just a glich.

Babah wasn’t happy the next day either. He was thinking of taking another day off just to make sure everything is okay, the teacher in place, but then he can’t. Plus, Adik was shooing us away as we stood watching her. 2 boys were crying their eyes out for their mums and my daughter was asking for privacy. Hmm… baguslah. I of course felt very sad that these 2 boys love their mummies more than my daughter love hers.

Anyway, crazy self-depreciating thoughts aside, we must hope for the best, Babah. Allah will guide us.