Ice Skating 38

I had been worrying about Lil Shauna's ice skating lesson. The past weeks had been lousy and misery. I was hoping that her new skates wouldn't give her problem - she's totally handicapped when her skates hurt her. How come her skates take so long to season? Sigh.

I prep talked her before we hit the ice and her waltz jump didn't look too bad. Maybe the off ice practice is helping. We proceeded to spins and was stopped by the rink crew. Apparently, there are some new rubbish management orders to stop skaters from spinning "too much" to prevent accidents. I don't know how much is too much. We were stopped anyway and the only solution is to continue practicing in the 1/3 ice reserved for classes. I bet the rink earns tons of money from skaters like Lil Shauna, yet there are so many constraints too. It is super irritating.

Things went downhill from there. Lil Shauna complained that her feet hurt and couldn't correct her mistake. I insisted that we would rest when she got it right. It got to a point that we were both frustrated and we stopped for a 15 mins break, right before class.

Surprisingly, her class turned out much better this time. I had told her to tell Teacher Raymond if her feet hurt too much and for a break to adjust her skates. There wasn't a need too. She appeared more interested during class and acknowledged Teacher Raymond's comments during class. She also managed to do a turn that she had problem with. At the end of the class, she was surprised that time passed so quickly. I told her it was bcos she enjoyed the class and shared with her what I noticed. Her feet do hurt but was bearable.

I don't know what did we do right this time. Is it bcos she was on better form? Or the 15 mins break works miracle? Did I get the right tightness on her skates this time? Or the in-sole and the double layer socks on that problematic foot helps? Maybe she is really getting used to the skates? Whatever it is, the next class is 2 weeks later due to CNY and I really hope And pray that the magic stays.

On a side note, we forgot her skates and left in the Nike shop. Those are new, expensive skates! I panic trying to recall if we left them on the bus. Luckily, we got them back. My heart cannot take these kinds of stress ah.

Mummy Lim

Off-ice Training

Two weeks back, Teacher Raymond asked if Lil Shauna is free on Sunday afternoon. I had thought that he wanted to shift her lessons to Sunday afternoon. It wasn't the case. He had asked if we are free to attend the off-ice training. I had heard about the off-ice training from C a long time back. She is a friendly teenager who is also learning figure skater but much more advance and had given me plenty of ice skating advices for Lil Shauna. Lil Shauna adores her too, though we seldom meet her in the rink now.

Off-ice training is to help the skaters grasp proper jumping technics so that they could replicate the technics back on ice. I don't know why Teacher Raymond would ask Lil Shauna to join now. Maybe it is the right time or maybe she’s getting all her jumps wrong on ice. Haha.

The off-ice training is not free. Teacher Raymond charges $20 each for an one-hour session. There were 3 other kids when we headed for the 1st off-ice training last Sunday. Teacher Raymond must have a very fat pocket.

The 3 other kids are probably about 6 to 10 years old. They were very chatty and very energetic and obviously attended the training previously. They knew exactly what they had to do. The training started with warm up and core exercises – stretches, tummy crunches, 2-feet and single foot jumps. These took up more than half of the session. Then, the kids went into figure skating jumps. 

It was obvious that Lil Shauna lacks the core muscle strength and stamina as compared to the rest. One girl had such obvious calf muscle and therefore powerful jumps. The other was super flexible and demonstrated fantastic spiral. Lil Shauna had none and was instead red-faced and panting, trying to catch up. Haha. 

While Lil Shauna sweat it out, Lil Isaac found a left behind paper areoplane and we had fun too. Next time, we will bring a Frisbee. Hehe. Daddy Lim brought him shopping and coffee after awhile. I would opt for shopping and coffee top if I have the choice... anytime.

At the end of the one-hour training, she was totally exhausted while the rest of the kids went skipping and hopping away. Teacher Raymond asked if Lil Shauna exercised and went on to tell her that her muscles might be sore the next day but no need for alarm. Lil Shauna also flopped after the training and obviously didn't want to do them anymore. I encouraged her, telling her that it would get much better as she build up her strength and stamina. The good news, she didn't get muscle ache after the training. Haha.

I think we have a lot of work to do at home. We did more jumps the every evening and it was actually quite enjoyable though just jumping around. On Monday, Lil Shauna practiced her spin using her skate spinner. Yday, we did some stretching. Hopefully, these would help and boost her confident and get her out of the drought and makes ice skating more enjoyable. 

By the way, there was a report on You Young in the newspaper some days back. The 11-YO Korean is the new ice skating prodigy who has won major international competition. She started ice skating at 6 YO in Singapore and Teacher Raymond coached her briefly then. I cut the newspaper article specifically to encourage Lil Shauna – same coach!

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/south-koreas-new-skate-star-recalls-her-singapore-roots

 She read the article, though unable to fully comprehend, but recognizes that You Young now train 7 hours a day. Yes, it all voice down to hard work, even the very talented ones.

Mummy Lim  

"New" Pickup Time

Since school starts, we never miss the school bus. I think it is a great achievement bcos it meant that we had been faithfully waking up on time.. ok, almost on time. The snooze button is just too tempting.

After more than 3 weeks, the bus had never arrive early and not even on time. It normally comes at 6.20ish am. That is more than 10 mins later than the designated pickup time. While there are some buses at the nearby pickup points waiting for kids, we are always waiting for the bus.

We were earlier than the pickup time in the 1st week. It was an awful long wait each morning and I was secretly cursing. Lil Shauna could have slept a little bit longer or I could have rush her less.

In the second week, we left the house only at 6.10am and leisurely strolled to the pickup point.  The additional time means less rushing and less stress. The other family with 3 kids always arrived before us. If one day, we arrived to find them missing, it would probably mean that the bus have left. Then we would send Lil Shauna to school. No big deal.

Last week and counting, we pushed our luck even more and left the house after 6.10am and still didn't miss the bus! This means 5 precious more mins snooze for the girl. The bus continues to come after 6.20am. I wonder why wouldn't they officially shift the pickup time if they are never on time. I think it is super irresponsible of the bus company but I am not intending to complain. Bcos I wouldn't want them to buck up. I rather stick to our "new" pickup time.

Mummy Lim

The 2nd Misses

It was Auntie S' bday. I shall not reveal how old she is and therefore I am. Lol. It was decided that we would head back to Velvet, Zouk, given how great our last trip had been.

We met only at 11pm. Party doesn't start until midnight anyway and we all had our errands to complete, kids to tuck into bed. Lil Shauna went to bed at 9ish after a long day. The boy didn't go to lala land until 10.15pm, followed by a mad rush to be on time.

Auntie H joined us this time! She couldn't take alcohol unless we wanted a drunk baby subsequently. She still turned up nevertheless to spend the precious night with us. Just when we met up, we were all complaining about how tired we were. What a way to start the night. Haha.

Velvet was seriously empty and we thought we were early. So we chit chat and took more pictures! The disco lights gave us extra effect.

The little crowd was much younger this time and I was disappointed that we looked like the most matured group. Auntie R joined us a while later and more pictures!

The crowd still didn't come in and the music was lousy too. We had a great time catching up though. We did peek at Zouk and Phuture. Those 2 were super crowded but the crowd was so super young. If I had married and gave birth early, those kids can be my children. No kidding, the crowd was that young.

So, we opted to stay in Velvet despite the almost no crowd. Uncle C's emergency call came at 1.10am and Auntie H had to leave to rescue him from Lollipop. Lol. We didn't stay too late too and left at 1.30am. We were all super willing to leave given how tired we were and the long Saturday ahead. Let's paint the town again the next time!

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 37

I realised that I missed blogging about Lil Shauna's last ice skating lesson. The reason is simple - it was insignificant. Yes, we are not out of the drought.

Yday's lesson was equally bad. As I looked at her uninterestingly move through her lesson, I wonder if it is time to call it quits. It had been weeks since she learnt something new in class. We have new skates, new skating attire but nothing seems to motivate her out of the plateau.  In fact, she had been complaining about her skates, it was pins and needles at the sole at one time and pain at the ankle at another. We took rest in between, adjusting the skates and I even ran off to buy her super expensive insoles from the skate shop before class but nothing seems to help much. I am not sure if the skates were too tight or loose. The trial and error hasn't produce concrete success. It is just downright irritating that the girl has zero pain tolerance. Just slight pain and discomfort and she would struggle through her class. I had suspected that her skates were giving her problems during class and irked me even more that she didn't dare tell Teacher Raymond so that she could adjust her skates a little.  I would rather that she wastes 5 mins of the precious (and very expensive) 30-min class to rest then to struggle through and waste the entire 30-min lesson.

During class, it was so painful to watch. She couldn't do her the jumps properly when they were learnt so long ago. Wasn't they ok just some time back? She had to do them over and over again and didn't correct the mistakes when pointed out. She just kept doing the same wring moves over and over again until Teacher Raymond gave up and move on to another something that she had learnt previously and the cycle repeats itself. Arrrrggghhhhhh.

After class, I sat her down and asked how we should proceed. In my heart, I was "slightly" ready to give up if she wanted to. I told her that it would be super wasted since she had put in so much effort for so long. She kept thinking that she is Figure 1 standard but I told her that she had very likely progressed beyond that. I also told her that she had to want to do it bcos there is only so much that mummy could push her. The conclusion?

She choose to stay on, to continue trying. This is so tiring and I hope we can get out of this drought soon. She will be joining Teacher Raymond's off ice training today. I hope it will help her to correct her bad habits. I have also started to help her to do her waltz jump properly off ice yday. I hope it would help. Fighting!

Oh, an encouraging note.  For her school weekly journal that she had done on Friday, she was asked to compete "I am proud of myself for..." and she wrote "knowing how to figure skate".

Mummy Lim

Bathroom Skating

Long, long time ago, before soap bar was replaced by shower foam, have you tried lathering the entire bathroom floor, transforming it instantly into a skating rink? I did! And had plenty of fun attempting to skate.

Many years later, the kids found the same joy. We often found them taking a long time in the bathroom only to realise how soapy the floor was thereafter.  Aha, they have inherited my genes. At least it is much easier and convenient to soap the floor now with shower foam. Hehe.

Just yday, I found out that the kids had progressed! They found the improved version - hair conditioner, how it makes the floor much more slippery as compared to shower foam. The new bottle of hair condition suddenly felt so much lighter! Arrggghhh kids! 

Mummy Lim

I Could Kill Somebody

I had thought that the 2nd week of the new year would end great. I mean, we survived church and Lil Isaac seemed to have enjoyed Sunday class. Wrong!

Everything proceeded nicely and I had suggested sushi for dinner before we head home for some homework and prepare for the next school day. The kids love sushi. It made going home after dinner looked less daunting. 

We wanted to go to the Japanese place in the sports complex beside our home only to find that the place had closed down. I like that place even though the food wasn't fantastic or cheap as it was usually not crowded. No wonder it had closed down. Haha. We struggled over the alternatives and decided to head to JP for Ichiban despite the possible dinner crowd; Daddy Lim wanted to get a pair of slippers. On the way to JP, we asked the kids if they would opt for something else given the wide choices. Lil Shauna said that she’s OK while Lil Isaac insisted on sushi. We agreed that we would stick to sushi then.

Just when we stepped into JP2, Lil Isaac spotted Swensen and changed his mind and wanted Swensen instead. Then, it was strangely Lil Shauna’s turn to insist on sushi when she didn't have a preference just minutes ago. We didn't want to shortchange jiejie and the boy started crying when he couldn't have his way. Oh gosh, didn't we just have a similar episode 1 week back?!!? 

The crying continued while we were q-ing for the sushi. It was a long q and so we asked Lil Shauna again if we could have something else. We suggested Swensen and the boy hushed at the possibility to have his way. Lil Shauna agreed to alternatives but insisted that she didn't want Swensen but Chinese food! My kids aren’t Chinese food people and it was freaking obvious that she simply didn't want to give in to her brother’s request. The boy started wailing again upon hearing that it wasn't Swensen.

Obviously we aren’t that patient people. Daddy Lim threatened that we will not have dinner since the kids refused to compromise. Lil Isaac’s tantrum continued and was dragged into the car. I had to yell at him in the car and reminded that he wouldn't get his way with tantrum or crying. He only hushed when I threatened to cane him if he doesn't stop. Lil Shauna got an earful from me too. She kept quiet knowing that she was in trouble too.

Back home, the boy started crying when Popo asked why we came back without dinner. Arrgghhhhh.. Fortunately, the crying didn't last very long. After they had settled down, Lil Isaac asked for food. Upon hearing that Popo was making instant noodles, Lil Shauna sheepishly came by and asked for some too. Sometimes, I wonder what goes through their little mind. They rather fight and go home to instant noodles when good food was offered to them in the 1st place. Angry.

Lil Isaac appeared to be going through a difficult phase. He cannot take no for an answer, which still lands him at ground zero after his mega tantrum and getting everybody upset. He is like reduced to toddler age. The soft approach used to work but less effectively now. I hope he remembers that we wouldn't give in to his tantrum. He only ends up pissing everybody off. It is such a tiring stage. I didn't pray to be more patient recently leh. Lol.

Mummy Lim

Ending Week 2

Week 2 ended great. Lil Shauna is getting used to sleeping at 9pm and waking up at 5.45am. Lil Isaac is slowly catching up with the homework train and it gets a little tiny bit better when it comes to practicing phonics. He better speed up bcos his school spelling and ting xie are coming onboard.

Church went well for Lil Isaac too. Probably bcos he still remembered last week's drama and I spent a lot more time reminding him before church. It was a bonus that the very interesting auntie was telling the bible story this week. Yeah!

Of course we had something interesting to do during the weekend after all the hard work. Boo invited us to her 7th bday party at ECP and the kids had a blast with laser tag!

When there are good companion, whatever that they do will be great, even the frisbee, ball game or even just running around in the field after the laser tag game.

Time is flying by when we are all so busy.

Mummy Lim

OCD Triggered

I was on half day leave yday to babysit Lil Isaac while Popo went for her medical appointment.

The boy was definitely happy to see mummy at home the moment he woke up. I was hoping that he would want to just watch TV together. Haha. Instead, he opted to continue with the lego model that we had started the night before. 

We have almost ¾ ikea container of lego. That is a lot given how small the pieces are. They are combinations of the many different sets that we bought and received as gifts. After the initial put together, they are usually torn down and kept together. Now that the kids are older, they would quite frequently take them out to rebuild them again. We keep all the instruction booklets. Lil Shauna usually prefers to just build according to her imagination. I love lego play as well and can keep the kids entertained for a long time.

Lil Isaac’s concept of lego play is for mummy to find him the required pieces and for him to put them together. Most of the time, we use any same size pieces regardless of colors. The common shapes are ok but it is mad crazy to try find that unique one piece or 2 in that sea of lego. It gets even craziwe when you realized that you cannot continue the building bcos that unique 1 piece cannot be found. I always ended up with a backache or eye strain. Old already lah.

So, on that morning, we poured the lego pieces onto the floor and got down to our roles. At some point, my OCD kicked in and I started wondering if I should start to sort and keep the pieces base on colors. Then it would make it so much easier to find pieces for future play. Smart right?

I didn't do it eventually. Bcos the OCD in me cannot agree if I should sort according to colors or shapes! Or maybe both colors and shapes! No lah. I was too lazy. The boy was hungry and we stopped the lego play for bfast and TV watching. Yeah!

Mummy Lim

Mummy's Guilty Trap

The week ended almost great. Lil Isaac willingly went for the Maths class bcos he will be in the same class as jiejie. No sweat. There was some rushing to get the kids ready for class though. We had to drag them out of the bed at 8am and still ended up 5 mins late for class.

I chilled over a coffee and a long overdue book while the kids were in class. Though most of the shops were closed, I was happy to just read and stoned. Church followed and the kids were hurried off straight from school to church. Then the problem started.

Lil Shauna is an angel. I love how independent she is despite the fact that she is always so shy. Lil Isaac promised that I could leave after 3 worship songs. Deal! The Korea holiday and lack of Sunday school last week did whack some havoc to our usual Sunday school routine. 

At the start of the 1st song, he started to negotiate for 5 songs, which I agreed after his plenty of whining. Then it got worse. He got clingy! He refused to join the rest of the kids and started sitting on my lap. Hello, none of the 6 YOs have their parents in the room and there I was, with a big boy on my lap. And mind you, the 6YOs are the oldest in the class. Then he started insisting that I stayed in the class with him throughout. When I refused and tried to pacify him and buy my way out, he started sobbing. We were to head to ECP to cycle with the 3Fs in the afternoon and I attempted to use that as a bargaining chip. It failed miserably. I ended up with a sobbing boy who insisted that mummy stays AND for him to go cycling. Arrrgghhh..

I finally gave in (super unwillingly) to stay but on 1 condition that he joins the rest of the kids in front. He refused and instead sit facing me, not the front. I lost my cool. The sobbing boy got dragged out (almost) of the class. I told him that we were heading home and as a punishment, he will not be joining the cycling in the afternoon. He was upset (about the cycling) and I was upset with everything. 

We hid at the open space on the 3rd floor. He was still sobbing and I was still very angry. We were stranded. Daddy Lim was at work. Lil Shauna was still in her class that wouldn't end until a good 30 mins later. It was one of those few occasions that I hoped I had help. Lil Shauna got fished out from her class earlier and we headed home. I was actually feeling very embarrassed and wanted to leave the church compound ASAP. Popo was on the way to meet us bcos she was supposed to join us for the afternoon activities. We saw her at the station and were about to take the MRT home when Lil Isaac started crying again bcos Popo tried to plead for the cycling on his behalf and he heard me say no. We had to exit the station and took the taxi home instead. Arrggghhh…

Daddy Lim then knocked off from work and it was decided that he would pick Popo and Lil Shauna for lunch and cycling while I stay home with the boy to “honor” the punishment. Interestingly, the boy had calmed down by the time we reached home and he was no longer upset that he was going to stay home WITH MUMMY. We had instant noodles for lunch and that was like a reward to him. Faint. He was happily chatting with me over lunch, telling me that there are plenty of things we can do at home and even asked me what are my favorite things to do at home. Faint! That was when I started to reflect over what had happened.

I wouldn't have much qualms staying in the room with him but I think I am reacting to pressure from the Sunday school co-teachers. It is true that he should learn to be independent and I should be in the attending the service. However, I think I was in a rush to drop him bcos I was pressured. There is a particular one who mocked (maybe too strong a word) whenever she sees me in the room with Lil Isaac. She thinks that I am overprotective. It is not that I have not let Lil Isaac cried it out during Sunday school but I was told on several occasions that he wouldn't stop. I am not sure if I should let him cry and disturb the rest of the class, or what? It is healthy for him to then get mocked for crying bcos he is 6yo and still wnats his mummy? So am I being considerate or not by staying in the class? 

Then I started wondering if he was too tired or too hungry and therefore the tantrum. Before we took the lift home, he pitifully asked if I could buy him bread for lunch. Then, he finished the entire pack of instant noodles. Unfortunately, we don't have a better time for Maths class. Or maybe I didn't prepare him enough for church given that Sunday school is not the most fun thing to do in his schedule. Or he felt neglected this week bcos we were all very focused on Lil Shauna. Whatever little time that we had left in the evenings were largely used for homework. The more I thought about it, the guiltier I felt. Then, Daddy Lim texted me to plead for him to go cycling. I caved in. Zzzzzz…

They picked us up after they had lunch and now it was Lil Shauna’s turn to be upset. She felt that it was totally unfair for the punishment to be lifted and she too thought that Maggie mee for lunch was more like a reward than punishment. What the… So, again to cover the guilt (now towards the girl), Lil Shauna got rewarded instead; she bought a new lego set. She chose one that cost over $30. Ouch! Lil Isaac did fuss a little but took it when I reminded about his bad behavior earlier. 

I hope things will get better this week. Lil Isaac promised that he can be on his own for church this coming week. I also reminded him that he doesnt get his way by throwing a tantrum and I would carry out my threat... well, almost... Let’s see. 

Mummy Lim

End of the 1st Week

Woohoo! I want to throw my arms in the air and scream with joy. I want to do cartwheels! Yes, we are alive. We survived the 1st week of school!

The school bus was about 15 mins late for all 5 days and there isn't anything much that we can do about it. We caught the school bus every morning and Lil Shauna remembered exactly which day to go to the student care and which day to go to home via the school bus. On Friday, she completed some of her homework in the student care. I am super happy that she doesn't hate the student care.

Bed time for Lil Shauna is officially 9pm, which she abides bcos she is so near to collapsing by then. It gets tougher to wake her up as the week goes by. On Thursday morning, she exclaimed that she would want to sleep into the afternoon on Saturday and on Friday, she pitifully said that she was so sleepy. Poor thing.

Now that finally the weekend is here, it is also flying by so quickly. They have their Chinese and phonics classes on weekdays, where Popo will help to ferry. Ice skating and TKD remains on Saturday and they are having their Maths class before church now. Maths was supposed to be on Friday evening from 7pm to 9pm in my attempt to shift enrichment classes out of weekends, but we changed it last minute. Lil Shauna didn't look that she would survive the class very well and Friday evenings are usually reserved for Lil Isaac's school homework.

It was indeed the right choice. This was what I came home to on Friday night.

Most of these are Lil Isaac's. His school is super fond of giving homework only on Friday and plenty of them. The school probably assumed that the kids (and parents) had plenty of time to do homework during the weekend. But we want to have fun during weekend! Not homework! So we spent almost an hour chewing these on Friday evening. The homework are not difficult (I think), but the boy was so distracted and took an awful long time, in between he of course tried to whine and negotiate his way out. Fat hope.

While I am celebrating the victory of surviving the 1st week, tomorrow is the start of the 2nd week. Why like that? What happened to the weekend? But we did do something fun. We had a playdate with Boo yday evening and will be meeting the 3Fs this afternoon.

Oh, on Saturday morning, Lil Shauna woke up at 9am and asked if it was the afternoon already. So she didn't sleep into the afternoon eventually. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Adapting to Student Care

Lil Shauna seems to have adapted fairly well to the student care. I think it is still fun time since homework and whatever enrichment work has yet to set in. She got to play games at student care on Tuesday.  

She has 2 other classmates in the student care and she also knows a few of the other P2 kids. Additionally, the center only has P1 and P2 kids now. It is good that it is not overwhelming for her, that she has friends and is not lonely. Now, I think it is a good decision to send her to student care only when she is in P2. God must be in charge. To think that I was lamenting about her in the afternoon session last year! I hope she will prepare the way for Lil Isaac, who will join her in the student care next year.

She appeared to be less tired when we picked her up from the student care on Tuesday evening but still went to bed at 9pm. This shall be our new bedtime. While she spent a little time watching TV and then Daddy Lim tucked her to bed, I was struggling with the little boy on phonics. We spent 1 freaking hour going over the sight words and revising the spelling. There were tears of course and I vomited buckets of blood. Hopefully, things will start getting better and soon. 

The student care is thoughtful and set up a whatsapp group chat for the mummies for communication. I am impressed with their promptness in pushing information to the parents. Just yday morning, the student care sent us pictures of the students as well as how the center looks like. 

It didn't look too big but bright, clean and cheery and feels much better than most of the basement student care centers that Daddy Lim and I had visited.

Oh, they also took the initiative to make improvement. I emailed to feedback on a more conducive waiting area for the kids and pn Tuesday, the parents were allowed into the canteen to wait for their kids. All the parents were on time but I assumed that kids could continue to wait in the canteen for parents who turn up late, instead of pathetically beside the gate. I have good vibes about the student care.

Yday was also the 1st day that Lil Shauna takes the school bus home after school. She has Chinese enrichment to attend. I was worried that she would miss the class but P2 is a big girl already. She managed fine. When we picked the kids in the evening, Lil Shauna said that she prefers the school bus bcos she didn't have to stay so long in school. Awwww...  I just heard the song on radio says "you can't always get what you want..." from rolling song.

A separate point, a colleague asked how old are our kids a couple of days ago and I said turning 6 and 8. Oh gosh, they are so old already!

Mummy Lim

1st Day of School

It had been a long break from routine - 1st the Korea holiday and then almost all the enrichment centers stopped their classes until the new year. Lil Shauna had completed all her enrichment classes homework leaving us to struggle with the little boy on phonics.

We had been trying to kick start the routine the last few nights with a lot of resistance from the boy. When it was homework time, he will instantly become very tired but all traces of tiredness will magically leave him the moment I declared that homework time is over. It reminded me so much of Superman and kryptonite. It didn't help that jiejie didn't have homework to do. To him, it is not bcos jiejie is hardworking but simply not fair.

The last few nights had been bad, I had to stand my ground while he threw a fit and cried for a good 10 to 15 mins. Fortunately, he recognised that crying wouldn't get him of the situation. He got the reading and spelling down in less than 15 mins when he finally decided that he was ready to attempt. I am secretly amazed at my tolerance.

There were some last minute “trying to get ready for school” on Sunday night. The tablets were hidden. The kids were then packed off to bed at 9.15pm bcos Lil Shauna had to wake up at unearthly 5.45am to be in time for the school bus. The pick-up time is at 6.10am and we are to be at the pick-up point 5 minutes earlier. Based on the previous experiences, the school bus does not wait even if it arrives earlier than the official pick-up time and it is absolutely Ok for the school bus to be late.

Lil Shauna must had experienced some 1st day school jitters. She couldn't sleep and asked a few times what time it was. She finally dozed off at almost 10pm. I am quite sure bedtime will be earlier thereafter. I would be tired too to have to wake up at 5.45am every morning.

We all slightly overslept on Monday morning and it was a mad rush trying to get everybody ready and out of the house in under 20 mins. Daddy Lim had to help dress Lil Shauna while I applied make-up and changed. I was tying her hair and then helping her to wear her shoes while she chewed sleepily on her bfast. We arrived at the pickup point at 6.03am. There were no other WG kids and I cannot tell if there were no other kids taking the bus or the bus had left despite us being super early. Finally, another mummy with 3 kids joined us and we waited. And waited and waited. The bus only arrived at 6.25am. It was bloody 15 mins late. I was upset. Lil Shauna could have gotten another 15 mins of snooze! How precious are another 5 – 10 mins of sleep at 5.45am in the morning! Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do about it.

The new school day also marks Lil Shauna 1st day at the student care center. I was assured that the teacher will point the kids to the center after school. Parents are allowed to pick the students from the student care at any time of the day. The official pick up time is at 6.30pm and the latest is at 7pm. The teachers will stay with the kids whose parents come after 6.30pm to 7pm. The school closes at 6.55pm and the last 5 mins will be spent waiting outside of the school compound. Not perfect but sounded like a plan.

To be sure that we are on time to pick Lil Shauna yday, I left office on time. I was early but intentionally waited until 6.30pm to see how dismissal looks like. I saw some parents picking their kids while I waited. Then at 6.30pm, I saw 2 student care teachers bringing the remaining about 10 students to the gate. Most of the parents had arrived except for a boy's parents. I was glad that I was on time for Lil Shauna, especially when it is the 1st day of her student care. The boy was then asked to sit beside the gate as they continued to wait for his parents. Then they shifted to the bus stop when the school gate closed. We were waiting for Daddy Lim to pick us at the same bus stop and he came at about the same time as the boy’s mummy. The teachers were with the boy the whole time and they were assuring but I was very surprised that the kids didn't have a proper waiting area. Being the last few to be picked up is already so sad and the pathetic waiting area just made it sadder for the kids. I made a mental note to try to pick Lil Shauna earlier if possible in the future and to feedback to the student care.

Lil Shauna was visibly tried by the time we picked her. It had been a super long day for her. I asked about her day it seemed pretty alright. She took too much time for dinner and there wasn't much time left after dinner. In the future, at least I am assured that homework had been done in the student care. Popo also said that Lil Isaac did well for the 1st school day too. He didn't drive Popo crazy before or after school. He didn't cry in school. We reminded him that he is now in K2. His teacher also rewarded him with a sweet for good behavior. I am impressed with the last point. Lol.

Lil Shauna flopped on the bed by 9pm while I was still struggling with Lil Isaac on phonics. He was reading so painfully slow, stopping at every single word and getting distracted every few words. Ouch! I tucked Lil Shauna to bed shortly after 9pm and sleep was very easy. We got to spend some one-to-one time with the little boy after jiejie went to bed. School must be super tiring for the kids bcos the boy asked to go to bed at 9.45pm too and it was equally easy to tuck him to bed.

This morning, we made a slight adjustment. There was lesser of a rush and we only left the house at 6.05am. The bus still came late at 6.25am. Arrrggghhhh! We also agreed that if we were to miss the bus on any days, we will simply drive Lil Shauna to school. School is only less than 10 mins drive away. We could actually send her everyday. It is just that Lil Shauna didn't appreciate arriving at the school so early in the morning.

We also agree that it actually makes more sense for me to take the car to work on most days. Yes, I finally agreed after being in denial for so long. I could easily drive to pick Lil Shauna and back to pick Daddy Lim. Otherwise, it was be a constant stress for Daddy Lim to leave at 6.30pm, to pick me and be on time at 7pm for Lil Shauna.  Training will start officially this weekend. I will start getting used to driving. Zzzzz. I hope the week gets easier as we get used to the new routine.

Mummy Lim

Last Busy Weekend Before School Starts

The Korea holiday is over and so is the school holidays. School starts tomorrow and holiday mood has to be put aside. The enrichment classes as well as homework would start again and it would take us a little time to ease into the new routine. Lil Shauna would be in the morning session and would go to an after school student care center on most days. As for the adults, I had been trying to psycho myself to gear up for the new year of work. May the new year be a better year, though 2015 hasn't been that bad either.

We had a super busy weekend, filled with activities. Maybe unconsciously, I was trying to make the best use of the last weekend with the kids.

On New Year's Eve, I brought the kids to USS. Oh boy it was crowded. Daddy Lim joined us later in the afternoon and we survived very well before he joined us. It would have been better if it wasn't that crowded. It is still very Christmasy mood in USS.

I also found the USS water bottle that ah yee bought many moons back. It entitled us to $2 soft drinks refilled. I almost threw it away some time back during one of the impulsive house keeping sessions. Haha. Bcos of this bottle, we ended up drinking so much coke. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea.

There was a countdown party at USS but we didn't stay. We were already half dead by 8pm. We all slept through to the new year. It is a cycle - every New Year's day, I see the exciting countdown that everybody else had and posted on fb, I am then spurred to have an exciting one the following New Year's Eve. However, when the New Year's Eve finally arrived, I would be half dead by evening and yearned for the bed more than anything else. Lol. My heart is 18 YO, but my body is unfortunately double the age.

At least I bothered to do something on New Year's Day. Daddy Lim was on afternoon duty at work. I dated Auntie S and Auntie J for indoor playground fun. The kids proved to be too old and started getting bored after 1ish hour play despite having companion. We moved the fun outdoor and continued with cycling and scooting at the Labrador park. Auntie H came and joined us too.

Uncle YJ even along brought his fishing rod and the kids were so excited even though he only caught seaweed. Hehe. Looked at his attentive students while he gave the basic 101 about fishing.

On Saturday, we busied ourselves with the lessons and waited for Daddy Lim to fetch us after his work.  He then suggested rock climbing. I was actually skeptical bcos I personally dislike rock climbing. Haha. But the kids were so excited. Lil Shauna said that she is very good with the rock climbing in the indoor playgrounds.

The rock climbing was at the Kallang Wave Mall and it is freaking expensive. It cost us $60 for unlimited hours of climbing for 2 kids. Only 1 adult is allowed into the compound to supervise the kids and Daddy Lim, who suggested the activity, had the privilege to man the kids. I happily watched them from the 1st floor.

They proceeded to try the practice wall after the safety briefing.

The walls come in different level of difficulty. The idea is to use the same colour steps/ aids (what do you call them?) to climb up the wall. Some of the walls are really difficult. Not only are the steps/ aids super small but super far apart. I don't even imagine how the fingers can grip those small little protruding things! Still, there were so many experts zip zapping up the walls like they are spiders!

I had thought that Lil Isaac would do better. He is afterall super monkey, climbing and jumping around everyday. He attempted the wall and gave up midway.

Surprisingly, Lil Shauna was much better and even made it to the top of the wall on her 2nd attempt.

I bet it was tiring.  The kids were complaining of painful fingers when they stopped for dinner. They went back for a few more final climbs after dinner. Lil Isaac improved after a full tummy. Hehe. So did the kids enjoy? Of course they did. It was a wonderful experience but they said that they didn't want to do it again. Lol.

Today, there was no Sunday school and Daddy Lim was enjoying his one in a million off day! Woohoo! We headed back to the USS bcos it was so crowded on New Year's Eve and we promised that we would bring the kids back on early Sunday morning so that we could ride the interesting rides without the dreadful q. There were still some queuing to be done but so much shorter. The park wasnt crowded and the weather was perfect - it was cloudy and cool. We had so many fun rides and I even took my 1st Mummy ride with Lil Shauna! Lil Isaac didn't meet the height requirement but didn't insist to ride too. He knew that it was a scary ride. Haha.

We also enjoyed the hourly "snow" bcos we didn't get to do too much of that in Korea. Haha.

And that, we spent a lot of time sipping coffee and people watching. It is wonderful when the park isn't crowded.

We left the park at almost 4pm. The kids of course didmt want to leave but we had to meet my brother's family for dinner. It was definitely a wonderful and busy long weekend. Fighting for the new year!

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 35

It was a cold rainy morning, the perfect weather for sleeping in, which was what Lil Isaac did. This worked perfect for us. We left the house while he was still in bed and it was already later than usual. I didn't have to hear Popo grumbles.

I would love Lil Shauna to do her class in her new skates but brought along her old skates just in case. I had suspected that she would do fine, she did fine when we went to run in her skates last week.

As expected, she did better in her skates today as compared to last week. However, she needed a break in between to rest her poor feet. We spent a lot of time taking off, wearing and tightening her skates. They take so much more time to wear as compared to her old skates.

She proceeded for her class in her new skates and was fine. I was worried that her feet would hurt badly. I told her that she had to tell Teacher Raymond if her feet were too painful and she could change into her old skates. I was standing by. She didn't but just endured. Zzzzz. Teacher Raymond knew that she needed time to get used to her new skates too and didn't teach her anything fanciful but revised the old moves.

At the end of the lesson, Teacher Raymond said that he had taught Lil Shauna for a year but rarely hear her speak. It is interesting how Lil Shauna would hug Teacher Raymond before class but just wouldn't speak. She maintained that she is too shy. He also commented that the new skates gave her more support. I agreed too. Some of the moves that she used to have difficulty seems easier now. We just have to keep running in the skates and make her use them to their full potential. Yeah, we don't have to lug 2 pair of skates for future lessons!

By the end of the lessons, her feet were indeed sore and she couldn't wait to take off her skates. Jia you! Fighting!

Mummy Lim