Moved

I have moved to another site for my blogging. Please visit me at http://www.tabulas.com/~myfaith from now on for my postings. Thank you

Child Bonding

I have an almost 6 months old son, as most of my friends know. As both my husband and myself are working, Joshua is taken care by my mother in law, and we will bring him home with us every night. There are nights that he will sleep with his grandma (my mum in law) to enable my hubby and I to get a good night rest. However, we always make it a point to see him before we go home, as we feel it's very important for us to build a strong relationship/bond with our son. And it's really great, coz our son is always happy when he sees us when we come home from work. Makes our busy and tiring day vanish with his adorable smile and laughs.

Joshua spent Wednesday and Thursday night with my parents this week. We wanted him to get used to my parents' house as well, in any events in future that might need him to spend some nights there. I have learned that babies are smart enough to recognize their surroundings. Joshua will not sleep in a room or area where he has never slept before at night. We made a mistake on Wednesday night as we dropped him at my parents' place at night. We should have asked my parents to collect him in the daytime and let him get used to my parents' place during the day first. Poor baby cried like crazy when we tried to put him to sleep in my parents' room. Refused to sleep. In the end, we tried putting him to sleep where we usually put him when we visit my parents. Thankfully he seemed to recognize the place, and promptly went to sleep till 5am when he woke up for his milk. Amazing!

Hubby and I planned to go see him on Thursday night. Everything was already planned. I'm to wait at home while waiting for hubby to reach home to pick me up for dinner. We will visit Joshua after our dinner. While waiting for hubby to arrive, my mother called, requesting us not to go visit Joshua as she wants to get Joshua to sleep without the parents around to comfort him. In case next time in future, we are really not around. At one point, I do agree with her. Informed my hubby about it when he came home, so we just went out for dinner.

I told my mum in law that we won't be visiting Joshua and she asked why. I explained to her what my mum told me, and mum in law told me she disagree. She (mum in law) believes that parents should be with their children everyday, even if it's for a few hours. It makes a difference for the baby to see his/her parents once a day. She also mentioned that the love and bond of grandparents with their grandchildren can never be compared to the love and bond of the babies and their parents. So, she concluded that grandparents should never prevent the parents from seeing their children.

Halfway thru dinner, I really started to miss Joshua. I have always seen him everyday, and I guess I cannot not see my son even for 1 day. But as hubby pointed out, it's already late by the time we finished dinner and we have some groceries to buy. I was really disappointed. I should have insisted to my mum that I want to see my son. Because of this, I couldn't shop for the groceries whole-heartedly. My mind was on Joshua the whole time.

Throughout work today, Joshua was on my mind most of the time. One of the rare occasion that I'm actually counting the hours before I can go home and see my baby boy, as my parents dropped him back to my mum in law's place today. Reached home, and rushed to see him. He was playing with his father, laughing and kicking away happily. Carried him immediately and gave him a big hug and lots of kisses! No way is mummy going to be away from you for any amount of time if mummy can help it without seeing you at all, darling Joshua!!

A Robbery Gone Shitty...for the thief

Genting Highlands twice in a month...sure know how to enjoy my long Chinese New Year holiday, huh? Was there with my whole family, as my sister and hubby from Australia came back for the holidays, together with his mother and sister from Hong Kong. We thought of taking them up to Genting Highlands for a short trip. My family stayed a night, while my hubby and I together with my 5 months old son just went up for a day trip as both of us have to work the next day. (Yeah....it sucks having to go to work after a looong holiday!) Trip was all right. My son, being his first time up in Genting, enjoyed the lightings in the First World Hotel's Indoor themepark. Amazing what can attract a baby....:P

Anyway, this trip reminded my cousin of an incident which happened to a friend's friend. This friend's friend, X, had a stomach-ache halfway down, on the way home. So he stopped by the roadside, and did his business in the bushes. Being a civilized gentleman that he is, he laid some newspaper on the ground before he did his business. After his business, he wrapped the newspaper with his shit inside and stuff the package into a plastic bag. He plans to throw it into a dustbin when he reaches the petrol station at the foothill.

When he reached the petrol station, he got out from his car, took the package out, intending to throw it in the dustbin. Before he could do so, two men on a motorcycle rushed at him, and snatched his 'package' from him. X was too stunned to do anything for a few minutes.

I'm sure he never expected to be robbed, and most definitely he never expected that it would be his 'package' that would be stolen. Haha! I would have loved to see the looks on the thieves faces when they got back to wherever they got back to just to find that all they had stolen was somebody else's shit. That would be PRICELESS!!!

CNY Spirits & Celebrities

Chinese New Year is here again for 2007. This year will be the year of the boar/pig. Who amongst you are born in the year of the boar/pig? I know my uncle is. Do many of you believe that your character is determined by the animal year you were born? I don't, but sometimes if you really observe my uncle, I do. Not that he eats like a pig. He's just as slow as a pig! No offense intended of course. Just that my uncle has no time management. He's always late for everything. Without fail! But I digress.

My mother had actually wanted a grandchild born in the year of the boar/pig. I don't know why, and I didn't want to bother finding out why, coz I don't believe in it. So she got a grandchild born in the year of the dog instead. Haha! But if you ask her now, I'm sure she will tell you it doesn't matter, as he's real cute! Haha!

This is Joshua's first Chinese New Year celebration and he got to meet most of his relatives from both my paternal and maternal side. I think he got to meet too many new faces, and he couldn't really take it. Most of the time he was tired and cranky. So most of today I had to rock him to sleep and usually before he sleeps, he gets fussy and cries a lot. And he ain't getting lighter. His feeding was also a problem, as he always doesn't want to finish him milk. More headache for me. And me poor arms!

I also couldn't help thinking. When he grows up, will the Chinese New Year tradition continue? Will he still practice the tradition of visiting his relatives? I really hope so, as I am already observing the next generation not bothering to follow their parents to "pai lin" (visiting of relatives), opting to stay home or to go out with their friends instead. Not wanting to follow their parents is one thing. They can even ask their parents to collect their 'angpaus' for them on their behalf! And some I know who do follow their parents just want to get angpaus. Their motives are not to spend time with relatives they haven't seen in a while. All they see are the red packets. Some will compete to see who gets the most angpaus.

How sad.

For me, I am always excited for CNY as this is the time I get to meet all the relatives that I get to meet once a year only. I get to catch up with them, getting to know how they have been getting on and what's new in their lives. This year is especially special for me, as they get to meet my son for the first time.

Today is the second day of the new year. 13 more days of wonderful food and catching up with relatives and friends. So, to everyone who is reading me, GONG XI FA CAI!! May this year brings your happiness, prosperity, health and joy!

Life Sentences vs Death Sentences

My parents will come over to my place every Thursday morning to help babysit my son, as my mother in law has to be in church every Thursday.

Last Thursday, after work, my hubby and I went for dinner with them near our house. Somehow or rather, we came to the topic of imprisonment and death sentences. My mother had asked, "Which do you think is worse? A death sentence or a life sentence?"

Immediately, I responded, "Life sentence!" I know some people would disagree with me. But think about it. You won't suffer much after you're dead, right? You will only feel the pain and torture for just a little while, compared to be in prison your whole life! A whole life of being bullied by your in-mates, or worse, being sexually abused. In time, I'm sure you will be asking, "Oh, death sentence seems like a good idea right now!"

"But you must treasure your life!" you say. I would probably return with, "What life?" Life in prison is really no fun at all. Fortunately, I'm not saying that thru experience. Haha! I have heard stories and read stories of people who can't take prison life. Some even take their own lives willingly.

But when I got home and had time to think this question through, I'm not so sure that answer is the correct one. People change thru different circumstances. Getting a death sentence wouldn't give you the chance to change your ways or at least to realise the errors of your ways. You might be stuck in prison for the rest of your lives, but how you accept your "punishment" goes a long way to repentence and having peace of mind and soul. Everybody deserves a second chance. Right?

What do you think? Would a death sentence be better or you would prefer a life sentence? Share your thoughts with me.

All for the Love of Cliff Richard...

Just came back from Genting Highlands. It was a bittersweet weekend trip.

My whole clan of family had bought the tickets for Cliff Richard's concert back in October 2006, and the concert was yesterday night. Left for Genting Highlands yesterday afternoon, and reached there about 1.45pm. Met up with my parents and had tea at Starbucks at First World Hotel after checking in. My parents had gone for the concert on Friday night, so they were just hanging around waiting for me and my husband to arrive.

My husband and I had planned to go for a midnight movie after the concert, but when we went to the cineplex, the midnight show was at 1.15am. So late! We thought they would have a movie at 12.00am. So was really disappointed. In the end, we walked around a bit, as the concert was at 8pm. We bought 2 tickets to go for the 4D Motion Master, thinking that it was a new attraction. Much to our disappointment (again), it was the same system as their previous 3D with just the addtition of having wind blown into our faces, and water splashings on our body. Nothing special. What a waste of RM16!

When we came out of the motion master ride, our cousin called, informing us that they have arrived, so we went to the hotel lobby to meet up with them. My aunt had a letter given to her that gives her a 2 days 1 night stay for free in First World Hotel which will due by the 15/2/2007. So she gave it to my parents, and just like that, my parents get to stay another night tonight. How wonderful to have this kind of freedom! Hahah! Hung around with my family for a while, then my husband and I went out by ourselves to jalan jalan. Had dinner at 7pm, then left for the Arena of Stars where the concert will be held.

The concert was a hit! All of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, amazed by the energy and stamina this 67-year-old singer had! My cousins, my husband and I were one of the few who were much younger than the other people around us. All with the influence of our parents! He sang songs after songs without needing to catch his breath. I was really amazed. Sometimes I dun think I even have his stamina!! When the concert ended, we were disappointed. We wished it could last longer. He only came out once for an encore, and that's usually his trademark. Just one encore. :(

Anyway, had supper at McDonald's after the concert. Decided to forego the movie and just go back to our respective rooms to rest. It was a good day, and each hoped tomorrow would be another good day. After all, it's going to be Sunday. :)

Sigh! How wrong! Hubby woke up very early for breakfast, while I slept in. Nothing will make me wake up as my son is not around for me to worry about, so sleep is one thing I would love to catch up on. Hubby came back at 10am and I woke up, took my shower, then we packed up and checked out. At least, that was our intention. Decided to check out later and go shopping first. Our Genting World Card has about 11,600 points so we thought of redeeming the points. We were so happy, thinking that we have so much to buy.

Went into Soda, and saw two outfits that I liked. We saw the price tags. One is RM89W and one is RM95W. Asked the salesman what the 'W' means, and he explained that's the World Card point that we can redeem. We thought, "Cool!" I tried on the outfits and I liked them. Asked my hubby to go check exactly how many points we have, so he did. 11,600 over points. Thought we could redeem more, then the sales man came back to inform us, "Oh. With your 11,600 points, the worth is only RM116." POP! There goes our happiness that we can redeem loads of stuff. Hahahah! So, all right, decided to redeem only 1 outfit and purchase the other outfit.

Second incident...our WorldCard was declined! What the heck? We have 11,600 over points, and our card is declined. OK, fine! We went to the WorldCard counter and asked. "Oops, your points are suspended as you lost your card a few years back. Wait, will un-suspend it for you," the girl there said. Did whatever she needed to do, and we went back to Soda to redeem the other outfit. DECLINED AGAIN!! Hubby getting pissed off! Stormed to the WorldCard counter again and demanded why is it happening again. Girl checked, and then frowned, informing us her manager didn't un-suspend the card for us. Called her manager and told him, and then passed us the card back, saying this time it's un-suspended. Went back to Soda AGAIN, and tried again. Thankfully, this time it worked! Another point we're not happy is, we spent RM11,600 over and we can only redeem RM116. Totally ridiculous! Even our credit cards give us a better deal! So we decided not to bother using our WorldCard anymore. Not worth the aggravation! Can't believe Genting is so cheating!

After lunch, we walked towards Genting Skyway, needing to go back home already. At the Skyway, we realised we didn't check out!! We called the hotel and asked if we can just go without having to pass them our room cardkey. Turned out to be ok...so we just left Genting, with sweet and bitter memories. And we'll be going back to Genting on the 25th February 2007. Asking for it, aren't we?? :)

Life's Musings......

It's been soooo long since my last blog! My son is going to be 5 months old this coming Sunday! How time really flies, though not all the time it's because of having fun. More like being busy with life, with work and with taking care of a baby. And yet, sometimes I feel time isn't flying fast enough. Such an oxymoron statement, I know.

In my previous postings, I had stated that I will be taking care of my baby full time. Guess that didn't work out at all. I'm back working full time and found that it is much more rewarding this way. For me, that is. I found taking care of my son full time was too emotionally draining for me. What do I mean, you ask. Well, in the first 2 months of his life, he couldn't stop crying and feeding him was a problem. He would cry and cry when I tried to feed him, and the most he can take is 1 or 2 ozs of milk. The first month was not so bad, as I still have my confinement lady with me, but once she's gone, I'm left alone with him. I fould myself crying with him everyday. Eventually, my mother in law helped out, and things improved slightly.

In the end, 1 and a half months later, I missed working. Brought the subject up with my husband. Initially, he wasn't too keen on the idea. He said I'm too fickle minded. First, want to stop work and take care of baby full time. Now want to go back to work. But I think after seeing me so down from the exhaustion of taking care of Joshua, he gave in. First hurdle crossed. Second hurdle was my parents in law. They were against me going back to work. More than my husband was. They said since I'm already not working, why go back to work when the baby is still so small? If they were trying to instill guilt in me, they did. So dropped the idea for a while.

As much as I love my son, I still find I can't be a full time mother. Starting looking for jobs. Even asked my ex-manager if there are any openings for me. He said sure, he can offer me my previous position if I want it. But I was thinking, with a baby, shift work is not really a good idea. It's really a shame, coz I really loved the job there. So now, I'm working in a children's development centre. A pretty good place. Was a student here once upon a time. They take students from 3 - 15 years old.

So now, life's pretty much balanced for me. Working during the day, taking care of Joshua during the night. My mother in law is taking care of him during the days while my husband and I worked. Before I gave birth, my mother in law kept asking if we have found a babysitter for Joshua or not. Once he's born and she has been with him for 2 months, she didn't have the heart to send him to a babysitter, so she decided to take care of him herself. Which is kinda a relief for me. Family members taking care of our babies are much safer than babysietters. Who knows what kind of babysitter we'll get?? Daren't even imagine the horror stories!