Finally a Teenager

Lil Shauna spent 2 birthdays in the midst of covid-19. At least this one was before all these crazy restrictions came into place. 

We had the 1st round with the Fs and had a feast also in view of Mothers' Day.

We had ice cream cake, courtesy of my brother's family but the candles were forgotten. So Lil Shauna pretended to blow out the candles. Hoho. 

On her bday, she happily pose for me before heading to school. She mega complained that she had CL2 and FCE WA2 on her bday. 

At least we had dinner at a nice eating place. I wanted Mookata but they complained that the kopitiam was too hot. Then we thought to go to the Korean place at Sunset way but Daddy Lim kept nagging that the parking is crapped and the place would be crowded. He kept pushing for Jem. Go lah, go lah. I cannot take all these whinning. Lol.

In the end, we had Japanese porky food. Not bad. 

Followed by Fluffy Stack. Lil Shauna loves it. Zaky was upset that Fluffy Stack doesn't serve anything ice cream and rejected the pancakes. Heng ah, one less person to share. Hoho. 

Both sets were gone so quickly. Daddy Lim complained that there is no meat but he also whacked what. 

I would have bought a cake and candles for Lil Shauna to do proper candle blowing but we were too full. Ended up, her cake and candles came one day late. 

Done! 

Dear baby, you have no idea how glad I am seeing you enjoying your secondary school and teenager life. Last year was tough with PSLE, Covid and your crazy growing up vibes. I am glad that we got through them alive. I love how you had opened up, gained independence (pls don't stay out frequently until 10pm, your old mother's heart cannot take it), made some tough decisions and forged new relationships. I am sure the next few years will continue to be exciting while we brace ourselves for new challenges and probably some difficult times. Continue to excel and grow in the Lord. I am looking forward to seeing your achievements, be it spiritual, academic, ice skating, social... I love it all. 

We love you to the moon and back. 

Spotted any resemblance?

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 17 and 237

Zaky mentioned that he wanted to stop his ice skating class when he was bugging for his aggro inline skates. Did he stop? Not yet, we agreed to continue with May's lessons as we have booked Coach's time. Is he still as passionate with aggro skating? The forest fire seems to look more like a bush flame now. Will he stop ice skating? He doesn't know but agrees that he would at least cut down on the number of lessons. 

He still looks like a dead fish many times during lesson. I know that it is not fun doing the same thing over and over again and yet barely getting it. In the 2nd picture, Coach asked him to stand straight to do his 3-turn and he ended up with a protruding tummy. Hoho. But I saw him improving. Slowly but surely. 

Lil Shauna is no doubt still with the sports. Ice skating has become more and more interesting for her (as compared to Zaky) with good skating peers and inching improvements. Oh, the competition results are not out yet. It had been more than a month and the judges must be scrutinizing the videos so closely. 

Lil Shauna is still trying for her double salchow jump. Mastering the double jumps is one of the elements to move on to the next level. When I checked back my blog, she was introduced to the jump in July 2020. I heard her and even Coach say that she is "almost there" so many times. Almost every lesson, I will see her fall until 四脚朝天 when attempting her double sal. Ouch!

It is jumping, falling, studying the video and repeat. Coach says that she is crossing her feet but not tight enough. As a result, she either lands on her wrong foot or 2 feet. 

She is aware of the issue but the problem is that she can't feel her legs/ feet when she jumps. Zzzzzzz. She said that she only knows what happen after she lands. Hohoho. I am not even surprised if she tells me that she closes her eyes in the air lor. Lol. 

She is more of a jumper than a spinner and I am waiting for the Eureka moment when she suddenly gets it, just like the axel jump that she had been stuck so long and suddenly gets it. Then one fine day (actually last Sunday), she was skating leisurely with R and attempting her double salchow jump. She didn't even look like she was going to try hard to jump and she nailed the double salchow jump effortlessly!

I do not always look at her when she is on the ice but right at that moment, I saw her did her 1st even double jump. Hohoho. She was more in shock and doubt. For while, I was wondering if she had executed an axel jump instead. Then, we were all jumping around in excitement. I got the next successfully double sal on video. Hohoho. The "almost there" is finally "there". This is like a Mothers' Day present wor. 

All in all, she got 3 good double sal jumps and then kept falling when attempting to land. Why? She landed with her CG on her butt but she cannot feel anything in the air and cannot adjust. Remember? 

I am hoping that she would not lose her double salchow jumps like she sometimes does. She is worried too, such that she volunteered to come to the ice for practice this morning. 

She is so enthu also bcos she has companion leh. 

Did she lose her jump? Well, she still managed and I saw her land one properly and the rest ended with her sitting on the ice. Hohoho. Fighting!

Mummy Lim

Random

There are so many random events to remember recently. 

Last Monday, I brought Zaky to JP for lunch while jiejie mugged her homework. Zaky was obviously super pleased with a Starbucks chicken pie and ice chocolate. I think he forgot how to spell "fattening".

After one of Lil Shauna's SISA lesson and Zaky discovered another way to move the Zuka after seeing other little kid does it. The other difference is that he is not little at all.

One of the Thursday mornings, Lil Shauna was in a good mood. Thursday mornings are usually good bcos school starts one hour later than usual.

Zaky saw some little girls in their heelys and started asking if his heelys still work. The last pair that we bought for him was years ago, it was a bigger size then. 

Amazingly they still fit and he wore them to Maths class y'day and irritated the hell out of Daddy Lim. This pair isn't as good as what they used to have. Lil Shauna was so good in her heelys then. 

We walked past this mookata place near to our home some days back. We have never tried a mookata before. 

Lil Shauna missed it as she had dinner with her youth group. It was good, the only thing is that the kopitiam was super warm. 

I now cycle with the WWFs on Saturday mornings and with Daddy Lim on Sunday mornings. This morning, we headed to LP1. 

We took a longer than usual route back and the sun was working so hard. We reached home at almost 10am and I was literally melting. The sun was so scorching that I am now chao tar-ed. 

I forgot when was the last time I actually got "2-tone" from the sun. After 9.30am, must hide from the sun lah. 

Mummy Lim

 

Lil Shauna's 1st Heartbreak/ Farewell

Don't worry, no boys involved. Ok, maybe there are, I am not sure. Lol. 

Lil Shauna has been so busy since the end of last year. Her social calendar is filled to the brim including meetups and cell group meetings with 2 different youth groups. One was with Faith Methodist that she grew up with and another with CNL, her kindergarten church, whom she re-accustomed as a result of volunteering at the church camp.

She is so busy during the weekends - she sometimes have lunch with one cell group friends, then cell group meeting, following by cell group with the other youth group plus dinner. We literally dont see her for the entire Saturday. This went on for a while and it took a toll on her. For a while, she was upset that she is so busy yet didn't want to make a choice to leave any of the youth groups. Mummy knows best and told her that one day, she will naturally year  more towards one group and decision making will be easier then.

The "one day" has come. I was hoping that she would choose FM over CNL so that the family can continue to attend the same church but she seems to lean towards CNL. The group is smaller and likely to forge stronger bond. My desire aside, I come to realise that it is more important for her to find the best environment to grow in the Lord; we all part ways one day, isnt it? 

Her choice? CNL youth group - she said that she is able to relate better to the messages taught. She made the decision of attending FM for last x times before she moved fully to CNL and responsibly informed her FM cell group through messaging; teenagers no longer know how to carry phone call conversations. 

The day has come for her to attend the FM cell group one last time. She came home with a heavy heart and a whole bag of sweet farewell gifts and messages. Awwwww... Her cell group mates are so sweet! 

She was so upset as she read those messages and opened the gifts. I reminded her that it is not farewell forever; she can always choose to go back or to visit from time to time. 

Time will heal, mummy knows best. I am sure she will soon move on and embraces her "new-found" extra time on weekend. God will honor her choice too and be with her as she gets to know Him more. Amen.

Mummy Lim

Longboard - 还是买了....

人不可以闷，闷是一件很危险的事.....

I duno when it started but one fine day, Daddy Lim started talking about longboards when we have 2 skateboards underutilized and sitting in the storeroom. 他闷了... with life generally. This is not a good thing. Based on experience, whatever that he started researching intensely on will one day appear at home. 

Soon after, he started asking the kids if they would like a longboard and strongly encouraged Lil Shauna to ask for a longboard for her bday present. I am glad that she didn't. 

Daddy Lim got even more excited when Zaky brought his aggro skates and he enthusiastically brought Zaky to ECP and Kallang skate park for practice. I tell you, it is all part of his plans. I had a prep talk with him and told him that I don't agree to him buying a longboard bcos it is dangerous and we are not in the "it is Ok to break a bone" age. I was momentarily happy, thinking that he had taken my stand. 骗人的.. not long after, he outright told me that my words and views aren't going to stop him. 

I give up le. I can only hope that his longboard will really and only be for cruising and not some dangerous tricks. My heart can only take that much. 

One fine day, I was busy with the kids. 来了, 来了.. pattern 来了. He at least have the decency to inform me that he is going longboard and Zaky's knee pads shopping. I knew that he had already done his research and it would be more than just window shopping. I am so cleber.

He came back of course with the longboard. If he didn't, it must be out of stock and he would have placed the order anyway. When Daddy Lim goes shopping, it is NEVER cheap. He didn't at all feel bad that the longboard is $540, telling me that it is some Russia brand and more durable and no need upgrade. So it is an one-time spent. Zzzzzzz... The scooter that I once bought to go to the park with the kids is now used for Lil Shauna to commute to the MRT station. It had been years, still working well and it is also an one-time spent that was less than $100. Lame... I 认命了... 

On Sunday morning, we skipped cycling bcos Popo wasn't back from cruise, Lil Shauna had headed to her youth cell group and Zaky the scardy cat would be alone at home. We brought him for bfast and then to Jurong Lake instead. 

I wonder how long is this 热度 will last. It better be long enough to fully depreciate Zaky's $219 aggro skates and Daddy Lim's $540 longboard. I am also expecting him on weekends to bring Zaky out to skate and board and give me some rest and peace. Hohoho. 

Mummy Lim

New Interest

Many moons back, when we 1st started the kids on this enrichment/ tuition rat race, they were educated that they have no choices pertaining to academy-related classes (unless they are strong in the subject and don't need help) but they can choose one non-academic interest to pursue. The only criteria is that they have to stay in it for a long time. 

Lil Shauna was 6 then and opted for ice skating out of the list of exotic options that I had presented to her. Hoho. It is coming to 7 years since she started and we got though countless heartaches. Thankfully, she is still with the sports. She has come so far, making skater friends, progressing and learning new skills such that she is enjoying ice skating and her interest is still going strong. Phew.

Zaky was given the option to learn ice skating too but he opted to do TKD. He thought of giving up on several occasions too but agreed to persist until he got his junior black belt. He did and finally stopped after his 2nd pom. That was when the problem started. 

After stopping TKD, Zaky went for basketball but lost interest quickly when he realised that a large part is about drill and hard work and no fun. He recently started ice skating in September 2020. I didn't force him hor, he told me one fine day that he wanted to take up ice skating again. I like that they are in the same sports bcos the effort to bring them for practices and classes is instantly reduced by half. He progressed quickly given that he is old enough to take instructions but ice skating, like basketball, is hard work. 

Recently, it was so hard to get him to try hard during lesson or to practice after that. Then suddenly, he said that he wanted to do aggressive inline skating instead. Huh? Why did that come from? I suspect it is bcos he has some classmates who can do online very well and he wanted to be better than them. I am resistant to his new interest and checked and double checked that it is the aggressive type, the jumping off slopes and grinding off edges kind. Given how clumsy he is, it just didn't sound like a good idea to me. 

On the other hand, he kept asking and asking for new aggressive skates. Daddy Lim's encouragement further fuel his request. Once upon a time, Daddy Lim was into aggressive inline skating too; when he was much more agile and when broken bones don't take as long to heal. Lol. 

That must be the tactic bcos I couldn't stand his whinning and finally gave in. Zaky - 1, Mummy - 0. With Daddy Lim's guidance, he even found a vendor that sold aggro skates and fixed up an appointment to try the skates! But not before I made him go for lesson. We found aggressive skates lesson in far away ECP skate park with Exis. The school was very nice to loan us a pair of aggro skates for his 1st lesson. 

How was it? While he could ice skate, inline blading is still different and I lost count the number of times that he fell the moment he don the skates. Normal skating also cannot, how to do stunts? 

He struggled through the hour long class.  We are better off not looking at him. Hoho. 

After class, the coach advised us to let Zaky build up his foundation 1st. Reluctantly, Zaky agreed to put the aggro skates lessons on hold and do the foundational course 1st. But, that doesn't mean that the new skates are on hold. Zzzzzzz...

The day before spend $$ on jiejie, the next day is on didi. My poor pocket.

Despite it being 8pm, that didn't stop the boy from asking us to bring him to Jurong Lake to 开张 the skates. 

I had thought that he would fall left, right and center, like at the skate park but he tolerated the skates very well. We reckoned it is bcos the loan skates have anti-rocker, meaning that the center 2 wheels do not touch the floor but mainly for guiding grinds. 

Cannot skate properly never mind, still can try to do tricks. Hoho. 

And then fall down.

Daddy Lim still enthusiastically teach him how to do tricks. I just look away. This picture so pro, bluff one.

My heart...

As if not enough for my poor heart, Daddy Lim has been bugging to want to buy a long board. 救命啊.... Will the new interest puts a stop to Zaky's ice skating? Probably.... he will take lessons for another month before deciding. Well, it is definitely easier to tolerate than Lil Shauna giving up on ice skating and save my pocket too. Let's see if it is 三分钟 as well. Basketball got new basketball shoes, ice skating got new ice skates and now this aggro skates. Very expensive. 

Mummy Lim

Gen Z

The other day, Lil Shauna asked for my help to locate an email from the E-Lit teacher in order to complete an assignment. What was the assignment? She needed to do a meme. Huh? E-Lit teaches meme now? While going through the examples provided by the teacher, Lil Shauna was exclaiming excitedly that her teacher is so Gen Z. 

Anyway, I enthusiastically suggested an idea only for the kids to roll eyes at me, telling me that that wasn't a meme? Huh? Then what is a meme? Zaky went on to tell me that I am such a boomer. Huh? Simi boomer? Like a baby boomer? I later confirmed that boomer basically means so old. Zzzzzzz. 

The kids are now using so many foreign terms both in day to day speech and text. Everything is "sus" now and "sus" means more than "suspicious", like "don't be so sus, you never tell me anything" and "sus" here has the meaning of "duh". I still don't get it. Lol.

Then we visited Jewel recently. Lil Shauna was very excited and said that she wants flex? Huh? Simi? Flexible ah? No.... Flex means show off. Show off say show off lah, what flex? 

When I see the kids' messaging their friends/ classmates, half the time, I have to second guess the short forms. I asked Lil Shauna something over WhatsApp just now and she replied "IG". Instagram?  No, "I guess". Zzzzz. Win already. My favourite so far? Hdkdnehdorjflti.... This is called keyboard smashing. I like. Lol. 

IG this is what is called generation gaps. We better make sure that we touch base constantly with these Gen Z or we will really become boomers in their eyes. Wxbfywoxnhfoe... Hahahaha. 

Mummy Lim

White Sneakers

The white sneakers trend had been around for a while. Lil Shauna would love to buy a pair but I didn't allow. She already own so many pairs of sneakers and trainers and only get the chance to wear them during the weekends. 

After working from home for such a long time, I struggled with shoes whenever ad hoc occasions there are for me to go back to the office. These rare occasions are usually casual dressing and I don't see the need for high heels. After much thought, I decided that white sneakers, when paired properly, can actually look pretty decent.

Lil Shauna 赚到 and was super happy when I told her the news. Why? We have the same shoe size leh. Even before we got them, she already booked the shoes for Saturday. Which Saturday? EVERY Saturday. Hahaha. 

Though it was theoretically my shoes, I had let her made the choice. My only criteria is that it had to be mostly white and classy. She finally decided on this pair that was on 30% discount and cost us $63. Good buy! 

Lil Shauna had the honor to 开张. 

I reminded her time and again to take care and keep the shoes clean. Daddy Lim jokingly said that Lil Shauna should wear plastic bags over the shoes. Hoho. 

It is really tough to keep them clean. Bcos I tried to do so myself today; I wore the shoes to meet the girls for lunch.

Then met up with with Daddy Lim and the kids thereafter at Kallang Wave. It was so stressful. Lol. I had to remind everybody and anybody who walked too near to me to be careful. Muahahaha. 

Mummy Lim

Blind... Cannot Avoid

Lil Shauna's eyesight is greatly disparate between her both eyes. The last we checked in February 2021, 1 year after we switched to the Hoya lenses, her left was at 450 while her right was at 200 (it was L 375 and R 200 in February 2020). The Hoya lenses were doing their job for her right eye but not the left. The optician said that she probably has lazy eyes. He asked that she tried patching her right eye for 30 mins a day to train up her left eye muscle and to come back for review a month later. 

I didn't think that Lil Shauna would be disciplined. On the 1st day, I had reminded her. Then, to my pleasant surprise, she had set her alarm and consistently patched up her right eye for most evenings. I was hoping for good results. 

It had been 1.5 month since she started patching and it is time for review. On the way to the optical shop, Zaky started telling me that he thinks his eyesight has worsen too bcos his vision is blurred despite his glasses. This is the 2nd time that he has told me. Don't like that lah, their poor mother cannot take it. 

The verdict... still need to change glasses. Sob. There is a slight improvement on her left eye to 425 but that is still a 50 degrees difference from her current len. Cannot siam le. Interestingly, the optician said that her right eye can see just as clearly at 175 and suggested that we reduce to 175 since Hoya is myopic control lenses. Her asti went up (from duno what) to R 75, L 150. The optician advised Lil Shauna to watch her posture. 

We eventually decided to keep her right at 200 bcos the lenses are super expensive and I cannot take it if she comes back a few months later to tell me that she cannot see. We are $500 poorer! We bought 2 pairs at $470 each in February 2020. 

Busy choosing her big, black, round frame. All look the same to me. 

Other than the new glasses, we had to top up her contact lenses. Total damage (inclusive of glasses) - $665. I am so glad that I can claim $400 from my company insurance.

Now, how about Zaky? His eyesight suddenly improved after I clean his lenses at the optical shop. Zzzzzzz.... Seriously? The optician checked his eyes and assured that they didn't deteriorate. I can never understand how they can continue wearing their glasses and not clean them even when they are like stained and fingerprints filled. Zaky said that he cannot tell. Really? Anyway, I am just super glad that his eyesights didn't worsen. 

Mummy Lim

The Very Last One

I remembered Zaky growing his 1st tooth when he was very little and then the other little ones spout soon after. I remembered very clearly bcos I was breastfeeding him then and it is not fun when you have teeth sinking into your breasts. 

He is also the one with more oral problems including a baby root canal. Bcos he started growing teeth early, I think they also seem to drop off earlier. I had always thought that molars are not replaced; I don't remember dropping my molars. Only when Lil Shauna started dropping hers, I realised they do. Molars are like so huge and the thought that they dropped surprised me. I never keep any of Lil Shauna's molar. 

Zaky started dropping his by teeth a number of years back and then there was a long pause. I had thought that he was done. In recent years, his molars started dropping and then I thought that he was done again. Just last week, he said that another one was shaky. Huh? How come so many de? I was relieved when he confirmed that it was a baby tooth, the very last one. 

The shaky tooth irritated him for a week and he even bugged me to bring him to the dentist. This kind no need dentist lah. So he was constantly whinning and wiggling the tooth and finally! 

Look how tiny it is. This little one went to storage along with a few of the tiny ones that I had remembered to keep, including a few molars. 

With this, we have officially replaced the baby teeth and pls take care of the adult ones bcos not only the dentist is expensive, dental problems are very painful. I know bcos my cracked tooth is and is still sitting wrapped in the metal band, waiting for the next step. Not looking forward. 

Mummy Lim