Don't Hug Him, Hug Me

This happened last Sunday. This is Aisyah. Pulling a sour face. Because she got jealous of that bear hug Ayah is giving Zayd who was barely awake enough for breakfast.

She's 8, going on 9, and is still jealous of her 3 year-old-brother over a hug. Like seriously???!!  <--- btw.="" currently="" expression="" fav="" her="" nbsp="" p="">
Oh great, now because of the title, I can't get the hippy tune 'Don't Marry Her, Have Me' song out of my head.

Drive Out, Drive In

We spend an average of 2 hours on the road, daily. That's a lot of commuting time. It shocks me, really, now that I see it in numbers. So, today I am posting a pic of us driving out, and driving back in. Just a typical day. Except on the way back it was raining heavily for a bit, and then a rainbow appeared. And then I found myself singing to Iz kamakawiwoʻole's rendition of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' whilst stuck in the traffic. Then when I switched off the car engine and turned around to the kids, I saw that they were both sound asleep. Such a lullaby singer, me.

Enough ramblings. You can tell I'm a bit dry on ideas now, right? Haha

My Little Artsy Fartsy

Aisyah is such an artsy fartsy kinda girl. Here is her, sewing a felt Monkey. She is totally in her elements when she is doing crafts. Which is the complete opposite of me. I am a total klutz, and not nearly as coordinated enough to do crafts. Drawing and sketching, I can relate, but sewing, and knitting, and origami??? (Aisyah's fav, that).

Well, let's just agree that she has her late Nek Mi's talents. Which skipped a generation (read: me).

But seriously, Aisyah's pic here sewing reminds me a lot of my late Mom. She was a seamstress, and so many nights were spent in the same position as Aisyah here. Bent over the fabric, patiently, yet so gracefully pulling the needle and thread through. 

God, how I miss her.

First Day of school for 2017 (Year 3)!!!

3 January 2017 - Aisyah's first day of school as a third grader!!! Woot woot!!!

The day itself was pretty routine. Early morning drop off. Then I took her up to her class, just to get a glimpse of where her class was (top floor, yikes!) and the seating arrangements - she got center, second row from front, sandwiched between her friends Syafiqah and Syifa - not bad at all. Was briefed about the new curriculum their school would be implementing. A bit nervous, TBH, as they will be stressing more on attribute-based education (ABE) than the conventional KSSR way Malaysians are used to. However, it's a exciting kind of nervous, so we'll see what the outcome will be by the end of the school year. This however, does mean that parents need to prepare their children on their own for the KSSR based exams all Msians are required to sit (at age 12), so I'm foreseeing many nights sitting close to Aisyah and teaching her how to conduct independent study. To prepare for that, I've bought a stack of books for us to go over, just so she doesn't get left out with peers outside of her school. Also, we're signing her up for daily classes in the evening to improve on her Quranic recitation. She can read the Quran, yes, but it does seem like she's struggling most of the time. Hopefully, the class will help her sort the kinks out. When her recitation is better, it will be easier for her to memorize the surah, so less shouting (me) and less crying (her) during our ngihtly Tasmi' session. Pray that we'll have enough time and energy, and most of all, PATIENCE to carry this routine through. Amin.

Still, 2017 seems very exciting thus far. Here's to a fruitful new academic year for Aisyah!

The Night before the School Opens

This is a scene from our local barbershop.

It was packed to the brim with schoolboys, all looking to trim their hair short, lest they all be scolded by the Headmaster at school tomorrow. 

Then there was Zayd. He's not enrolled for school yet. But his hair was a tad long-ish. And since there was too much hype about Kakak going school, we'd thought why not give him the Back-to-School experience. So waited we did. Among all the young lads. And their departed hair on the tiled floor.

It was quite fun, actually. First timer here. Since we had never sent a son to school yet, we completely overlooked this. Looks like starting next year, when Zayd starts school at age 5, this will be the must-do routine before school starts. Wow... a tradition in the making. Haha!