Ice Skating 72

After the night's out, I was hoping that the kids wouldn't wake up so early and would allow me to sleep in. It wasn't too bad - 8.45am. Peace on earth.

Daddy Lim didn't have to work and took care of Zaky while we left for ice skating.

The practice wasn't too bad or my expectations weren't too high bcos I was in a half dead state. Lol. I no longer have to practice with the girl. I thought she jumped quite well during practice on the 1/3 ice until I asked her to do her loop jumps and she gave me half-hearted jumps. Zzzzzzzz.. no eye see.

Teacher Raymond worked on her footwork, as well as her spins. She last competed in FS2 and forward + backward spins are required in FS3, I think. Her stretch spins aren't too bad but she still couldn't relax her shoulders, affecting her spins. Her sit spins are horrible. Haha. I am mean but it was really quite funny.

The remaining time was spent on her jumps and they were horrible, much worse than what she did during self practice. I almost vomited blood.

Lil Shauna thought the class went ok though. Zzzzzzzz. I reminded her to put in effort and not waste the expensive lesson. I told her that her jumps were so much better during practice and she cannot progress on if she cannot showait Teacher Raymond what she can do.

Mummy Lim

Night Out after Many Moons

It must have something to do with age. Lol. In year 2016, we definitely went for our aunties' night less frequently than the year before. Fortunately, the young at heart Aunty SL would still jio for her bday. If it is me, I would probably just ask for a holiday. Hehe.

The venue - Hardrock Cafe. Seriously, I have only dined (maybe once, twice max) at Hardrock Cafe. Aunty SL was super serious and even recee to make sure that we would have a great night.

The plan - don't meet too early. We had enough experience to know that party doesn't start until midnight. Other than Aunty SL and Aunty SR, the rest of us have motherly duties to perform before we can make our escape too.

Now that the kids were older, it is alot easier for me. Lil Shauna was still awake when I left the house at 10.30pm. Zaky was tired and whiney. Just when I thought Daddy Lim could tuck the kids in, he insisted that mummy does so. Luckily, he was so exhausted and was asleep in minutes. I almost dozed off too. Old age lah.

The dress code- relaxed. I even wore my comfy shoes.

I had the luxury of time to take the MRT to Orchard; Aunty R and Aunty H were still stuck with active kids. Hohoho. And I was so glad to have my beloved MP3. The 50 mins journey didn't feel that bad. I was worried that I might lose my way at Orchard Road but fortunately not. Finally, Orchard road! I felt quite 山龟 actually. Haha.

I arrived at Hardrock at almost 11.30pm. Aunty SL and her other group of friends were already there. I met them 1 year ago at her last party celebration in Aqua Nova. Ooooo... 1 year already.

Hardrock was fairly empty and the dance floor looked exceptionally big bcos there wasn't much crowd. Lol. Nevertheless, when there is good companion, we create our own party, crowd or not.

It was initially awkward to be dancing in a dance floor with only that few people. However, the atmosphere warmed up quickly when you have like-minded crowd - "matured" people who just wanted to have fun and who cares what other people think.

I had fun, like the many times that we go partying. Haha.

Hardrock closes at 2am, which is so early as compared to the many other clubs now. Well, old people need to sleep early. Hehe.

We cabbed home and I arrived at 3am to home sweet home. After 1 corona and 2 hours of much needed botty shaking cardiovascular exercise, I am still very much alive.

Good night world, I have my motherly duties to perform the next day.

Mummy Lim

By Thursday

By Thursday, this is what we get. Muahahaha.

Sorry buddy, you don't have a choice. 

Mummy Lim

Something Fun

Our kids are so busy… OK, I made them busy. Roooaaarrr. Their weekdays are packed with school, student care and some enrichment classes so that we can offload the weekends. During the weekends, we will be busy with ice skating and TKD. Thus, we made it a point to do something “fun” every weekend. Fortunately, the kids’ definition of “fun” is really simple, down to a playdate or simply running around at the poolside with the neighbors’ kids.

Daddy Lim had to work late on Saturday and I was with 2 kids after class at 4pm. Without a car, a lot of stuff to lug and 2 kids, we decided that the something fun would simply be the rest of the evening at the poolside. Even dinner was tabao-ed from JP and consumed at the poolside.

The kids ran, scoot, kicked ball, played basketball and badminton with the usual clique. We only went home at 8pm with much of the kids’ protest. I was so tired by then but they were still bursting with energy. School week would have been a breeze if they can just transfer some of this endless energy over.

On Sunday, we went to church with one of Lil Shauna’s Sunday school friends. I happened to catch the mummy and made arrangement bcos Faith Methodist church would be closed for renovation and the new service and Sunday school would be held at ACJC. How many years had that been? I think I have never once gone back to ACJC after I graduated though we drove by so many times.

The walk from the MRT to ACJC brought back so many memories. It is now a sheltered walkway and huge buildings took the place of what used to be dense vegetation.

It was a hot morning but the kids had so much fun with the extra companion and were immensely captivated by the nature that pathed the way. I remembered how I used to enjoy the walk to school too in the early cool mornings. It was a great way to start church. I was very grateful for the companion too, having attended church alone for the last 5 years.

After church, Lil Shauna was sent off to the rink for extra practice with Zaky in tow. We didn't skate and I was glad bcos the rink was so super crowded.  Lil Shauna headed off to the 1/3 ice and she was distracted for a while by other skaters including one of her favorites – C. However, she managed to focus for a good 45 mins and worked hard. She is almost there for her scratch spin; she has to watch out for unbalanced shoulders that affected her spin/ balance.

Bcos I was observing Lil Shauna the whole time, I felt bad neglecting the little boy and made Mindcraft babysit him. Thankfully, H dropped by and helped entertained Zaky for a while, then the other Isaac gorgor was also in the rink for the last half hour, providing Zaky with more companion.

What happened next was a mad coordination. Daddy Lim knocked off and sent Zaky to my bro’s place for a tiny bit of fun before sending him for back-to-back TKD and sparring classes. Zaky didn't mind at all; he had such huge passion for the sports. Lil Shauna and I grabbed a cab to my bro’s place after off ice. It was Lil Shauna’s turn to have fun with the girls. Meanwhile, I played dead. Lol. Daddy Lim stayed with Zaky and only came back with him at 7pm, where Zaky gobbled down dinner to have more time with the rest.

We left and rushed home at 8pm to prep for the school day.

It was a mad rush but the kids totally didn't mind bcos it was for something “fun”.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 71

The magic is GONE!!!

I know it is my expectation or rather hope. I was hoping that being a brand new year, Lil Shauna would suddenly 长进 and worked hard like never before, be aware and correct her mistakes and then improve tremendously. In reality, that didn't happen. Zzzzz..

The rink was super crowded today, both the public skating area and the 1/3 ice. Being so ever timid, Lil Shauna spent more time avoiding people than actual skating, even on the 1/3 ice.

She didn't want me to go down to the ice. She put it so nicely that she was giving me a chance to rest but I think she just didn't want me on ice to drive her crazy. I wanted so much to not bug her but I really 看不下去, especially after the splendid performance that she showcased last Sunday. At times I found myself frustrated and speaking harshly at her. Haiz.

Her scratch spin improved and not at the same time. She couldn't straighten her spinning leg as much as last week but she body and hands are more in position. What she lacks now is definitely speed, which affects the number of revolutions she can spin... more hard work.

Teacher Raymond worked on her footwork. Then, corrected some movement for her jumps, for example, to close her hands while jumping, something that I had been nagging her about but she just doesn't remember. Arrggghhhh. Then taught her forward spin, then switching to backward spin and then to forward spin. I no eye see; she can't even handle proper 1 foot forward spin, let alone switch direction. Haiz.

I asked her how she felt after class and she said that it was bad. She said that the rink was simply too crowded. Why is it so crowded huh? Angry.

Mummy Lim

Week 2 of School

Finally, another week is coming to an end. I can see the kids jumping in joy. So far, nobody loves school or the student care. How come I am not surprised? Lol.

The kids are getting into the routine better though it gets harder and harder to wake the tiger up. This was him on Monday morning. He was still half-asleep while attempting to swallow his bfast.

It wasn't really that bad; Daddy Lim just caught him at a bad moment and angle, somemore throwing flash into his face.

He wasnt as exhausted in the evening as the 1st week, though bedtime is still slightly before 9pm.

He is a destroyer. He lost his homework file on the 1st day of school. He didnt know what I was talking about when I asked him about the missing file. *palm-face* On the 3rd day, he lost his pencil box. He did manage to find his pencil box the next day; his student care friend found it and kept it for him, together with the Stellar book that he had also forgotten. He didn't even realise that he lost his book. Zzzzz. On Monday of the 2nd week, he had a big hole in his shoes. Though they are hand me down, I still had expected it to last a little. He claimed that the hole was there since day 1. I am in disbelief.

Miraculously, the homework file that he lost appeared in his bag today. I hope it is not the case of him taking his classmate's file by mistake but a sign that things are getting better.

As for Lil Shauna, she is old bird already and took to school like a pro. Well, I never really have to worry much about her in the 1st place.

On days that they do not attend student care, I must say that I am super pleased that they do their homework during whatever free time that they have before enrichment lessons. Though it could be bcos of the threats that I put in place, reminding them of torture if homework is not done. Lol.

Sidetracking, somebody lost another front tooth today! Apparently, the tooth dropped when he was sinking his teeth into a piece of cake! This kind of cake cannot buy. Haha.

Second week almost down, ONLY 50 more weeks to go.

Mummy Lim

Spins Again and Again and Again....

It was a busy Sunday for Zaky. We went to church, he has Chinese makeup class in the pm and TKD class in the evening. Luckily Daddy Lim had an off day and could help to ferry us around. Lil Shauna only has Sunday school and I thought that we could go to the rink for some extra practices in the late afternoon since she has no lesson this week; the rink was closed for speed skating competition.

I didn't tell the girl until after church only to meet her huge protests. She said that she didn't want to go bcos mummy always pushes her so hard. Win already. Daddy Lim stepped in and asked if she is really still interested in ice skating, which comes with hard work and practices or she should just quit. She mumbled about still being interested and left it at that. After a while, she said that maybe she wanted to quit. It was my turn to go silent after reminding her of the friends that she had made, the good times that she had. My heart ached. Maybe it is really time.

Soon after, she changed her mind again and I am so glad that she is fickle-minded this time. All in the span of 10 mins, she went from not wanting to go for practice to wanting to quit and then back to wanting to go for practice. She said that she thought about her ice skating friends. Awwwww….

So we went. The rink was opened to public only at 3pm and it was freaky, crazily crowded. We lingered and did some window shopping, aiming for the 5.15pm session. Though late, it was better than a crowded rink. She went onto the ice for her warm up at about 4.45pm and I was constantly worried that some crazy fast amateur skaters in hockey boots would crash into her.

The rink was still crowded when the 5.15pm session started. I told Lil Shauna that she can practice whatever that she wanted on her own. I promised to not “push” her but she can look to me at the spectators stand to check if her positioning was correct.

I had this thing about her acting as if she is not listening and not trying hard enough. I could repeat 100 times for her to correct some actions but she will repeat the same mistake 200 times. It is equally frustrating for both of us. This time, she showed that she heard what I said during the last practice and concentrated on her one-foot spin; something that she needed to conquer before she can move on to her sit spin, even though Teacher Raymond had introduced her to that.

It was really between the spin and her. I told her that I can’t help her and she has to figure out what would help her to spin better and adapt accordingly. The 1st few spins didn't turn out well. I was prepared that she would run back soon and complained that she wanted to go home. Amazingly, that didn't happen and she kept spinning and spinning, working hard even when she didn't get success.

She did figure out that it helps if she does certain things; still things didn't go as well. I gave her some pointers from what I observed and she went back to spinning. She spun so much; I would have puked if I was her. I saw her paused many times, as if to mentally prepare herself for the next spin.

Then Jasper and Ruby came for practice and they were very aggressive, going really fast and pushing themselves very hard. Their sit spins were great! There were some other very good figure skaters on the ice. I saw Lil Shauna observing them and had a mini breakthrough. She managed to do somewhat of a scratch spin (oh, it is a scratch spin and not stretch spin). I was so 感动! Jumping up and down in joy on her behalf. She continued to drive herself hard and spent almost 2 hours practicing in the rink. I was so mega proud of her. She didn't totally get her scratch spin but made good progress and corrected an ill positioning that is equivalent to like months of work. I am only hoping that she remembered what she had done yday and the hard work she had put in.

After the practice, she even complained that she was perspiring, which is like super rare bcos she usually takes it easy. She said that her friends’ presence helped to motivate her to try harder; that she could conquer the spin like them. She also said that she prayed for courage and strength and that explained the pauses. Of course she is super proud of herself. I reminded her of the sweetness of success from her hard work and that she should have this kind of push, which will help her to improve tremendously.

I couldn't stop smiling and couldn't stop telling her how proud I am.

Mummy Lim

Bye Bye Heelys

This is the 1st pair of Heelys that we got for Lil Shauna. It was her 6th bday present  (I think). She definitely used it very nicely and it lasted her for coming to 3 years. With her heelys, we almost didn't have to buy her any other shoes. It was so extreme that we were out of shoe options for grand event like Auntie Eunice's wedding, where she was the flower girl.

They still fit, largely bcos the thick cushion has worn down. It was so durable that it is still wearable after 2 over years of constant use. There are some holes though but the girl still uses her Heelys. She has gotten so good in them and can do all kinds of tricks, from going backwards, spins to jumps, often incorporating what she learnt in ice skating. Super cool.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. We wore them to Christmas Wonderland and walked in them in the wet weather. Probably bcos they are so old, the bearing rusted and the wheels can't roll anymore. Zaky's new heelys didn't suffer the same fate.

We have decided to let her dear Heelys go. She wore her new shinny gold pair yday but complained that the new pair is so difficult and tiring to roll in bcos there is only 1 wheel. I guess it will take some time before I will see Lil Shauna fly in her Heelys again. Maybe they are just outgrowing Heelys.

Mummy Lim

1st Week of School

At the end of the school holidays, Lil Shauna said that she was slightly excited about school. She is in a new class but has some of her old classmates and also her Centris swimming class pal with her. Actually, she was simply excited about using all her new things. Lol. At the end of the 1st week, she still look good and just told me that she enjoys school. She said that her English teacher is super funny. Sounds really good.

Zaky is a totally different story. He wasn't concerned about new things. In fact, he inherited jiejie's old school bag, old textbooks and even her old school shoes. He couldn't care less. He is often a mess anyway. Lol.

School took a toll on the little boy who is not used to waking up that early. By the 2nd day, it was a chore to wake up. Bed time became earlier and earlier at his request. He was totally beat after his 1st encounter with the student care. He doesnt adore school and his reply to whatever that I asked him about school is always "I don't know". I am taking comfort that at least he doesn't hate school  and no tears are involved yet. Probably jiejie's presence helped.

Yday, Daddy Lim fetched them from the student care. He complained that he was dead beat.

When he reached home, he flopped on the floor and complained that his brain and eyes were painful. It wasn't pretense, school life must be too much for the little tiger and he was down with fever. Poor thing.

As a result, we had to postpone the Chinese enrichment class and he had a much needed rest. I was hoping so hard that it wouldn't be a viral fever.

Lil Shauna took advantage that it was Friday and only went to bed at 10pm. Zaky's fever went down after a dose of paracetamol but he was in bed soon after 8pm. Fever or not, student care is tiring.

Finally, we had conquered the 1st week of school and we have 51 weeks more. Haha. I hope it is a matter of getting used for Zaky. It was a short week and he didn't even attend Phonics and Chinese enrichment. I will pray very hard that Zaky will suddenly have a lot more energy next week. Haha.

Mummy Lim

1st Day of Student Care

Zaky went to the student care for the 1st time yday. It was a long break for Lil Shauna too bcos she asked to totally not attend student care during the holidays. Lol. The arrangement would still be 3 days a week and they would take the school bus home for classes on the other 2 days.

Zaky was anxious about student care. I was too, worrying that he would end up in the school bus instead. Popo said that she was on standby. I watsapp the student care to remind them early in the morning and again to check in the afternoon to make sure that things went fine. It did. Phew.

I had wanted to pick them earlier at 6pm but there was a traffic jam. The next pickup time is supposed to be at 6.30pm but the kids were already waiting at the gate when I arrived at 6.15pm and they were released. Daddy Lim had to work late and we took the bus home with much complaints from the kids.

Did the kids enjoy student care? Apparently not. Lol. Lil Shauna is seasoned already and though she didn't love it, she didn't complain too much about it except how Zaky drove her crazy. Zaky said that student care wasn't fun and they were made to do homework. That's the whole point little boy. 

Lil Shauna also said that there were so many P1 in the student care this year and the center was overcrowding. As a result, the P2 and P3 were housed in the classroom instead. It is fine actually except that the classrooms aren't air-conditioned and everybody loves air con. 

Zaky was exhausted. When I picked them, he said that he was so tired and asked if jiejie was tired from student care. Jiejie has always been hardier and survived way better than him. 

Dinner was waiting when we reached home. Nice. By the time we had dinner and showered, it was already 7.30pm. With homework done in the student care, it was TV and iPad time before the kids go to bed at 8.30pm. Yes, bedtime had been shifted earlier bcos Zaky had could barely last until 9pm and had trouble waking up in the morning.

Zaky didn't even lasted until 8.30pm. He asked to go to bed at 8.15pm and was soon asleep. Lil Shauna was still happily on the ipad until I rushed her to bed at 8.40pm. She too was in lala land by 9pm, leaving me just enough time to take a call at 9pm. 

The kids are heading to student care again today. I could hear Zaky moan. Lol. This morning, he was lugging his sleeping bag and slippers to the school and then student care. The P1 kids get a short nap in the pm. I hope it would help Zaky to survive the day better. At least Daddy Lim is picking up the kids today and they get to take the car home. Oh, Zaky has Chinese enrichment in the evening. I really hope he survives.

Mummy Lim