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?

Couple Time!

It has become de rigueur that we have some couple time every Friday cos Terelle has a long day in school, ending class only at 4pm. So she doesnt nap when she comes home and will be knackered and in bed by 8pm. Baby will follow his sister to bed at whatever time she chooses.

Which leaves us with a good 4 hours to head out for some shopping or a movie, to catch up with friends and of course supper!

Food at Glutton's Bay is good but overpriced

Checking out River Hongbao during CNY

Dont like to jostle around in crowds with the kids in tow

Posing in front of the Kent Ridge Hall float

Scouring Nite Markets

And at our latest run - the Live Earth Run for Water!

This time we brought the kids over to my in laws' the night before the run, so that we could have a good rest before the race, and the whole day to ourselves after that!

At the finish line

Unfettered by kids, we went shopping after the race, went home and grabbed our gear before heading out for badminton and swimming with good friends, and ended off the day with a nice dinner by the seaside

What bliss!

Im so mentally recharged to handle the kids again!

Before this short break i was dragging my heels and losing my temper at the kids at the slightest provocation. What wonders a 24hr break can do to my psyche!

More "staycations" yah, hubby? ;)

An ode to my friend

To my dearest neighbor (ex-neighbor as of today) and friend,

I will always remember...

- the Games Nites we used to have b.c (before children), where we played board games/cards and snacked/chatted till late into the nite

- the yummy steamboat dinners together, leisurely ones b.c, not quite so leisurely after children but equally enjoyable

- the look on your face the 1st time you told me you were pregnant with Kirsten. I still remember it was in my living room and 1 mth old Terelle was fast asleep on the floor

- the holiday we had together to Langkawi. (Despite the not so ideal accomodation, we still managed to have fun! Remember the yummy Dai Look Mee dinner and seafood lunch n cheering on the guys during their go kart race?)

- our traditional xmas gift exchanges and little xmas dinner parties together

- how you managed to capture the bird that flew into my room with the wastepaper basket. You with your blooming tummy, with Kirsten inside and me with a 3 mth old Terelle fast asleep on my bed. Remember we were wondering how on earth we could let it free without it flying back into the house? Finally we threw it out into the corridor and quickly slammed my front door...haha...makes me laugh to think about it again...

- our New Year countdowns and "party" in the corridor, where we drank sparkling grape juice and ate "kwa chee"

- our endless chats about everything under the sun, especially the kids and our forever errant hubbies :)

- your support when Ryan was away and Terelle was very ill and had to go to the hospital. Will also always be grateful to Ray for sending us there even though it was late at night.

- having to borrow your thermometer whenever my kids were having a fever cos my lousy, screwed up thermometer always gave me wonky readings

- our dinners together whenever any of our hubbys were away on biz trips

- our shopping/makan sessions when the girls were in school and later, our shopping/makan sessions with the boys in tow

- the joy our girls had whenever they played together, be it in either of our houses, in the corridor, at the playground or in the pool or anywhere else we took them. As long as they were together, they enjoyed each other's company

- how we satisfied our spicy food cravings together by eating mee sian and nasi briyani when we were having the boys

- our bak kut teh pig out session, pity we didnt have more...

- your lovely homemade bread and the mouth watering smell that always came from your flat when you were baking it

- your generiosity, warmth and kindness and that you guys were the best neighbors we could ever ask for.

So its goodbye for now, my dear friend. 5 years have gone by in a flash, its the end of an era for us. As i write this, my heart is heavy and im feeling sniffy as i watch the movers at your place and the corridor being filled with your stuff. It just makes everything so final.

I wish you all the best as you move on to your new home, forge new friendships and make new memories. I will always hold what we shared close to my heart. I will definitely miss your reassuring presence just next door and the knowledge that i can always count on you.

Just promise me to meet up often ok? I still hope our kids can grow up together and become fast friends just like us.

Bye for now and God bless all of you where ever you may go.

Circle of Friends

Hubby had a dinner appointment last Saturday which Terelle and I couldnt attend, and i didnt want to be stuck at home on a Saturday nite. I immediately called up my trusty April Mummy friends and invited myself over to their houses to hang out.

It suddenly struck me that by and large, i have become so much closer to this group of friends, they with whom i can carry out endless conversations about motherhood (or anything else for that matter), whom are the only ones who do not frown and cringe when my toddler acts up, they who are the only ones who understand and symphatise when i have to go through a particularly testy and challenging time handling a temperamental 2 year old.

It is extra rare and heartening that we have bonded not because of a common hobby, a shared interest or because of mutual friends. Everyone has clicked so well simply by virtue of the fact that our kids are all born in the same month and we are on this journey through motherhood together. We are all of different ages, have different characters, have no shared history nor have ever known one another's teenage angsts or heartbreaks, yet we have no lack of topics to yak about and can confide in each other our secrets and fears.

With these friends i know that my gal will be guaranteed a whale of a time playing with her little friends, and that i can also have a good gossip session and maybe even enjoy a nice enough dinner (minimal interruptions in 5 minute intervals like squeals of delight, bruises or bumps while playing too roughly or petty squabbling session among the kids are totally tolerable) My old friends who do not have kids are still footloose and fancy free and are all out on a Saturday nite having fancy dinners, watching the latest movie, having supper and partying till dawn. To them watching your kids play together at home must be the most boring thing to do on a Saturday night and boy would i be out of my mind if i were to drag my gal over to their house and "torture" them with this ordeal.

And so we drift apart from our old friends...perhaps maybe just on this particular chapter in life. On the rare occasions that we do meet, we still have a good time, reminiscing about the past, gossipping about mutual friends and sharing our hopes and dreams.

And who says we have boring Saturday nites in? The whole gin gang trooped to Macs at 1am that night for a late night treat, kids in their PJs and all!

Friends

There once was a group of girls who all had babies in April. They were a close knit bunch, sharing everything from tips on taking care of their babes to hubby woes, fretting over the consistency, color and texture of their little ones' poo, trying to decipher their cries and generally just being there for each other.

Then another gal joined this little group and all the mummies welcomed her with open arms. Soon this newcomer felt really at home, cos everyone there made her feel like she had become an integral part of the group.

Nappy changing and breastfeeding headaches progressed into solid food fights and bruises, bumps and cuts as weeks turned into months. Soon these mummies began to meet up regularly. They realised that they had more in common than just having had babies in the same month and seriously enjoyed each others' company. Not to mention the little ones always had a whale of a time whenever they saw their little friends.

The"newbie" to the group was going to endure a lonely birthday as the hubby was going to be travelling yet again. These vivacious mummies actually hatched a plan to throw the most fabulous surprise party for her, complete with decorations, catered food and sumptious cake. And although the hubby foiled all their plans by deciding to return from his trip earlier to be with his poor wifey on her birthday, they nevertheless went ahead with a mini surprise celebration in advance, still complete with fabulous food and sumptious cake and of cos, marvelous company.

Thanks girls, for teaching me that the depth of a friendship does not equate to its length. Thanks for laughing with me at life's humourous moments, bearing with me on my crabby and irritable days, being my support and wells of advice when my gal was injured or ill and celebrating my little victories and my gal's milestones. i definitely know that all of u will be there everyday (on msn!), rain or shine, to share, laugh, gossip or just to talk nonsense.

You girls havent been in my life for a long time but i am certain that all of u will be in the rest of it. We'll all sit in our rocking chairs, sipping hot cups of tea when we are 80 and look back and think; maybe having had kids in April 2005 was the best thing that ever happened to us.

Love ya girls! ;)