Why are weekends always so busy!
I remember weekends being a time to relax. Read the newspapers, have a lazy brunch. Catch a movie and stay up late Friday and/or Saturday night. Recharge for the new week ahead.
Now it seems like its merely a continuation of the weekday. Except busier.
We wake at the same ungodly hour ( why do kids not sleep in till 8 am on weekends??!!)
They still need breakfast quite soon after waking. ( means I still have to fuss around the kitchen getting it ready )
Once breakfast is done it seems the day just zips by.
This past weekend we were invited to the neighbours house for lunch and dinner. It was so nice to have a combined food effort. Plus company. It's like socializing for kids and adults all at once. And we didn't have to leave them at home and feel guilty about it.
There were crazy rain and thunderstorms both afternoons of this weekend so the kids didn't get to do their weekend twice daily swims.
A neighbour, E, took us to an indoor playgym called Royce at Liang Court. I'm generally not a big fan of indoor playgrounds so my kids don't get to go to these places. It wasn't too bad, basically a large room with every toy imaginable. The kids had a good time for an hour. It's a good alternative when outdoors isn't really an option. ( E and myself were quite bored though... Don't know why they don't think of having a cafe within the play area itself )
Friday night Chris had his post-exam 'thank you' dinner for his Surgery department at a restaurant called Suburbia at Sentosa.
Actually I was not that keen on going.. but I thought.. I really should... 1. am becoming too house/kid bound 2. it's his celebration dinner 3. Should not become dowdy ol wife who doesn't attend social functions.
It's just that when you have 2 large groups of doctors from the same department, it's IMPOSSIBLE for them not to talk shop. Which of course happened. And you feel really dumb sitting there trying to understand what or who they are talking about.
Still... I went.. and it wasn't too bad...
This weekend is a long weekend, and I'm off to Nepal!!
Monday, October 22, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Lantern festival weekend, Mission trip for Chris
The past week was good and bad.
Bad because Chris left for a surgical mission trip to Myanmar early Wednesday morning.
I took him and Pa to the airport at 6am Wednesday morning. I actually got a little depressed thinking of the looming week where I had to sort everything out kid related by myself. And co-ordinate going over to meet the rest of the family...
Then that set me off thinking about our plans for next year...
This was just 5 days single parenting.
Next year Chris' boss wants him to go to Germany for an entire year.
Obviously the choices are whether to take the kids and go or to stay here.
I started looking up about expatriate life in Germany and frankly it doesn't really sound fun. That and the cost of having all of us in a European country would send our living costs up. Not forgetting the loss of one income. And what about Mandarin, music lessons, swim and tennis lessons? And of course, Warni? And least but not all, the clinic?
So obviously the answer is to stay here and let Chris go by himself. He could easily travel within Europe to various centres to train if he had to, rather than be bogged down by all of us.
The Good part of the weekend? ( Sans husband )
We had 2 lantern festival parties!
One with the neighbours on Saturday, and the other at C's place on Sunday.
Both were great.
Saturday's party had all the neighbours contribute to a potluck and there was so much food and wine!
It was really nice that the kids ran around, swam and raided each other's houses, while the adults were able to sit down to a relaxed meal by the poolside. And when anyone was done they just said goodbye and went upstairs! The conversation centred around the recent Cecilia Sue case, why that was so no one knew... guy thing??
Sunday morning the kids were at the pool again. I think Madison was in the water for over 2 hours! It's like an endless resort holiday for them. In the evening we had another potluck dinner at C's place with her 3 boys. C's mother was so kind to brew tea and cut moon cake up for us too. The kids got to play with sparklers.. I think the adults spent more time being paranoid about them burning themselves or the house down than enjoying the moment.
Chris got back safely late Sunday night. The kids were all asleep by the time he got home. I think he missed them quite a bit!
Bad because Chris left for a surgical mission trip to Myanmar early Wednesday morning.
I took him and Pa to the airport at 6am Wednesday morning. I actually got a little depressed thinking of the looming week where I had to sort everything out kid related by myself. And co-ordinate going over to meet the rest of the family...
Then that set me off thinking about our plans for next year...
This was just 5 days single parenting.
Next year Chris' boss wants him to go to Germany for an entire year.
Obviously the choices are whether to take the kids and go or to stay here.
I started looking up about expatriate life in Germany and frankly it doesn't really sound fun. That and the cost of having all of us in a European country would send our living costs up. Not forgetting the loss of one income. And what about Mandarin, music lessons, swim and tennis lessons? And of course, Warni? And least but not all, the clinic?
So obviously the answer is to stay here and let Chris go by himself. He could easily travel within Europe to various centres to train if he had to, rather than be bogged down by all of us.
The Good part of the weekend? ( Sans husband )
We had 2 lantern festival parties!
One with the neighbours on Saturday, and the other at C's place on Sunday.
Both were great.
Saturday's party had all the neighbours contribute to a potluck and there was so much food and wine!
It was really nice that the kids ran around, swam and raided each other's houses, while the adults were able to sit down to a relaxed meal by the poolside. And when anyone was done they just said goodbye and went upstairs! The conversation centred around the recent Cecilia Sue case, why that was so no one knew... guy thing??
Sunday morning the kids were at the pool again. I think Madison was in the water for over 2 hours! It's like an endless resort holiday for them. In the evening we had another potluck dinner at C's place with her 3 boys. C's mother was so kind to brew tea and cut moon cake up for us too. The kids got to play with sparklers.. I think the adults spent more time being paranoid about them burning themselves or the house down than enjoying the moment.
Chris got back safely late Sunday night. The kids were all asleep by the time he got home. I think he missed them quite a bit!
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Montebleu weekend
We spent the entire weekend with our neighbours!
Saturday was literally non stop.
Wake, breakfast.
Music class for Annika
Tennis for Madison ( which eventually got cancelled because the teachers were busy or something )
I had to work.
Then it was lunch for the kids.
Chris went for a swim and the kids went swimming.
Nap for Annika, while Madison and Lynn watched videos.
After nap time it was off to Bishan Park with 12 kids from 6 different families in our block!
We packed a picnic to share. The kids got to run around, fight and have dinner.
I think the kids had fun! The only trouble we had was parking. That was horrendous.
We finished at 730pm, just as it got dark. Getting home was easy, because we all live in the same block.
Sunday we had a potluck dinner by the poolside. Prior to that the kids were in the pool swimming and splashing around.
Having your friends live in the same block makes it so easy. The adults get to eat/drink while the kids play together... the convenience of having the house just right there is hard to beat.
But of course the downside is that when we spend the weekend with the neighbours we don't see the family as much.. the kids are really lucky to have this choice.
In shopping news...the kids' ski gear have arrived! Pink Spyder jackets and pants to match. Even comes along with a pink back pack! Still waiting for their goggles and gloves to come.
I also hope the Swiss travel System doesn't screw up our train tickets that we've paid for.. it's supposed to arrive 2-3 weeks prior to departure via DHL.
I just heard from another Pat's Schoolhouse mummy that they are going to Switzerland for a family holiday too... apparently not her first trip there. Should have asked her before we booked... she's going to the French Alps to ski instead of Switzerland..
Saturday was literally non stop.
Wake, breakfast.
Music class for Annika
Tennis for Madison ( which eventually got cancelled because the teachers were busy or something )
I had to work.
Then it was lunch for the kids.
Chris went for a swim and the kids went swimming.
Nap for Annika, while Madison and Lynn watched videos.
After nap time it was off to Bishan Park with 12 kids from 6 different families in our block!
We packed a picnic to share. The kids got to run around, fight and have dinner.
I think the kids had fun! The only trouble we had was parking. That was horrendous.
We finished at 730pm, just as it got dark. Getting home was easy, because we all live in the same block.
Sunday we had a potluck dinner by the poolside. Prior to that the kids were in the pool swimming and splashing around.
Having your friends live in the same block makes it so easy. The adults get to eat/drink while the kids play together... the convenience of having the house just right there is hard to beat.
But of course the downside is that when we spend the weekend with the neighbours we don't see the family as much.. the kids are really lucky to have this choice.
In shopping news...the kids' ski gear have arrived! Pink Spyder jackets and pants to match. Even comes along with a pink back pack! Still waiting for their goggles and gloves to come.
I also hope the Swiss travel System doesn't screw up our train tickets that we've paid for.. it's supposed to arrive 2-3 weeks prior to departure via DHL.
I just heard from another Pat's Schoolhouse mummy that they are going to Switzerland for a family holiday too... apparently not her first trip there. Should have asked her before we booked... she's going to the French Alps to ski instead of Switzerland..
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Preschool: Pat's Schoolhouse
Madison is currently in her 2nd year at Pat's Schoolhouse.
I've been pretty happy with her progress at school and she seems to be enjoying herself. ( Although she still says she doesn't want to go to school almost daily... but she's all smiles and bubbles when I get her in the afternoon )
So next year she's going to be in K1.
This was when the furore started... the school decided to raise its school fees.
Not by tens of dollars, but by a whopping 25%.
Needless to say this rankled quite a few parents.
The other thing the school started pushing strongly for was for the kids to attend preschool for the full day program.
This means the kids are in school by about 830am, and don't finish till around 5pm.
The morning session finishes at 12noon, and the afternoon bit starts around 3pm.
They are also required to nap in between.
Of course they had this fantastic extra curricular program that included Speech and Drama class, math class and music class.
I was quite tempted, who wouldn't be?
But that would mean Madison would spend more time at school than at home. And she'd be napping! Which means she'd be up way past her bedtime at night!
I had a really hard time deciding what to do... in the end I asked my dad what he thought...
And he said.. kids need down time to do their 'own' thing... and discouraged me from having too many organized activities for her. He said organized activity kills creativity.
So that sealed the deal.
I've decided to keep her in the morning program for next year. I hope she'll be able to cope and be smart enough to figure things out on her own!
I've been pretty happy with her progress at school and she seems to be enjoying herself. ( Although she still says she doesn't want to go to school almost daily... but she's all smiles and bubbles when I get her in the afternoon )
So next year she's going to be in K1.
This was when the furore started... the school decided to raise its school fees.
Not by tens of dollars, but by a whopping 25%.
Needless to say this rankled quite a few parents.
The other thing the school started pushing strongly for was for the kids to attend preschool for the full day program.
This means the kids are in school by about 830am, and don't finish till around 5pm.
The morning session finishes at 12noon, and the afternoon bit starts around 3pm.
They are also required to nap in between.
Of course they had this fantastic extra curricular program that included Speech and Drama class, math class and music class.
I was quite tempted, who wouldn't be?
But that would mean Madison would spend more time at school than at home. And she'd be napping! Which means she'd be up way past her bedtime at night!
I had a really hard time deciding what to do... in the end I asked my dad what he thought...
And he said.. kids need down time to do their 'own' thing... and discouraged me from having too many organized activities for her. He said organized activity kills creativity.
So that sealed the deal.
I've decided to keep her in the morning program for next year. I hope she'll be able to cope and be smart enough to figure things out on her own!
Fertile block
There is seriously something going on in my apartment block!
Some of us neighbours have become increasingly close because the kids play together frequently, and also because of the large communal area at the poolside that encourages us to spend time together.
It's truly amazing how close our kids all are in terms of age! Most are under the age of 5, with an even mix of boys and girls.
And now, there seems to be a spate of pregnancies. There is one that is due in less than a month, and a few new pregnancies that have just been announced! Now that I think about it, there's only 1 other mother who isn't pregnant apart from me!
Yesterday, just another mother of 2 told me she's expecting her 3rd next April. Her first is slightly older than Annika, and her 2nd is close to 8 months. So she's quitting her job to focus on the kids for now. It's amazing how relaxed and easy she's taking it all. They are a great family, and the kids super cute.
Another one has 2 boys aged 3 and just 2, and she's expecting her 3rd boy in January next year. She's also another amazing mummy, calm and relaxed about parenting.
There are a few just on their 2nd.. I won't be surprised if the 3rd pregnancy gets announced in the next year or so!!
I think the best part of it all is that it demystifies the 3 kid thing... totally doable!! Right??
Some of us neighbours have become increasingly close because the kids play together frequently, and also because of the large communal area at the poolside that encourages us to spend time together.
It's truly amazing how close our kids all are in terms of age! Most are under the age of 5, with an even mix of boys and girls.
And now, there seems to be a spate of pregnancies. There is one that is due in less than a month, and a few new pregnancies that have just been announced! Now that I think about it, there's only 1 other mother who isn't pregnant apart from me!
Yesterday, just another mother of 2 told me she's expecting her 3rd next April. Her first is slightly older than Annika, and her 2nd is close to 8 months. So she's quitting her job to focus on the kids for now. It's amazing how relaxed and easy she's taking it all. They are a great family, and the kids super cute.
Another one has 2 boys aged 3 and just 2, and she's expecting her 3rd boy in January next year. She's also another amazing mummy, calm and relaxed about parenting.
There are a few just on their 2nd.. I won't be surprised if the 3rd pregnancy gets announced in the next year or so!!
I think the best part of it all is that it demystifies the 3 kid thing... totally doable!! Right??
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Colds and holidays
1. COLDS
this is one (*&(*&(*7of a head cold.
I don't actually remember ever being sick for so long in my adult life! ( maybe it's amnesia already )
It started with one of the kids.. Annika I think, she had a high fever for over 5 days, cranky, coughing and running nose for the next 10. Sounded like croup, and after almost 2 sleepless coughing weeks I caved in and gave her a dexamethasone shot.
Seemed to do the trick, she got better in a further 2 or 3 days.
Then I caught the bug, after stupidly letting her put the nasal spray in MY nose while trying to spray HERS. DUMB.
Now its been 2 weeks, I've been swallowing blister packs of paracetamol, naproxen and antihistamines like candy.
I sick of having this nasal congestion and particularly blocked ears. So irritating.
So I finally took some prednisolone ( I've always been a non believer in that stuff for colds ) .. but it seems to work!! IT's finally shifting.
2. HOLIDAYS!
Finally!!
Chris has been given the opportunity to go to Davos in Switzerland for an AO course...
so we are ALL tagging along!
It was Pa's idea.. I was actually considering just going without the kids...
It's going to be one expensive trip. We've booked the air tickets.. and they came up to a whopping SGD 14000 already. That's for 6 adults and 4 kids. MH's mother is coming along for the holiday.
We've been frantically searching for affordable accommodation. It's been a LONG search.
We're thinking of going skiing in Zermatt, at the mighty Matterhorn. Accommodation there is crazy expensive. The cheaper options look quite scary old, like 1960s old, and the newest apartments come at rates of over CHF 1000 PER NIGHT! ( 1 CHF roughly 1 USD). A really nice one had a price tag of over CHF 7000 per night. Sleeping 10.
We're still left with the Lucerne leg of the trip. Shabby old apartment or average hotel? The average hotel option came up to SGD 1181 per night for all of us.
But I think we're all rather excited... it'll be the first with so many kids on a long haul flight to somewhere quite unknown to us. I guess the first rule is to simply have NO expectations, relax and go with the flow... if Annika eats only fruit loops the entire trip, so be it!
this is one (*&(*&(*7of a head cold.
I don't actually remember ever being sick for so long in my adult life! ( maybe it's amnesia already )
It started with one of the kids.. Annika I think, she had a high fever for over 5 days, cranky, coughing and running nose for the next 10. Sounded like croup, and after almost 2 sleepless coughing weeks I caved in and gave her a dexamethasone shot.
Seemed to do the trick, she got better in a further 2 or 3 days.
Then I caught the bug, after stupidly letting her put the nasal spray in MY nose while trying to spray HERS. DUMB.
Now its been 2 weeks, I've been swallowing blister packs of paracetamol, naproxen and antihistamines like candy.
I sick of having this nasal congestion and particularly blocked ears. So irritating.
So I finally took some prednisolone ( I've always been a non believer in that stuff for colds ) .. but it seems to work!! IT's finally shifting.
2. HOLIDAYS!
Finally!!
Chris has been given the opportunity to go to Davos in Switzerland for an AO course...
so we are ALL tagging along!
It was Pa's idea.. I was actually considering just going without the kids...
It's going to be one expensive trip. We've booked the air tickets.. and they came up to a whopping SGD 14000 already. That's for 6 adults and 4 kids. MH's mother is coming along for the holiday.
We've been frantically searching for affordable accommodation. It's been a LONG search.
We're thinking of going skiing in Zermatt, at the mighty Matterhorn. Accommodation there is crazy expensive. The cheaper options look quite scary old, like 1960s old, and the newest apartments come at rates of over CHF 1000 PER NIGHT! ( 1 CHF roughly 1 USD). A really nice one had a price tag of over CHF 7000 per night. Sleeping 10.
We're still left with the Lucerne leg of the trip. Shabby old apartment or average hotel? The average hotel option came up to SGD 1181 per night for all of us.
But I think we're all rather excited... it'll be the first with so many kids on a long haul flight to somewhere quite unknown to us. I guess the first rule is to simply have NO expectations, relax and go with the flow... if Annika eats only fruit loops the entire trip, so be it!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Birthday weekend
Not the kids.. but mine... sweet 35!
I didn't have any special events lined up for me, my dear hubby forgot to get me a proper cake, and nope, no breakfast in bed from the kids either.
But... I am grateful for the other things.
The nurse in my clinic, D, DID get me a birthday cake a few days prior to celebrate. So I did have 1 cake.
We had a delightful Saturday evening with some new friends ( classmate of Annika's from Bibinogs ) --even Annika has a social life! We were invited to their almost-penthouse apartment, and the mother made a 3 course meal for us. And had drinks including wine and beer.
On Sunday morning I got up and got to go for a run with my sister... so that was her gift to me. We wound up in Upper Bukit Timah road, couldn't get a taxi so called my BIL for a lift.
We did have dinner at PS Cafe at Dempsey Hill, which my mother likes ( that's why I chose it ), and I got lovely presents this year! A Nike+watch from Chris (yeah!!), Nescafe Dolche thingy that makes coffee from my sis and BIL and his mum, and a oh-so-soft Christian Dior black leather clutch from my parents. ( Just in time for my brother's impending engagement/wedding etc for next year )
Of course the icing on the cake was that Chris cleared his exits, so no more excuses not to do his share of parenting!
What else touched me was that I had good friends who remembered AND bothered to wish me Happy Birthday...I'm sometimes guilty of being too lazy to do it even though I see it's their birthday through FB or something else.
It was also sad to know that some friends that I thought would have been friends for life were no longer as close. And to know that I have now been excluded out of their lives too.
But its ok.. we all change and people drift in and out.
Now to start planning holidays!!!
I didn't have any special events lined up for me, my dear hubby forgot to get me a proper cake, and nope, no breakfast in bed from the kids either.
But... I am grateful for the other things.
The nurse in my clinic, D, DID get me a birthday cake a few days prior to celebrate. So I did have 1 cake.
We had a delightful Saturday evening with some new friends ( classmate of Annika's from Bibinogs ) --even Annika has a social life! We were invited to their almost-penthouse apartment, and the mother made a 3 course meal for us. And had drinks including wine and beer.
On Sunday morning I got up and got to go for a run with my sister... so that was her gift to me. We wound up in Upper Bukit Timah road, couldn't get a taxi so called my BIL for a lift.
We did have dinner at PS Cafe at Dempsey Hill, which my mother likes ( that's why I chose it ), and I got lovely presents this year! A Nike+watch from Chris (yeah!!), Nescafe Dolche thingy that makes coffee from my sis and BIL and his mum, and a oh-so-soft Christian Dior black leather clutch from my parents. ( Just in time for my brother's impending engagement/wedding etc for next year )
Of course the icing on the cake was that Chris cleared his exits, so no more excuses not to do his share of parenting!
What else touched me was that I had good friends who remembered AND bothered to wish me Happy Birthday...I'm sometimes guilty of being too lazy to do it even though I see it's their birthday through FB or something else.
It was also sad to know that some friends that I thought would have been friends for life were no longer as close. And to know that I have now been excluded out of their lives too.
But its ok.. we all change and people drift in and out.
Now to start planning holidays!!!
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