Love letter

In case you cant read this, it says:

Dear Wei Pyn

My number 67570794

Love Terelle

I. Am. Floored

My daughter, who is all of 5, has just given her phone number to a boy.

She is kinda besotted with this boy from her class. A skinny little ball of energy named Wei Pyn.

Im not sure if she truly understands the meaning of love or perhaps she simply enjoys his company very much, because Wei Pyn, from what i can tell from my sneaky observations in school, is a spontaneous, fun loving and mischevious little boy.

He has many characteristics that are similar to my mafia queen and they are inseparable in class, always playing and chatting happily and even poking fun at their classmates together.

And so for the past few weeks, its been 'Wei Pyn this, Wei Pyn that". She tells me she wants to marry Wei Pyn when she grows up. When i say she's too young to be thinking about marriage, she retorts, "No not now Mummy, when Im big like you, I will marry Wei Pyn."

*Smacks forhead in disbelief*

He loves anything to do with Transformers and she brings Transformers stickers to school for him. Heck she even smuggles Thane's Transformers figurines into her schoolbag when he's not looking, to give them to Wei Pyn!

What disloyalty to her brother! haha!

And sometimes i catch her smiling to herself and when i ask her why, she tells me with a shy smile and a twinkle in her eye that she dreamt Wei Pyn got down on his knees and asked her to marry him.

Oh myGod.

The best part is, Wei Pyn actually called her that night, after she gave him the note in school.


The conversation went as follows:


Terelle: Hello? *giggle giggle* Hello? You want to talk to my brother?


*passes phone to Thane*


Thane: HAR-LOW??!! HAR-LOW!!?? WHO ARE YOU?


*snatches the phone back*


Terelle: My brother is very funny right? *giggle giggle* OK... ok... see you tomorrow! Bye!



And she comes up to me and says,"Mummy how come Wei Pyn sounds so squeaky on the phone? He sounds like a mouse!"


That's cos his voice hasnt broken yet!? That's cos both of you are 5 years old!!?


That's him, that's my supposed future son-in-law.

Sigh...should i start fretting now?

Updates

Terelle and I have 2 special days in the week, when we do stuff together during a precious 2 hr window when Thane is in school.

Since his school is at East Coast, we will go for a morning run together, starting from the old Big Splash...

looping around the Lighthouse...

and then turning back!

We will then treat ourselves to a hearty breakfast at one of the eateries near Thane's school, all the while taking goofy pics and/or read some books and do some activity books.

Other days we will take either her scooter or car along with us and have some giddy, giggly fun rolling down slopes and racing along the jogging tracks.

Here she is, hurtling down the slopes at breakneck speed!

And then she has to carry the car back up - its a good workout for her arms and legs too!

Some days we venture further, over to Parkway Parade for a nice breakfast and our favourite longan/pineapple drink at the hawker centre.

And then its off to the playground near the library for some fun, while we wait for the library to open its doors.

We will then spend the next hour in the library, reading together and choosing new books to be savoured at home.

Baby i just want you to know that Mummy really treasures these times spent with you, and i hope that you enjoy yourself as much as i do!

Mourning Jack

It was the day when torrential rains poured over our little island. And there was widespread flooding, the most well known one being in the Bukit Timah area.

I was in Bedok, far far away from Bukit Timah. I was supposed to be safe.

And yet...
Let's just say i was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I had just finished my workout at Tampines and was going to pick Terelle up from school. One of her classmate's mum called to say that her car couldnt start and asked if i could pick her gal up as well.
Sure, not a problem, i cheerfully answered, as i slowly negotiated the car through the blinding rain towards the school.

I picked the girls up, dropped Terelle's friend back home and headed off towards our own home.

Almost every car had their hazard lights on and everyone was going at a snail's pace. I had never seen such heavy rainfall before, much less drive through one, so i was exceptionally careful.

I saw some flooding ahead of me and estimated that the water would come up to about half tyre. But smaller cars than mine were cruising easily through the pool of water so i figured it was alright.

Never in my wildest dreams did i expect to stall right smack in the middle of the flashflood!

You always see other drivers standing forlornly by the side of the road, beside their vehicle that had just broken down, and u go "tsk tsk so cham!"
But you never ever expect it to happen to you.
When it does you are just flabbergasted and lost.

The next few minutes were pretty surreal.

I tried to restart the car but it sputtered and died, with all its indicator lights flashing.
Other motorists started to horn at us from the back.
Terelle jumped up and down excitedly, asking me loads of questions and yelling at me to "Quickly start the car and MOVE, mummy! We are blocking the road!"

At that moment my mind was a blank. I didnt know what to do but to call hubby, who was thousands of miles away in Beijing.
Sudden call at 3pm on a Thursday afternoon from wife, i wouldnt hazard a guess over the million and one bleak thoughts that could have flashed through his mind at that time.

After calling for the tow truck, i ushered Terelle out of the car and into the pouring rain cos i was afraid the cars behind wouldnt be able to see us and plough into us. I had to carry her through the flood, cos i didnt want her to get wet, and my shoes and pants were soaked through.

As we stood by the road side, huddled together under the umbrella, and waited for the tow truck (and the liews to come save terelle and bring her home 1st), i saw the floodwaters slowly receed.

10minutes later and the road was back to normal.

Sigh...if only i had stayed a little longer at the gym, if only i had driven a little slower, if only i had parked at Terelle's school and waited for the rain to abate, then i wouldnt have been caught in the flashflood.

See? Normal road conditions by the time the tow truck arrived

Poor Jack being towed after his watery death

I'd never thought ill feel so strongly over the car.

Poor poor Jack (Our family's affectionate name for the car) with his flashy rims, sporty exterior and customized racing stripe, is now lifeless with his lungs (engine) full of water in a dirty workshop. Jack who has accompanied us on many a happy family outing, who has drawn countless appreciative glances on the roads and who is a luxury to maneuver is dead, dead, dead.

And he is barely 2 years old!

As im writing this, im not even sure if we'll ever see Jack again, the initial prognosis from the mechanic is grim.

I feel like im mourning the loss of a dear friend. *sob*

Mafia antics again

I drove up to the pick up point where all the kids would be waiting for their parents to fetch them.

She was nowhere to be found.

Two other mummies couldnt locate their kids too so the teachers freed up an area for us to park our cars.

I found Terelle in the playground, together with the two missing girls, She was holding court with a rapt audience, commanding everyone to watch as she gleefully dripped water from her wet hanky over her head.

Her uniform was drenched with sweat, her cheeks were flushed from mischief and exertion and her hair was soaking wet.
Her friends were in stitches. She was encouraged by their boisterous cheers.

I caught hold of her just as she was about to scoot off to the basin to get more water to pour over her head.

I let fly vitriol, she was unfazed.
I demanded to know who did she follow to the playground, she looked guilty.

So she was the one who instigated everyone to run off to the playground instead of waiting at the pick up point!
They must have snuck off when the teachers in charge at the pick up point weren't looking, cos it can get pretty chaotic during dismissal time.

Just at that moment, 2 teachers came down and started to ask the children to identify who ran off to the playground first.
Fortunately for her, one of her friends pointed the finger at another girl who was totally indignant at the accusation.
The teacher was really furious and gave all the perpetrators a good tongue lashing.

The ring leader was still totally unrepentant until i sat her down in the car and told her in all seriousness that if she were to do that again, Mummy would not be able to find her and take her home. Then she would have to spend the night ALL ALONE in the dark dark school.

Her eyes watered, she looked genuinely petrified.
"I promise i will wait for you at the pick up point, Mummy. I wont run away again."

Score!

However, just barely a minute later,
"But can i ask my friends to play catching with me at the pick up point?"

Ugh...a leopard can never change its spots...

Mafia Boss

My daughter is a mafia boss.


Her form teacher took me aside today and commented that she has incited her friends, on many occasions, to create mischief.

She will come up will silly antics when everyone is doing serious work and divert her classmates' attention from their tasks at hand.

She will entice her friends to join her in a splashing good time at the sinks in the toilet, only running back to class in fits of giggles when the teacher detects their absence and comes to look for them 10min later.

She will say silly things and contort her face and leave everyone in hysterics every opportunity she gets.


As a result, her teacher tells me that many a time, she has been made to stay back to complete her work. She would grudgingly sit at her desk and do her coloring/phonics/chinese strokes/craft while her friends play with toys or troop off to the playground.

Her teacher says she is beginning to disregard her authority and I am concerned.



I have noticed that my daughter has a natural ability to influence the kids around her.

Whenever she is playing with a toy or doing something, the other kids invariably end up being drawn towards her and they will all crowd around to see what she is doing.

She will say something ridiculous and all her cronies will repeat it after her and all of them will collapse in fits of laughter.

She takes a sticker and places it on her forehead and everyone else does the same. She proclaims that she's an "Ah-neh!" and everyone else chants it after her.

She entices her friends in games of police and thief, with her invariably being the flight footed thief that no one ever manages to catch.


And yet, despite all the tomfoolery she creates, she is amazingly protective of her friends.

She makes it her responsibility to watch over her quieter and meeker classmates, making sure they have their snack, that their water bottle is in the right place, that their name tag is pinned properly.

When they report to school everyday, all the kids' temperature are taken and their mouths and hands are checked for spots before they are allowed into class. A teacher is always on hand to record their temperatures beside their names on the class register.
And mafia boss is always there telling the teacher exactly who's who in the queue of kids waiting to get their temperature recorded.

After everyone is checked, she will wait at the staircase and round everyone up before holding the meeker kids' hands and ushering them up to class.

Anyone and everyone seems to know Terelle.
Hubby has witnessed her giving permission to some kids (not from her class!) to go to the playground after school.

I have seen her playing with the older K1 and K2 kids while waiting for me to arrive to fetch her home.

And the clincher:
I didnt send and fetch her to school for the whole week that i was sick. When hubby went to fetch her, he overheard a kid running up to her and asking her if her mummy was still sick.
It was akin to you showing concern over the wellbeing of your boss' family and scoring points at the same time.

To which came her flippant reply," Yes yes she is ok now" before dismissing the minion with a wave of her hand.

*gasp* The entire school seems to know i was sick, through her...

Surreal...totally surreal...

We had better steer her in the right direction before she leads everyone astray. I dont want to be responsible for other kids' errant behavior.

Ugh.