I want to hear the book now !

My very much-needed slumber was disturbed in the wee hour of this morning. I heard my little girl cried and heard her abang trying his best to soothe her. Babah hollered for them to come into our room. Although I was awake, I did not open my eyes as I know once I did, it would be very hard for me to resume my sleep.

“Apasal, Ti ?”

“Mummy read the book. Titi tak dengar. Umar saja.”

We are at present, reading The Giraffe, The Pelly And Me by Roald Dahl and my children totally love it. I am reading 4 pages a day and I know they are really excited to hear the rest of the story. Roald Dahl is wonderful… I love him too…. So I could understand my daughter’s consternation. I would be very much dismayed too if I miss his book’s reading.

But… I didn’t read the book to Umar. Elsa fell asleep on our bed and when I tucked Umar in, I suggested that we should wait for his sister and Umar graciously agreed. So I sang him a lullaby instead.

“Ti… we did not read the book. Titi tidur so we did not read it..” Said I still with my eyes shut.

“Waa…. You read the book without me !!”

“No…” I assured her. “ We did not… we want to wait for you….”

“Waa…. You did not read the book !! I want to hear the story…” Pulak… tadi marah sebab baca sekarang marah sebab tak baca…. Saja je minah kecik ni.

“Ti… I will read the book tomorrow, okay ? You were sleeping.. I will read the book to you tomorrow, okay ?” Said I as I gave her a tight hug. “Sorry, okay ?”

“I want to hear the book now. Read it now …” Was the very tearful reply. Aiseh… I want to sleep !! Waaa !!!!

“Ti… I will read the story tomorrow, okay ? Please ?”

“I don’t want then … I want now !!” Waa… pandai pulak guna then and now… He he… sempat tu….

“Ti…. Mummy wants to sleep….Tomorrow okay ?”

“Not tomorrow ! Now Mummy. I want to hear the story now !”

My blood finally finished boiling.

“Do you want the naughty chair ? Do you want me to put you on the naughty chair tonight ?”

That did the trick. She went quiet but was still sobbing.

“Elsa I will read the book while you bathe for school tomorrow, okay ?” Said I in a conciliatory tone.

“No… the book will get wet…” Came the muffled reply.

“Mummy, boleh tak awak hantar saya pergi sekolah esok ?”

“Sure…”

“I want you to read in the car…” and with that she succeeded in her quest to get my eyes opened.

And I tossed and turned and tossed some more for the remainder of the wee hours of that morning.

PS: I wonder how crazy she will get when we read ESIO TROT by the lovely Mr Dahl…

Taktik kotor Mummy... Ha ha

Babah was upset with Umar yesterday morning. He must be really, really troubled with it because he came home in a sour mood. He sulked the whole evening and refused dinner.

Umar went to bed brows furrowed because things were unresolved between him and his Babah.

I looked at my two men in despair.

“Dan… go and kiss him good night, Dan…”

“Tomorrow. Let him stew what he had done tonight.” Was the resigned reply.

“Dan… I don’t like people going to sleep angry or worried. It is not nice, Dan..”

“Biar lah dulu ..” Was the reply.

I tried a lot of tactics. He just smiled and kept asking me why I am so worried. I told my husband that I know my son very well and I am sure he can’t sleep. I told him I also know his sleep would be very much disturbed too.

No go.

Finally, aku guna taktik kotor.

“Dan… kat luar nampak macam hujan. Kalau ada kilat sabung-menyabung.. Umar mesti terjaga punya. You know how much the storm upsets him. Buatnya ada black out, I am sure he won’t dare to come here knowing your present mood. Karang teraba – raba dalam gelap… dengan kilat, dengan bunyi hujan, dengan bunyi angin…. Wooooo….. woooo….. wooooo….. Kesian anak kita, Dan. Lepas tu karang….”

Tak habis goreng, Babahnya dah bangun..”Yelah… yelah… Issh… awak ni…”. He he…. Jadi wooo…. Bukan aje budak – budak yang tak tahan, Bapaknya sekali sebak…

I followed him and sure enough although 30 minutes had passed since Umar retired, as soon as Dan switched on the light, I heard Umar’s voice, “Bah.. I am sorry, Bah.” He sat up straight, looking at his Babah intently.

Dan, well… he continued his lecture from the morning. When he motioned for Umar to hug him, Umar was already crying a river. I noticed that Dan’s eyes were wet, too…

Hisshh… cerekarama sungguh depa ni.

Muka

Elsa was quite poorly yesterday. We were up in the middle of the night to nurse her and by dawn it was decided that I will stay home to take care of her. But then I do have some work that I need to do and therefore decided that I will go to the office to fetch my laptop, get more instructions from my boss and just basically tie – up loose ends. I have to take her with me.

Just before we reach the stairs, my daughter gave a little laugh, “He he… muka…” she said. I looked at her enquiringly. “Look behind, Mummy… Look behind…” she said gleefully and when I turned I saw this,

A face on the wall. I recognized the artwork. The style of drawing, the way the artist stroke her pencils gave way her identity.

“Did you do this ?” I asked sternly.

All traces of laughter quickly vanished. She turned to look away. I stood my ground. She remained silent for a while before saying, rather aloofly I might say, “Tak de apa – apa lah” and proceeded to go down the stairs.

Eeiii…. !!

Last night I showed Dan the offending illustration. “Macam boleh kenal je gambar ni. Siapa lagi yang boleh lukis muka macam ni ?” Elsa was summoned to appear with her eraser. The confused look on her face was priceless. Even more invaluable was her expression when she saw where her father was waiting for her.

“Did you do this ?”

She shook her head.

“Elsa…. I hate lying. Nak masuk neraka ke ?”

Again she shook her head.

“Who did this then ?”

“Me….” she said timidly.

“Okay… rub it…” Dan said. She looked horrified.

“I cannot.” When asked why, she just shrugged her shoulders. Dan took the eraser from her and tried his best to rub off the face from the wall. Now there is a faint trace of it left.

Alahai….

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.

This is the story of Naughty Elsa ( Like Naughty Amelia Jane )

I had a date with my darling husband yesterday and therefore we went to work in one car. Dan’s rule when sending his children to school is send them to the furthest that you can. If possible, put them on their teacher’s lap… ha ha.

Anyway yesterday I got out of the car, one hand holding Umar’s chubby ones and the other hand holding Elsa’s small one. We talked and chatted as always and we bid farewell at the assembly point. I kissed him and usually it was Elsa’s turn to hug him and for him to ruffle her hair ( tudung actually as we send Elsa to school next ). Umar did the customary ruffle but Elsa remained quiet. At Umar’s retreating back I said, “ Say bye – bye to Umar, Ti..”. She continued to be still. However when Umar was already at quite a distance, she hollered, “Bye-bye stupid !!”

I went “Oii….!” And my girl went “Ha ha… now semua owang tau Um-um stupid….”. Ya Allah ! Help me… !!

When we returned home last night after a lovely dinner, the kids were still with their ustaz ( or mustazad… Elsa named her giraffe Mustazad. It used to be Emot 2 sebab Umar’s giraffe is called Emot ). When they were done they of course ran to our room. Umar who has an excellent body timer went off to La-La Land soon after.

I was out of the room at that time, ironing Dan’s shirt when Dan went to the kids’ room babbling and nagging while Elsa trailed behind. He suddenly went out of the room and said, “Awak tengok anak awak ni…. !”.

Elsa was smiling sheepishly next to him. “Apa hal pulak…” Was my resigned response. “I tegur dia sebab kacau abang dia tidur. Dok korek telinga orang tu lah apa lah. I cakap ‘Nak jadi apa kau ni Elsa !’ and you know what she said ?”

“What ?”

“Samseng..!” Said he.

I looked at her. She gave me a big grin. “Titi nak jadi apa, Ti?”

“Samseng…. Wa ha ha ha ha !!”

Ya Allah ! Help me … !

Hal Umar

Hal 1

"Mummy when I was about to fall down you catch me because you don’t want me to all down ?" Asked Umar one day after I caught him from stumbling down.

"Eermmm.... Yeah."

"You don’t want me to get hurt ?"

"Ermm.. sure."

"Keeping me safe is very important to you ? Because you love me ?" Was the next merepek question.

Alahai dia ni… tension lah….. I do not know what is in his head as this is one deeply dreamy fella who loves to romanticize everything and anything.

Like the other day when Elsa had wanted to sit with me in the front passenger seat. I refused to allow her to and kept giving excuses. Elsa got whinier with every justification I made. Then Umar said, “ Mummy, Titi wants to sit with you because she loves you so much Mummy. She just really, really loves you… ! “ What can you do after that but relented ?

Rimas le bini ko karang nak oiii…

“ Yang… kenapa you tak masak kat I hari ni ? You don’t love me today ke ? “

Waa…. I can just imagine that….

Hal 2

"Mummy is Shah Alam is the specialist place on earth ?"

"Specialest ?"

"Yes, is Shah Alam the specialest place on earth ?"

"First of all there is no specialest but most special and why makes you think Shah Alam is the most special place one earth ?"

"Because ada Shah Alam 1 and Shah Alam 2. Orang nak ada Shah Alam banyak2." Was the very logical reply. But...

"Ummpphh… kalau macam tu Seremban lagi special sebab ada 3."

Aiseh, silap. Seremban ada 2.. Nilai yang ada 3… he he… silap, silap.

Hal Elsa Lagi

Hal 1

Umar and Elsa was fighting for reasons that I was not privy to. *Mumble* *Mumble* *Mumble* *Upset* *Upset* *Upset* *Whine* *Whine* *Whine*.

Then I heard, “Um tak nak adik ke, Um ?”

“What do you mean by that ?” asked Umar.

“Nanti I go missing like Sharlinie kang..” She threatened.

Umar went quiet for awhile. Then he said,

“Ti, you are not missing. You are right here… If you said that which means you are lying and that is soooo… berdosa…” said the brother.

“Okay… okay. Ha ha ha ha….” Was the reply… Ntah apa-apa ntah… Tapi lepas tu si abang memang dah stopped antogonising adik dia. Menjadik strategy.

Hal 2

My very sensitive tummy was acting up again because I consumed some milk ( really, this is a catch 22 situation for me… Don’t drink milk I risk osteoporosis… Drink milk my IBS goes full blast ).

Anyway, lots of trapped wind therefore my stomach was grumbling and sorry to say, I released the wind via my bottom. I was in the kids’ room sharpening their pencils so I was at the very corner of their room. My kids were on the bed reading their books. When I turned around, Elsa was looking thoughtfully at me. One finger was tapping her lips.

“Mum… I think you sakit perut….” Said she. Then she added, “Or… you are still hungry….”. WA HA HA HA HA !!! She must have heard the on-goings of my tummy for her to make a remark like that.

Kelakarlah Titi ni.

Elsa and her mummy

Mummy…who is this ? Asked Elsa one day. We were in seksyen 2, waiting for Dan to get something ( dah lama gila tak pegi sek2… bring back so many crazy memories of our school days ) and she was reading a dog-eared copy of a Transformers book.

I looked at the picture and saw an Autobot with some blue colouring and said, “Optimus Prime,”. She frowned. She peered closely at the picture and her brows furrowed deeper.

“Mummy, Optimus Prime takde mulut lah Mummy. Ini ada mulut. This is not Optimus Prime… See ? See ? See ?”

“Really ah ?” Was my lazy reply.

“Um… look Um. This is not Optimus kan ? This is somebody else. Mummy said Optimus, Um.

Ya Rabbi. I never felt so stupid…

One day we were settling down in the theater to watch Alvin and The Chipmunks when I noticed there was a huge gap between my husband and I. Pre-kids, we would be snuggling down happily watching the screens but now we were separated by two seat, each filled with a mini me and a mini him.

I exchanged looks with Dan who was had Elsa leaning against his arms and I decided to do some mischief.

“Ti, what are you doing sitting with my boyfriend ?” She looked at me and smiled.

“I want to sit with my boyfriend, Ti..!” Said I again, stomping my feet. Elsa gave me this look that I cannot describe but I will remember forever. Sort of like ‘Alahhh…..’ plus a bit of ‘O-oh..’ and a smidgeon of ‘Dia dah start dahh….’.

Her response was startling. I was expecting “No! This is my boyfriend.” or “You sit where you are, Mummy..” or something in that manner. I was rearing for a fight. But instead I got “Can I sit with your boyfriend for awhile, Mum ?”.

Reverse psychology ke sebab I shut my trap immediately afterwards.

But yesterday was quite hurtful. I don’t know why but I was rather hurt. We both started off the day happy, had sushi (again) happy (Dan warned the kids if sushi is ever mentioned next week, he is going to burn down the shop… he he…. ) but when we got in the car, we were upset with each other.. I have forgotten why.

She said something that I have totally forgotten about and I said something and then she said, “I was not talking to you, Mummy. I was talking to Babah…”. Dan and Umar howled with laughter. Me ? I must had a disbelief look on my face because Dan stopped laughing and ordered her to apologise. She did but there was no sincerity. I went quiet

We were already at Batu Tiga I think when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I looked behind and she was withdrawing her hand and was about to slinker back behind Dan, right at the car door. I called her. “Why did you do that ?”

“Nothing..” Was the reply.

“Are you trying to be friends with me again ?” I asked.

Dan asked me what was going on and I replied “I think dia nak pujuk I.”

“Elsa….” Said me again. “Are you trying to say sorry ?”

“Yes…” She said, hiding her face behind Dan’s seat, but I can see her smiling shyly.

I motioned for to sit on my lap and she gratefully obliged. She hugged me and buried her face on my chest. “I love you, Mummy…”

He he… sayang pun kat Mummy dia…..

Elsa being bold

Elsa sejak dua menjak ni memang perangai semacam. Actually after her first day of school, she came home with a sassy mouth.

One day Dan got the brunt of her mouth. “Bah, when can I eat the yoghurt Bah ? Nanti ke ?”

“Esok lah Ti…” said Dan, while putting the yoghurt in the fridge.

“Nantilah ?” She persisted.

“Esok lah Ti… We just ate, Ti.” Said Dan again, fully thinking that nanti means that very day, from 5 minutes to 3 hours later in the day.

“Esok tu maksudnya nantilah. It’s the same Bah… !” Said she, looking at her father like he was the stupidest thing on earth. Dan stopped what he was doing and looked at her.

“Samalah nanti and esok,” she murmured under her breath.

Amboi….

My turn was last Saturday. Cik Ta gave my children a pack of Uno. We had a good time playing it but when Elsa did a hat trick in losing, she cried. Then she declared she is in team Babah. O-kay.

We played again and after a losing streak, Umar too cried. I collected the cards without saying a word and put it aside.

Sunday morning as we were preparing for tennis, Umar asked if we could play Uno again.

“No !” Said Mummy. Both son and daughter gave me a stricken look. Mummy’s No was quite hard. Sorry…

“Why am I saying No ? Because people cry when they play Uno. And what is the thing that Mummy hates the most ?”

“Crying..” said my kids timidly.

“That’s right,” said I, triumphantly.

“Oh… bukan sebab mummy kalah dengan Titi and Babah ?” I heard one little baby voice said. I looked at her. She was smiling like a cat. Umar was beaming looking expectantly at me.

What did I do ? I shooed them off for their socks and racquet.

Eeeii…. Geramnya aku.

PS: When I recounted this story to Anu and Shazmi, they were delighted. Ha ! tunggulah turn korang dapat a saucy 5 year old !!

Takde apa-apalah Um !

I was doing my weekend Sudoku, waiting for Maghrib. My kids smelt nice after their bath and was on the floor playing Uno. Suddenly I heard Umar said in an exasperated tone, “Ti, you cannot do your baju like that !” Said he. The pj Elsa was wearing was rather big and sometimes the shoulder will droop down, exposing her shoulders. Abang Elsa pulled the pj shoulders up.

“Why ? Takde apa2 lah.” Said the sister and shrugged the shoulders down again.

“Ish, Ti !!” Said the abang again and righted the baju for a second time.

“Why ?” Asked the sister yet again and once more shrugged down the shoulders. She was annoyed because to her Umar was just being obnoxious and just wanted to rile him up.

He looked upset. He ran his hand through his hair and looked perplexed. Elsa’s shoulder was bare.

“I don’t know lah Ti. I don’t remember. I just know you can’t do it, okay. So don’t !!”

“Takde apa-apa lah Um !” Said the sister, this time a bit hard.

“Elsa, dengar cakap abang. Dia kata jangan, jangan …” said me in a warning tone.

Elsa meekly obeyed.

Since Dan wanted sate for dinner, off we went in our pjs (budak2 le. Mak bapak looked obscene in our pjs.), fully intending to tapau the food. But when we got there the shop was closed. We ho-hummed and drove around, not knowing what to eat as we were really set on sate. When asked the kids of course asked for McDonald’s. Pegilah jugak ( aku memang tension bab bab makan McD nih. Tak sedap oiii…).

We decided to eat there and of course Elsa went out with her too big at the shoulders pj. Umar had a hard time trying to contain his sister’s shoulder under wrap. I finally asked him why he is so worried about Elsa’s bare shoulders.

He sighed. Then he laughed. “ Mumm…,” he started clearly embarrassed. “Elsa is a little girl kan ? All the little boys ( at this point he looked accusingly around the restaurant ) are looking at Titi sexy like that. Cannot ! Tuhan marah…”

He he…. Good boy. Esok-esok Mummy simpan baju tu until Titi dah muat pakai, okay ?

Mummy... Babah tak bagi pegi kelas

“Mummy…*sob* sob* Abah tak bagi Titi pegi Mandarin.”

“Bukanlah. Titi kan tidur. You were asleep so U-um pegi soranglah.”

“I want U-um. Titi tak dapat sama U-um.”

“Tak pelah. Why don’t you just stay at home with Babah ?”

“I want to go to Mandarin. I dah siap homework !! Waaaaaa !!”

Aiseh. Dan called me earlier to tell me Elsa was asleep and therefore Umar went to Mandarin class alone. I warned him that Elsa loves going to classes therefore I think the best recourse is to wake her up. Babahnya said “ No lah. Let her rest. Biarlah. Macam mana nak gerak pun ? Nanti groggy. ” Okay, your call. Whatever it is I was at the office so I won’t be handling it.

Tapi zaman technology canggih ni, aku masih kena handle. Bila telefon berbunyi je aku dengaq anak aku sebak – sebak bercakap and the above-mentioned conversation ensued. Hai… budak ni memang dok seronok pi sekolah after had been denied for 1 year. School is still a novelty and therefore ponteng is not an option. Cikgu dia pun tak boleh ponteng. Berapa kali teacher Dahlia called to arrange a substitute piano lesson dia meraung bila abang dia sorang masuk studio.

The next day she got upset with her Cik Ta for leaving her behind. “Why Cik Ta tak hantar Titi Mandarin ? Why you leave me at home ?”

“Tak… Titi tidur. Babah kata you don’t have to go… !”

“Cik Ta next time you don’t leave me okay ? You take me to my class okay ?”

“Yelah…yelah…”

And semalam jugak she was panicky throughout the day. “Is it time for class yet ?”

“What class ?”

“Mandarin lah…”

“No… today is mengaji. So malam. Mandarin is tomorrow okay ?”

She cocked her head to the side and asked, “ Are you sure Mummy ?”

“Yelah…. Tomorrow is Mandarin..”

“I have to go to class okay ? Don’t leave me okay ?”

“Yelah.. I told Cik Ta already. Kalau ko tidur pun, angkut aje…”

Petang sikit dia tanya lagi…. Waargghhhh !! Tension !!

Malam tu ustaz datang. She was waiting for ustaz in the study room when I called her for her medication. Her face was worried.

“Nanti ustaz datang !!”

“Belum lagi. Makan ubat dulu …”

She looked panicky. “Mum… I don’t want to be late. I don’t want to miss my class..”

“Ishh.. yelah. Sekejap je….”

When all is done, she ran to the room, relieved that her ustaz hadn’t arrive before her.

Missing girl

Another one gone. What is happening to our society ? Where is Sharlinie ? I am dreading the moment when her body is found, very much broken like arwah Nurin. I hope it won’t come to that. I hope maybe today she will found wandering somewhere, trying to find her way home. Please…

I was reading the papers on Saturday and I showed her picture to my children. I explained her situation carefully, making sure my children understand the grave situation this little girl is in.

Elsa kept looking at her picture. She stared and stared and stared. And then the questions and pleadings came barreling in.

“Mummy, can we go and find her ?”

“Mummy, where is she ? Where is she lost ?”

“Why is she lost ?”

“Mummy, dia naughty ke ? Kapa orang jahat ambik dia ?”

“Mummy, what happened to her now ? What about now ?” This question she asked more frequently than the rest.

She took the page with Linie’s picture in it everywhere. She will occasionally show it to other people with an announcement that the little girl is lost with a few bits of infos that she had.

For the umpteenth time when she thrust the paper in front of my eyes, Um has had enough. He really doesn’t like repetition that one.

“Ti can you stop that ? Stop saying that !!”

“Janganlah marah, Um..” Was the reply.

“Yalah… stop saying that. It’s annoying.”

“Um… she is just concerned, okay ? Let her be.” Said I.

This morning I showed her the picture of Nurin from yesterday’s paper. I explained that this was the first girl who went missing. Umar and Elsa asked a lot of questions again. The hows and the whys and the whens and then came the inevitable question, what happened to her ??

“She died, darling. Orang jahat tu killed her.” They went quiet. The stared and stared at her picture for the longest time.

Please, return Linie to her family safe and sound. Please.

The kerfuffle at the breakfast table this morning.

“Mummy I want toast today.” The little girl announced. The brother had started spooning cereal in his mouth.

“Toast takdelah Titi. Dah habis.” Said I.

A pout formed and hands in a neat fold.

“I want toast. I don’t like Foolupus ( Fruit Loops ).”

Pulak.

“Come here Ti. Let me show you. There is no more toast. Dah habis.” And I took her to see for herself the spot where we usually put or bread.

She gasped.

“Mummy, what happened the family of fenchetables here ?” She was horrified. Her finger was pointing at the bread spot.

“Family of what ?” Asked Mummy, all confused.

“Fenchetables.”

“What is that ?”

“Vegetables wa ha ha ha ha…” said the brother.

Eh ? Sayur apa pulak ?

“What vegetables Ti ?”

“All the bread.. There’s so many there yesterday. Now all is lost !!”

“Ermm… Okay you mean the vegetables are all the toasts ?” I just have to ask.

“Yes, there is a family of vegetables there yesterday !! Bah ! Look !! All the vegetables are gone !! Somebody stole them !! All are missing !”

Aiseh… habis kena makanlah. Apasal lak kena curi. Sejak bila roti masuk dalam sayur-sayuran ? Sebab made of wheat ke ? Lepas tu family of vegetables ? Because there were different kind of breads there ??

Kelakar lah Titi ni ... Merepek sungguh.

Stories that I have to remember

I have been storing away memories of what my children did in my head. Can’t do that. My brain failed me a few times before and I just have to write it down. Just so that I could relieve the moments again when prompted ( when I read my blog lah ) and for my children to remember their childhood correctly ( I do not want 2 – 3 bad incidents to colour their whole recollections of being with us. Funny kan ? We always, always remember the bad stuffs…. )

We took Titi to buys shoes. She needed them badly as all she had at that time was an Adidas Marjy Jane, an LA Gear Mary Jane and a pair of slippers. She wanted a pair with flowers and sequins and what nots ( remember her sparkly, sequined and beribboned purple ones ? )

I saw one that I know she would like and showed it to her but the store didn’t have it in her size. She saw a pair of ballerina ones in soft pink which she really liked but again her feet was too small ( Cinderella lah baby Mummy ni ). We chose quite a few but none came in her size. One almost fit her but it was rather bulky and totally engulfed her tiny feet. She was rather keen on that pair actually but Babah didn’t like it so we had to leave empty handed. I didn’t think about it at all, I mean how she feels about not having new shoes until I saw her talking to a friend of mine.

“See ? I have medium feet here ( showed her right foot ). This one is also medium ( showed her left foot ). But Babah cakap – cakap saja. Not nice… big size… beli saja lah kan ?” Waa ha ha ha… pandainya complain. She never said anything to us !

Usually when I bathe my children, I would instruct one to send the dirty clothes to the laundry basket and one to hang the towels to dry. One day, since Umar stripped off last he visited the laundry basket and it is only fair for Elsa to hang the towels after bath. I asked her to do after they were powdered, clothed and had their hair brushed. She sighed, stomped her feet and muttered under her breath, “Why must I do it ?” Cess…. Kurang asam punya budak. Yesterday, when I gave her the sane instruction, she moaned while face buried in the mattress, “ Why must it be me ? ” He he…. Just because darling, just because…

I told Dan ustaz mentioned how clever Elsa is while she was within hearing distance. In fact she was right in front of us. Again when Farhan, a friend of ours who happens to be the contractor for our renovation work commented how clever he finds my little girl is because of her very inquisitive mind, he did so in front of her too, while we were having a drink at Cili Merah.

One day Umar was berating her on her stupidity an dshe just listened with eyebrows furrowed. I was about to tell my son to shut his trap when Elsa herself interjected, “ Umar, remember ustaz said I am a good girl ? Uncle kat kedai mamak tu pun cakap I am a good girl, okay ? I am not stupid. ” He he… comelnya dia…

A proud momma

My children can really make me laugh

For some reason last Thursday morning, Adik whipped out her pencil and chanted “Abracadabra ! Make Abang a princess !!” Abang literally howled and chased Adik around. Adik squealed happily and when she couldn’t run any longer yelled “Abracadabra ! Make Abang again !!” Wa ha ha ha… Kelakarlah Adik ni.

-

Or when we first went jogging at the mosque area on Sunday (Abang pegi main tennis, mummy, babah and Adik pegi jogging), Adik tried all the exercising equipment along the jogging path. Next to each equipment is a a short explaination and a picture of the correct way to use it. When we got to the monkey bar, Adik who ran ahead to study the instruction gave a loud sigh. "Susahlah ni Bah. We have to carry the ladder..." Sure enough when we looked at the diagram, the guy swinging on the monkey bar looked like he was carrying the ladder ! Ha ha ha..!!

My children can also make us shed proud tears…

Yesterday Babah and Mummy were still tired from the aftermath of the party (will write about the party at a later date when I download the pictures ). Babah especially so because early Sunday morning he had to go for a futsal tournament. He came back at 1 pm, bathed and we went out for lunch at about 2 pm, came home at about 4 pm and Babah straight away crashed on the bed. Mummy saw the love of her life baring, she also baring… tepuk tepuk Babah and alas, Mummy also went off to slumberland.

I woke up when I heard a loud bang, a bang that I recognized came from the kids’ cupboard. I raised myself from the bed and saw Abang taking out towels from it. He was naked (gloriously chubby) and was glistening wet. I then heard the sounds of the shower and my daughter singing. He vanished from my sight and I heard him say from the bathroom “Okay, Adik. Sudah.” I heard Adik replied okay, and soon I saw Adik swathed in furry toweling and Abang trailing behind. He ordered his sister to stand on the bed for easy toweling work. He then vanished again and I saw him handed her something. Adik sat on the bed and I assumed she was putting on her knickers (I found out this morning it was actually her pull-up disposable diapers that her Wan insists she put on at night).

Both of them opened their wardrobe and then returned back to the bed where they proceeded to put on pyjamas. Abang was ready first and he straightaway entered our room to watch the telly. Adik called him from their room requesting help as she encountered problems to put on her jammies. He asked her to come to him but he didn’t manage to help his sister on the first try. He then yanked the jammies off her head, straighten it properly and then put it on for her. It was successful. Adik gave him a nice smile and said “Thank you, Abang” and he replied with the usual “It’s okay..” and they both watched the telly.

I shook their Babah awake when I realised the children bathed without us telling them to do so. Therefore it was both of us who watched them from our darkened room. When they settled down to watched the telly, Babah looked at me with wet eyes. I smiled at him proudly.

-

Thank you, Abang and Adik for not disturbing Babah and Mummy. Thank you for caring for us. Thank you for being you. Happy Birthday angels….

Call me Adik, my angel

I have been thoroughly entertained this weekend. Mesmerised and enchanted in fact with conversations with my daughter. Sometimes as she talked I would just look at her, watching her facial movements as she let known her feelings and messages, how her eyes would be when she is angry, or sad or when she wanted to bargain for something. I love the way her little mouth moved with every expressions and feelings.

I have forgotten what led her to say this but in the car, she was yapping away when I heard her say “then kan Mummy, you call me Adik, my angel okay ?” Babah and I looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

“What, baby.” But sadly she had already switched to another important topic and ignored my request for an explanation. Apa hal ntah.

We were on our way to A&W to book and pay for the children’s party this Saturday. When we got there, a party was already in full swing and the marketing exec asked us to sit down and have a bit of lunch before she could attend to us. When we saw people trickling out of the party room we started to make our way there. Babah said as soon as Adik saw where we were going, she hid her face on her father’s neck and held close. In the duration we were discussing with the staff, she remained rigid and hidden. She is afraid of the cuddly A&W mascot.

Macamana ni ? The bear will actually be at the party. Her own party !!

"Adik tak boleh takut dengan bear tu… He will be coming to your party..”

“Why ? Can’t he stay at his home ?”

“No…he has to be at your party. What are you scared of ?”

“What size is the bear Mummy ? Big, medium or small ?”

“Medium.”

She was silent.

“Adik.. the bear makan hot dog lah Adik. Dia tak makan orang…What are you scared of ?”

“Oh ? Makan hot dog saja ?”

“Adik… there is a person inside the bear. It is only a costume. Inside the bear is a human, Adik…” said the brother pulak.

Tak tahu kenapa, her next question was “Is there a Japanese inside the bear ?” Even Abang was shocked. I looked at her and said, “ Very unlikely will a Japanese be playing the bear Adik. I would bet it would either be a Malay, Indian or Chinese. Kadazan or Iban is more likely than a Japanese…”

She answered with and “Oh..” and remained quiet. Abang then broke the silence, “ Kalau Adik tak nak bear than there is no party for you. All the presents would be for me…”. She pondered the statement for a bit then said, “ It’s okay I don’t mind. I will sit in my room okay Mummy ?”

I was just staring at her when she said, “ The bear will be downstairs saja kan ?”

When we got home and it was time for their bath, I instructed Abang to put the dirty clothes in the laundry basket. He of course grumbled and complained about the unfairness of it all since his sister did nothing. Before I could say anything, Adik said, “ Abang, this is your room Abang. Abang lah buat kerja.”

Aiik ? So where is her room then ? She answered that she has no room. So then I asked her why is that ? She eloquently answered “Because this is Abang’s room and that is your room, so I can sleep anywhere I want…” He he… anywhere she wants to maksudnya dengan Mummy dia lah….

At the moment Babah’s parents are having the upstair’s entire bathrooms repaired. By late afternoon Babah’s mom asked me to help her mop the floor as it was really dusty from the work. As I was mopping I heard a very high and desperate, “Mummy !! Mummy where are you ?”

I went to the stairs and saw her, my little girl, climbing up the stairs, face all worried. “Kenapa Adik ? What do you want ?” She pouted her lips and said, “Adik nak Mummy…” Oh… since she put it sweetly like that, come on over then, honey.

Her grandma saw her walking up the stairs and forbade her from doing so because of all the dust. She breezily said, “It’s okay Wan. I will be careful. I want my Mummy…” Aaah….. anak ku.. Come to your Mummy then…..

Since it was really a dusty affair, the re-novation work, I decided to change the sheets on our beds too. Adik was nice enough to volunteer her services. We talked as I stripped of the beddings and put on a new one while she neatly folded the soiled pillow cases. She sometimes would sigh about the hard work she was doing and all and what a nice girl she was. She even broke into songs while she was doing her work ( macam Cinderella sungguh ), usually Beautiful Girl by Sean Kingston.

She was singing when she suddenly said to me, “Mummy, jangan bagi Babah main football lagi, okay ?” When I looked at her she was not even looking at me, still folding her pillowcases. Why, I asked and she replied, “Because nanti Babah sakit belakang. Pastu nanti dia get angry. Pastu nanti dia suruh Um stay in his room and then I cannot be with you Mummy…” He he he… rarely the abang is banished to his room alone, usually he got company because the ruckus as a rule is created by abang and adik. What will she say next ?

Adik, my angel…..

Apa Adik buat kat kelas ?

Semalam…. Wa ha ha… nak tergolak den…. He he.

When I came back from work, I attacked the kitchen first. Thaw the meat, cut the vegetables and what nots so that after Maghrib and Isyak, I could get everything on the fire straight away.

After 15 minutes, my children came barreling into the kitchen, mouth busy with news of the day. Each tried to be heard and I was trying my best to filter the news while chopping food. But then, Abang’s reporting caught my ears and I had to raise my voice to be heard above the din.

“What Abang ?”

Abang smiled gleefully. He he….. “Adik nak o-ok kat kelas Mandarin, Mummy.” He announced happily. I looked at the little girl. She frowned while looking at her brother. “Tak pun !”

“ Iye, iye… Adik tipu !” Abang danced, happy that he got the scoop of the day. “Adik, janganlah o-ok kat school. Tunggulah balik rumah, okay ? Sekejap saja.” Said I. My daughter looked trouble.

“ Dia dah o-ok lah Mummy. Dia o-ok kat dentist !”

“Ha ? Iye ke Adik ? Ivy bawak Adik ?” I asked.

“Adik, sapa basuh ? Alahai, alahai…..”. Adik was quiet. She was upset and clearly embarrassed. I was thinking if her bum was properly washed and if I need to isolate the clothes sho wore. Abang though was having a field day. He was hooting and dancing, I had to ask him to be quiet. “Abang, sudah Abang. Adik is very embarrassed about it.” Abang thankfully stopped his shenanigans.

“Adik… lain kali kalau nak o-ok, tunggulah sampai rumah. Sekejap je kan ? Okay ?” I advised. She looked at me but was still quiet. She must be rather shaken by this incident.

“Mum…,” said the bearer of bad news, “ Mandarin class tu lama Mum… It is not sekejap… So mana tahan…” Oh, pandailah pulak. Tadi mengejek…

Abang menjaga adiknya lagi

Bergaduhlah emak dan anak perempuannya pagi ini. A usual took the kids for breakfast. Since Adik never finished her roti canai I told her today I am gonna give her nasi goreng instead of the roti. Membazirkan…. People in war torn countries tak makan, depa ni boleh tak habis makan. A good piece of roti canai wasted every single day ( I sound just like my parents ).

She refused. I insisted. She screamed. Excuse me ? I told her sternly that I do not like people screaming at me. I ordered the roti canai anyway. She didn’t eat. She put her head on her folded arms on the table. Not a drop she drank or a bite she ate.

Kebetulan next to our table ada 2 policemen tengah makan. I pun apa lagi, “ Adik nampak tak polis tu tengah makan ? Satgi Mummy panggei laah polis tu suruh tangkap lah budak ni….”. She didn’t care but her abang jumped. He took a piece of the roti and tried to shove it in his sister’s mouth.

“ Adik, makan Adik…”. She clamped her mouth tight.

“ Biarkan dia, Abang.. ” said I and stared at my daughter. She peeked from the safety of her folded arms. Abang… I really pity him. Sometimes I did not think of what my actions would do to him. I should really take into account his feelings and perangai before I do anything, before I speak.

I instructed him to call over the policemen to our table. He got up but took the plate of roti canai instead. He then went to the roti counter and asked the kakak to bungkus it for his sister.

“ Mummy… I think she will eat when you are not around …” Said he as he sat down.

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Hmmm…… I still have a lot to learn. My son seemed very learned when he handled his very immature Mummy. In my defence, “ Nak, mak ko ni adik – beradik ramai.. so I am always in battle mode…” He he….

Spoon vs saucer

Had breakfast at Azira this morning before kelas mengaji. A fight ensued due to Abang drinking his the tarik in a saucer. When his tea arrived, he went to get the saucer, asked me to pour it for him. As he pulled it towards him, Adik handed him a spoon.

Adik : Nah spoon, Abang.

Abang : I don’t want it.

Adik : Use the spoon Abang, nanti tak tumpah. See ? See ?

And she demonstrated the usage of spoon for drinking.

Adik : See ? I’m clean….

Abang : Tak nak. Jangan kacau lah….

Adik : Abang… nanti tumpah lah….Mummy marah.

Abang : Tak … ! Don’t disturb me lah Adik. Abang nak makan !!

Abang : Makan lah !! ( Dengan muka berkerut – kerut )

I was not looking at them and was concentrating on my food when I heard her gasped. Sure enough, Abang and Adik were looking at his soiled shirt. Abang looked at me and gave me a sheepish smile.

Abang : Sikit saja ( sengih, sengih )

Adik : Look me Mum. I am clean. Tak de pun tumpah. I am so clever.

Mummy : Ha… tulah Abang. Tadi Adik wanted to be nice to you and you marah – marah. Sekarang Allah nak tunjuk Abang. You had never spilt your drink until today, Abang. Tengok tu.

Abang of course cried.

Adik : It’s okay Mummy, sikit saja… kan ? Sikit saja. Next time Abang guna spoon, okay ?

He he….

Mummy and Babah demam

Adik : Mummy demam ke ?

Mummy : A-ah… Sikit…

Adik : O- oh… Mummy panaslah… Mummy demam…

Mummy : Kesian mummy kan ?

Adik : It’s okay Mummy, I will take care of you. Nanti makan ubat and then you put yang lekat kat kepala tu ok ?

Mummy : Ohh… pandai hang noo…. Bila tang hang demam, punya dok merapu tak mau pakai benda tu… Bila kita demam pandai suruh kita lekat kat kepala….

Adik : Mum… I am not demam Mum…..

Mummy : Yelah….

Adik : Mummy kena take your medicine okay ? Then you sleep and rest okay ? Sebab nanti if you are sick you cannot drive…. I cannot go to my class and your boss marah…..

Mummy : My boss ?

Adik : Yes… Mummy, do you know Babah has a fat boss ?

Mummy : Really ? How do you know that ?

Adik : Mum… all boss are fat Mum….

Mummy : Oh ??

Adik : Yes….

He he… tak nak jadi boss lah….

Turn Babah dia pulak…

Adik : Babah demam ke ?

Babah : Yelah Ti. You will take care of me ?

Adik : Yes Bah, I will take care of you. Don’t worry.

And jumped over his Babah to be at his side.

Adik : Where does it hurt, Bah ?

Babah : Sini and sini and sini and sini.

Adik : Okay ..

And she started blowing everywhere.

Adik : Do you feel better ? Adik dah tiup dah ? Dah blow….

Babah : Belum Adik…

Adik : Okay, I try another trick okay ?

And she started to kiss her Babah everywhere.

Adik : Dah kan ? All better. I am so clever….

Hmm… yelah…