Nana made Mama go banana

I'm in the mood to write, hence I'm gonna write another entry tonight.

My first daughter entered Primary 1 this year. I was all jittery a week before schools open. She was so cool but I on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. Nervous because I worried that she couldn't adapt to the school environment with over 400 students in Primary 1 alone (There are 10 Primary 1 classes of 40 or 41 students in her school!). Nervous because my girl doesn't know how to use squatting toilet (trust me, I'm not joking!) and she hates dirty toilet (she would rather hold her urine if the toilet is slightly dirty or even wet). Nervous because she's used to learning in English and now she has to learn in Bahasa. Nervous because she is so fragile and because she has to take school van to school.

To my surprise, merely a week after school starts she assimilated well into Primary 1 at the over-crowded school far better than I had expected. She used the school toilet on the fifth day of school. She even refuses to bring food to school for recess because she wants to buy food at the canteen. She hasn't complaints about school, yet. Alhamdulillah.

And when you pray for something, insyaAllah, Allah will show you the way. Alhamdulillah, a friend of mine offered to fetch Nana to and fro school. I couldn't express how much I am thankful for her offer. Thank you for the bottom of my heart Sue!!! I sleep better these days knowing that she doesn't have to walk out of school all by herself and find her van amidst a sea of people (you wouldn't believe the amount of students at her school and the number parents who crowd the school compound to fetch their children).

I can see her bright future. My girl is not that fragile after all. I see me in her. I know she could do great things in her life, just like I did *grin*.

I say we need to have more convictions on our own children. They could do far greater things than we could imagine. After all we are the ones rocking the cradle :-)

Nana during her first recess at school.


The sea of parents who came to see how their kids do during recess on the first day!

The greatest gift yet

It's been a while since I last wrote in this space. Making preparations for back to school for 3 kids ain't easy. It consumes all your energy, really! Not to mention your money too *gasp*. After back to school, it was back to work for me. It was fun nonetheless shopping for back to work. This one I don't mind draining all my energy into at all...hehehe. Who wouldn't right? Anyone who says that he/she doesn't like shopping is a big fat liar. Liar liar pants on fire!!!

Anyway, just to back track a little bit. My eldest son delivered my birthday present 8 days after my 38th birthday in December – in a form of As, 8 to be exact. Alhamdulillah syukur ke hadrat Allah s.w.t. Daniel passed his PMR exams with flying colors. Best of all, ALL but 1 of his very close friends scored 8As – that 1 friend scored 7As and 1B. I found this to be quite amazing. Again, Alhamdulillah. 71 students from his school scored 8As, most of them are girls (I wonder are girls smarter than boys or girls are more hard-working? Thought provoking eh?). Congrats to my nephew Azani who scored straight As too.

Daniel and his close buddies who all passed with flying colours. I am sooo proud of them! (These few kids spent lotsa time at my home, ate food that I cook and breath the air in my house - what I am actually trying to say is I have some contribution in them scoring straight As...ngeh ngeh ngeh, boleh?)


Although Daniel didn’t put much effort into preparing for the exams (it’s actually close to a miracle that he scored straight As) I was confident enough that he would deliver the results. In all honestly, I’d be furious if he didn’t. I have high expectation for him (and all my children for that matter). At this point, I’d like to claim all credits for his brainy brain. Remember what I wrote earlier about smart mothers and smart children (see previous post)? At least I can now say that all the ugly stretch marks are worth it...wheeee!

Speaking of expectation, sometimes I wonder, is it right for parents to expect highly of their children? I expect all my children to be smart. I expect all of them to study abroad and become successful people, dunia dan akhirat. It is because of this super high expectation that I can’t never teach my own children. My blood would ‘go upstairs’ every time they didn’t get my explanation the first time. The same goes for my husband. Even Mr. Cool Guy couldn’t teach his own children – we both lack the patient because of our high expectation.

I know that this is certainly not healthy but I just couldn't help it. I expect my kids to know algebra since birth...hahaha. This momma is so the over the top gittew kan.

Anyway, Daniel is anxiously waiting for the result of his application to enter boarding school. Although I did try to sabotage his applications, my doa to Allah is to give him the best. If going to a boarding school is the best for him, I will accept it, but if it isn't, we'll make the best of it. But in all honestly, if you asked me, I'd say that I prefer him to be with me at home *grin*. Over the top and selfish...bravo momma!

I say at some point of our lives, we need to learn to let go of certain things we hold so dear. I hope I will be brave enough to let a part of me go when the time comes...

Happy 2011 everyone!