Ice Skating 17

Weekends' mornings are always a struggle with Popo. Sigh.

After a mini mad rush, we got out of the house shortly after the boy woke up. He was fine, he got the Galaxy Tab and he knew that mummy was bringing him for his Taekwondo in the pm. 

The moment we were out of the house, I reminded Lil Shauna of her commitment to try her best in ice skating. She faithfully recited the 3 things that she needed to do "push harder, lift up her arms and look up".

It was a cheery Saturday morning with the usually Mac bfast. It seems like we were off to a good session.

The rink was crowded. I think parents are starting to hear about the free entry for primary school kids. We got our practice though and I had to agree that I didn't have to remind as much as usual. Lil Shauna wasn't too bad. 

Unfortunately, she appeared to forget about all that she had to do the moment she went for her class. I saw Teacher Raymond repeating his instructions over and over again and she appeared to be in her own world, doing things in her own way, forgetting all that she promised or even practiced earlier, even the simple front crossovers that she had been practicing every week. Zzzzz. My blood did boil and I was upset.

After her lesson, Teacher Raymond simply said that she had to practice harder and push harder. I wonder if it is a passing phase and most people go through it. I do hope.

I did show how upset I was to Lil Shauna. It seems that she didn't know that she wasn't doing well. She was even glad that she learnt something new during lesson. Yes, something new but if the moves are not precise, then she will always be "半桶水". I was so upset that I threatened Lil Shauna to stop her ice skating class and to give away her skates. Evil mummy. 

After we left the rink, I sat her down. I told her that I wouldn't be upset if she had really put in her best and yet not achieving. I was upset at her for not trying her best. She is not listening and therefore not learning. I hate how she seems to forget everything the moment she steps into the rink for her class. I asked her again what she wants and she replied that she wanted to be a figure skater in the future. 

I wonder if my hopes are too high, that I am asking too much of her. Maybe I should be the one changing my expectations and let her just have fun... very expensive fun. Then again, if it is solely fun, then I really think we need not commit such time, effort and $$. Haha, can you see me arguing with myself? Hopefully time will help with a decision.

In the afternoon, I exchanged Lil Shauna for Lil Isaac and brought him to his class.  He was so eager. I was standing outside his class watching him the whole time, bcos he gave me strict instructions to. Lol. He was so serious and doing his very best, using very ounce of energy to kick and punch. It was so interesting to watch him. He seemed to have fun too. 

If Lil Shauna is this serious in her ice skating, I probably wouldn't be so upset. Haiz. If what happened to Lil Isaac holds true, it is still possible for Lil Shauna to have fun in ice skating despite trying her very best. Right?

Mummy Lim

First Love

Remembered how I drooled over the girl's vball game last week? I was so full of envy. In fact, I visited a few sports shops, hoping to buy a vball to bring to last Saturday gathering but didn't spot any.

I was so fortunate to be able to turn up for this week's session! Lil Isaac's phonics class was canceled bcos Teacher Steven was traveling. Then, it was PH the following day and the kids didn't have to go to school. What a rare coincidence. Daddy Lim kindly agreed to send us to SHSS. I couldn't hide my excitement when the session was confirmed. Hehe.

We picked Lil Shauna from school, fed her dinner in the car and battled the traffic jam, from the West to the East. The jam was horrible. It seems like the people living in the East are all working in the West and they were all heading back at the same time. People should just live where they work.

After a painful 1 freaking hour drive, we finally reached. I think I would vomit blood if I have to battle this kind of traffic every work day. The travel also cancelled out every tiny bit of hope left in me about frequenting such sessions in the future. We are just too far away. Sigh. Anyway, I was beaming with excitement the moment we alighted. Let's go, go, go!

The kids were happy to meet the C, T, Boo and QQ. They were even happier when they realised that they could get free access to so many vballs. There were more than enough for everybody and there was no need to fight.

While the kids self-entertain, the mummies started warming up. The feel of vball... It was absolutely heavenly. How long has it been since I last touched one? 10 years? The sensation was very real too bcos it was so freaking painful. Haha. But that little bit of pain was totally worth it.

We got to play some sets with the very junior after warming up. Oh boy, they are so good! I got to know that they are 18s and 19s! We doubled their age. They aren't born when we started running around in the court! Interestingly, we somehow still know where to go, how to serve and dig a ball despite the years! The skill isn't lost, just very rusty. Lol. I get to play a lot too bcos the rest of the girls know how rare it is for me to turn up.

The kids grew bored at some point and started creating their own game. Well, so long as they have fun and don't disturb the mummies. Yes, they were hiding under the table and hiding balls. They were all very sweaty and sticky at the end of the session, just like mummies.

Thankfully, Daddy Lim also helped to entertain the kids. Or maybe he was entertaining himself. Lol.

The session ended at about 10pm and we hit the long way home. While in the car, Lil Isaac asked if I won. Like Daddy Lim said, it is not about winning but having fun and you cannot imagine how much fun I had! Even the painful arms are nothing compared to the fun that I had.

This morning, I spotted a blueblack on my arm, another super rare. Since secondary years, my arms could hurt like hell but I am too dark for blueblack to show.

The other part of my arm hurts like hell too, just like the secondary years.

I have been warned that I would be aching all over today. I can feel the muscle ache coming. Still, it is worth it. My first love.

Mummy Lim

Handsome Boy

Lil Isaac called me in the afternoon and asked me if 蔡老师 "app" me. I wasn't sure what he was talking about, but I didn't receive anything. I told him that I would check again later.

Some time later, I received this via watsapp.

Ahhh... this must be their graduation  concert costume. This cost us $50. I thought he looked quite smart. I didn't think much of the picture otherwise but noticed that he was holding the class mate's hand. Lol.

When I picked Lil Isaac up in the night, I realised that there is a story behind the picture. Well, the students were indeed trying out the costume but he turned out so handsome that the teachers all wanted to take a picture of him! Some of the other kids even asked how come the teachers were only taking Lil Isacc's picture and not the rest of the kids. Haha.

Well, he really looked not too bad in the picture. Hehe.

Mummy Lim

My Indulgences

Big boy plays big toys. Big girl has expensive indulgence too – travel. Travel is so addictive. It is weird that I don't travel much before the kids arrived. I had been only to a few overseas trips with friends and/ or Daddy Lim. I probably didn't have the extra cash and there were a lot more important things to save up for then. After the kids come along and are old enough to travel, the frequency increased year by year.

In year 2012, we went to Hong Kong in Feb and Korea in Dec. Lil Isaac was still very much a baby during the Hong Kong trip.

In 2013, it was Genting in Mar, Gold Coast in May, Phuket in Oct and Taiwan in Dec - the start of our quarterly travel.

Last year, we went Hong Kong in Mar, Penang in Jun, Europe (Geneva, Paris and London) in Sep and Taiwan in Nov.

This year, we have been to Bangkok in Feb and Ho Chi Minh in Jun. Of course we are not stopping here. We will be heading to Batam with my brother’s family over the Aug long weekend. Then I will be in Geneva for a business trip in end Aug and would be meeting up with ah yee. I am so super excited to see her. In Sep, we would be heading to Bali with the Chan family. Then we would be closing the year with a snow filled holiday in Seoul. Hohoho. This morning, FB reminded me that Scoot has an offer for $2 return ticket! I almost wanted to tell Daddy Lim that we should squeeze in another holiday before we fly off to Seoul. I must be crazy.

I realized that I love traveling bcos it is a break from the otherwise monotonous routine life. For that week or 10 days, there is no need to worry about work, no need to send kids to the weekly enrichment classes and we get to do fun things/ visit new places every day. The kids are happy too to spend so much time with the parents. As time passes, I realized that I started looking forward to holidays and feel irritated all over when there isn’t one in sight. That explains why we now travel every quarter. Do we travel luxuriously? Well, we do spend quite some $$ each time, air tickets and hotel aren’t cheap especially when there are 4 of us. But we don't do 5 star hotel or expensive shopping or fine dining when we travel. We sometime also save $$ by extending some of my work trips into family holidays, like the one to Phuket, Europe and recently to Ho Chi Minh. At least my air ticket is free and we top up for the hotel.

It has been a while since we traveled on a package tour, the last was Seoul. We do a hybrid sometimes, free and easy holiday coupled with a few days of private guided tour depending on destination. I love to google and explore the places that we could visit, reading blogs of families who had previously been to these countries.   

Daddy Lim wasn't such a crazy travel freak. Remember that his ideal holiday is to laze around in the hotel room and watch TV? Well, my influence must be quite great bcos he now agrees whenever I suggest that it is time to go for another holiday. Haha. In fact, he too now looks forward to our holiday. Lalalalala. 

I am so looking forward to the coming holiday. I know that the volcano in Bali spits ash for the last few weeks and disrupted flights but I think things would be OK by Sep. I know that a typhoon wreak havoc in Korea a few days back and MERS is still an issue. I would also like to think that things would be great by the time we visit in Dec. I MUST travel. Haha.

Would the craze to travel quarterly cease? I don't think so. I do yearn for the time where Daddy Lim and I could travel without the kids. Maybe when they are both in upper primary and couldn't care more about not going out with Pappy and Mummy.

Mummy Lim

Classic Moments

I have to record these. Super classic.

Presents

LI: Mummy, I am giving you all these stickers as presents so that you will give me a big present on my bday.

This is what I ended up with. What’s with kids and sticking their stickers on other people? Haha.

YouTube

Lil Isaac had been somewhat addicted to Youtube since the school holidays where he has free access to the iPad. School started and Popo still insisted that we give him the IPad on Monday and Tuesday, when he has no enrichment classes and is home early. We often come home to find him glued to the iPad, watching videos after videos on Youtube. Whenever we complain, Popo will insist that he just started on the iPad, even when the fully charged iPad shows half battery life. I told Popo about the bad language that he has picked up as well as the short attention span. Popo challenged me to lock the Youtube app, confidently thinking that the iPad will still entertain the boy nevertheless. So, I deleted Youtube.

Immediately that Monday, after Popo gave him the iPad, I have the boy calling me on the phone, asking me where is Youtube. I told him that I deleted it and he was fussing over the phone. I stood my ground.

Later in the evening, Lil Isaac said that he has deleted my Korean drama apps bcos I have deleted his Youtube. I thought he was joking only to find out that it was true. Haha. He said that he did it bcos I have deleted his app. Never mind, I can always install it back. Nani nani boo boo.

Call

I called home looking for Popo. Lil Shauna picked up the phone. Popo was out sending the boy to the school bus. I thought I chat with the girl since Popo wasn't available. 

ML: Hi baby, what are you doing?
LS: Talking on the phone with you lah.
ML: Hahahaha.

She made my day.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 16 - One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

We had our ice skating class on Saturday. Lil Shauna had her protective gear on and did push harder as compared to previously. I don't think it is bcos of the protective gear but she remembered that she had to. Additionally, she had me beside her, commanding her to turn here, twist there, push harder....

We practice jumping too and again I gave up trying to tell her to jump higher. I felt exhausted and wondered who was more tired - her executing the jump (it we can consider those as jumps) or me yelling and encouraging her to jump bigger and higher. I think it was me.

Lil Shauna didn't learn anything new on Saturday. Teacher Raymond revised the old stuff with her. Without me nagging at her, she appeared to forget about most of the bigger pushes, higher leg, etc. To make things worse, with so much concentration on her legs in the recent weeks, she seemed to have totally forgotten to keep her arms up, thereby affecting her posture and balance. Then she had to keep looking down. Arrggghhh... why are we regressing?

I could sense Teacher Raymond's frustration. Or maybe he wasn't but I was. I watsapped Daddy Lim to complain and told him that maybe we should stop Lil Shauna's classes. These classes aren't cheap and we spent time and efforts on her and with her too. We are not asking her to be a world champion but ice skating is hard work. If she isn't keen to put in hard work, then maybe she should stop taking lessons and skate occasionally for leisure. I think I was somewhat disappointed that Lil Shauna isn't putting in as much effort as I expected her to, given the time and money put in for her. She must want to make it happen.

After class, I sat her down and spoke to her sternly. I reminded her about the hard work involved and told her about my thought of stopping her lessons. I can't be the only one doing my very best but she doesn't seem to put in equal efforts. Lil Shauna expressed that she wanted to continue. She said that she wanted to be an ice skater when she grows up and even teared at the end of the conversation.  I wasn't fierce and didn't scold her but just had a very stern conversation with her, something that I rarely do.

I think it is great that she has renewed commitment. I hope she would do better next week. Let's see how it goes before we decide on the next step.

Mummy Lim

Lazy Sunday Morning

There is no Sunday school this morning.We woke up at 8ish. Lil Isaac bugged me to play with him. I managed to shake him off for enuff time to drink my morning coffee in peace. They know that I need the coffee to function. They watched a little TV while waiting and found  Puss in Boots on TV. This is the 1st time that we caught it and all enjoyed the show.

Then, we started with some hot wheels racing. I got bored and suggested that we fixed up some of the mini lego set. We had so many sets and they are all jumbled up now. We were at it for at least 1 hour before I gave up. My eyes were so tired trying to look for those mini pieces. And my back! The kids then switched to make believe with whatever lego that they had fixed. I cleaned up the toys corner, throwing away bags of broken/ missing parts/ super old toys that the kids no longer play.

Suddenly, I realised how luxurious are such slow and relaxed Sunday mornings. I guess I should slow down my pace a little.

Mummy Lim

Unusual Thursday Night

The rink had a last public skating session at 7.30pm last night. I don't remember the rink opening till this late on weekdays. Anyway, I had wanted to buy the protective gear that Teacher Raymond recommended for Shauna. Hopefully, it would help her to push harder. We took the opportunity to buy the gear last night and since primary school kids skate free in July, we headed down to the rink to try out the gear. Lil Isaac happened to have his phonics class in JE too – perfect timing.

This is how the gear looks like, worn like a pair of shorts. It protects the hip as well as the tailbone. Lil Shauna wore a legging over the gear and then a dress to further camouflage. 

So, did it help? I don't know and she didn't as well. Lol. She did fall once and said that it was still painful bcos she happened to land exactly at the part that is not padded. Win already. She did stroke a lot harder last night and lift up her legs a little bit more and she looked great. Then, she had to forget to hold her arms in place. It is like she takes one step forward but 2 steps back. Zzzzz. But we focus mainly on getting her to stroke harder last night and mission was accomplished.

Towards the end, we practice her new learnt jump with arm movements complete. It was a nightmare. She was probably tired and definitely fearful. We spent at least 15 mins and we didn't get a single jump that I was satisfied with. It was either a wrong hand movement or jump so small that an ant couldn't pass underneath it. Zzzzz. I was so tired from telling her to swing her arms and jump. We gave up and left. Obviously that protective gear didn't help in this instance. Lil Shauna was very keen to try to fall down and see if her butt hurts though. Lol.

Let’s hope that the practice on Saturday would be better. 

While we practice hard on the ice, some of the SHSS gang was sweating out on the court. There was a practice session last night in SHSS and some of the really old girls joined. Haha. The pictures sent over were so good. 

I never lament much about staying in JW. But last night I did. Of course I could drive there and back but too much traveling time for that little bit of play on a school day night. Let’s hope that there would be more opportunity in the future. I want to touch vball!

Mummy Lim

Happy

Lil Shauna declared. "Today I am very happy. So I bought something."

What!??! Sound like an excuse to buy things instead. She has already bought something on Monday and had used up her quota.

Don't know to cry or to laugh.

Mummy Lim

Tired

I cant remember if it was 2 weeks back or 3. I started feeling both mentally and emotionally tired. I tried pressing on and ended up physically tired too. I couldn't tell if weekdays or weekends were better. Weekdays are away from kids but it is mad rush in the office and thereafter the fixed routine until the kids go to bed. Bcos I was so tired, I ended up dozing off too while tucking the kids in. The physically rest didn't help much despite sleeping sufficiently. Ok, I admit that there were some late nights too when I got lured by the iPad. When it comes to weekends, Daddy Lim would be in the office for at least half a day or more. Popo did help but also added on to my pain, depending on how bad her mood is. Many times, I felt that I was alone, struggling with the kids, lugging them around until Daddy Lim comes and shared the “burden”. Seriously, it probably wasn't so bad in reality, but I felt that way, wallowing in self-pity.

It became so bad that my patience was paper thin. I thought I became super forgetful too, though I am not sure if there was any linkage. Then Friday came and so did Murphy’s law. Ended up, I was so impatience at times that I wanted to shout at the kids or anyone that doesn't do what I say and I only wanted to say things once. Period. To contain that urge, I used up all my remaining energy and ended up not wanting to speak at all. I wasn't interested.

Fortunately, I made myself talked to Daddy Lim on Saturday night. It really helps. I told him that I so wanted to be alone and have some peace. I never knew I could value silence so much. He tried to tuck the kids in that night so that I could have that little bit of me time but it didn't work. Lil Isaac stuck to me like glue. But his efforts comforted me more than words.

I was definitely feeling better on Sunday morning. I contemplated skipping church bcos I dread the idea of taking the train with the 2 noisy kids and then a sticky boy who didn't want to be alone in Sunday school. We eventually went ahead and it wasn't so bad. To make it even sweeter, Daddy Lim left work early and pick us up from church! Traveling in the comfort of the car and an extra pair of hands to help man the kids – such small comforts but they made such great differences to me.  

Daddy Lim really did try. We met the Chan family at the Sentosa beach in the late afternoon and he was soaking in the sea with the kids, giving me the opportunity to stone in the shade. Side tracking - there were so many gorgeous ang mos at the beach on Sunday. I almost thought that I was in Gold Coast or something. They were all super skinny and tone with washboard abs. *whisper* We barely saw any Singaporeans, who are easily recognizable bcos only the kids and the daddy would be in the swim wear, those all covered up kind to fight UV rays and the rest would be in T-shirt and shorts like us. While the ang mos sip beer and sunbath, the Singaporeans would be munching tidbits and hiding in the shade. Haha. 

Auntie H took this picture of us. I thought it was super serene. Upon closer look, I realized that we were both looking at those super skinny bikini babes walking on the beach and not at our kids. Haha.

On Monday evening, we had like 30 mins before it was time to pick Lil Shauna up from the school bus and Daddy Lim invited me to a coffee. Though it was just McCafe but it was good enuff for me. And I finally could redeem my free coffee after so many cuppas. Hohoho.

The simple joys in life. I guessed that is what sustain marriage life as well, the willing to share and support. Muaks bb.

Mummy Lim