Farewell January

Oh my, this blog has certainly accumulated some cobwebs! Sorry peeps, still adjusting to my new role and this whole sleeping early business (cos Ian has to wake up early for kindy) is shifting the entire household's sleeping pattern. Hence zero time to blog! (The only reason why I'm blogging today is because it is a public holiday.)

Speaking about Ian, it has been one FULL month (no ponteng, ok!) but he still doesn't like school! The first thing he says to anyone, in the morning, is "I don't want to go (to) school!" And he keeps chanting the same mantra all throughout the car ride to kindy. *rolls eyes* Bila lah nak adapt nie Ian??? But I guess I should learn to count my blessings because earlier in the month he would cling to my neck, blouse, pants - anything within reach, and wail pitifully. Nowadays it's just merengek with some amount of drama tears (alah setitik dua jer) then he stops immediately after I leave the room.

Once, I was driving him to school, and he exclaimed; "When I say don't want, go back!!!" (Must have been pretty exasperated cos I kept driving even though he said he didn't want to go to school!)

Crying in class. I even tried to 'buy' him by bringing him to 7-11 before school, but I guess the joke's on me cos after he went 'shopping' he said, "Can you take me home now, Mummy?" Ppfffttt

Aiden on the other hand, is loving the whole sleeping early thing. Why? Cos he gets away from mummy-issued homework. By the time he finishes school homework, it's already time for bed. I haven't had the time to properly get him into the studying rhythm, but need to do so soon since he'll be having his exams in March. Just yesterday, he told me that he had to go on stage during perhimpunan. I thought it was because he did well or something. Rupanya the discipline teacher was lecturing the kids about ensuring their hair is short and Aiden was made as an example of rambut panjang. *chuckles* Ok definitely need to get Aiden's hair in check during this long weekend!

Recently, we enrolled the boys into swimming class. Well, a re-enrollment for Aiden but a new one for Ian. Similar like his elder brother, Ian is terrified of water. Zero water confidence! I guess the plan backfired because in his first class, the coach forced Ian to jump into the water (deep pool, mind you). I didn't quite agree with his method but I didn't want to make a scene. He was crying, scared shit-less at that point. Memang kesian. After that class, Ian completely freaked out and refused to go anywhere near the water - we actually had to cancel his enrollment. Until now, even at kindy he refuses to go near the ankle deep swimming pool. *sigh* Anak Air, if you're reading this, please revisit your coaching methods for beginners. Learn to assess each child differently. Some children just cannot be forced to conquer their fear of water in the very first class.

Ian's first (and last) class!

Aiden on the other hand, has conquered his fear and actually won a few medals in a recent swimming competition! Granted, he was placed in the junior category due to his age, but I'm just so happy that he loves the water now. He has certainly come a long way - from refusing to let water wet his hair nor trickle down his face - to this!

Congratulations Aiden, on winning silver and bronze! Super proud of you!!

Enough about the kids! Work wise, I think I'm getting there (I think)! It's definitely a mind shift, having to be less of an individual contributor but more of a leader cum manager. Managing people is not easy. Sometimes, in meetings, I feel like people are expecting me to share words of wisdom or something. Stress! To de-stress, I would then have lunch with my Upstream peeps; the people I grew up with all throughout my initial working life. Work involves a lot of traveling - I think throughout January I was traveling almost every week. Even in the plane I was turning on my laptop to reply to emails. *crazy* Next week I'm traveling again but this time I'm taking the kids too. Ponteng sekolah lah, sekali sekala. Other than traveling, I had to attend a lot of corporate dinners in January too, to the point that I was running out of muslimah-compliant dinner dresses. Thank god Zalia on Zalora ships quite quickly!

Folks in Downstream dress differently too! We seem to loveeeeee our pecten embellished shirts. This picture has garnered so many comments on my Instagram. Go check it out to get the joke! 

Due to traveling and long hours of work, I haven't seen the gang pagar sekolah for eons! From what used to be daily lepak sessions, to sekali seminggu pun susah nak jumpa. But so glad that recently we took the opportunity to have lunch together (just us girls!) to celebrate a baby shower and a double birthday celebration. Of course, yours truly was in charge of the deco and I also offered to make macarons for door gifts (instead of the cake!) I'm sure you've seen some photos on Instagram, but I promise I'll try to pen a specific post just for that event!

The pink and white deco for the day.

Still missing a few more, but so glad we took the time to enjoy our lunch outing!

One with the glowing mummy-to-be. I swear, there was literally a fan blowing into my hair, hence the rambut macam iklan shampoo shot.

Okay, that's all from me peeps - a rundown of January. I'll try to catch up on blog posts soon. (Operative word here, is try!) *chuckles*

Thanks for reading!

Happy New Year 2018!

Thought I should pen this down before I start clocking in to the office. Planning to take this entire week off, but preparing myself in case work calls!

Why a week off? Because the dreaded day has finally arrived; despite his many many pleas of "I don't want school", Ian finally headed for his first day at kindergarten.

Excited face, pre-waterworks.

I tried so many psycho tricks, from taking him shopping for new stationery, getting him to help me with labeling his books, to asking him what food he wants to put in each lunch box. I guess it finally worked because yesterday he proclaimed, "I want to go to school!"

I was ecstatic but really, very wary about the proclamation. Put him to bed early hence he didn't have an issue waking up this morning. He got dressed excitedly and ate his cereal breakfast without a fuss. Got into school and walked him into the classroom. Sat him down, told him that we'll be waiting outside, kissed him goodbye and walked out. Thankfully his class had a glass window by the side so I was able to peer inside to see.

As expected, the waterworks started almost immediately. No wailing or anything like that, but just really sad tears rolling down his cheeks. Sampai tersedu sedu, his head jerking with every sedu motion. OMG my heart broke into a million pieces. Tears welled up into my own eyes!! I felt like scooping him into my arms and running out of the door. #ohthedrama

Hubby was no help. He wanted to get breakfast. Keras hati sungguh! (And people say I'm the garang one hmmpphh) After a while, I saw a teacher holding Ian's hand and walking him and his friends to the sink to wash their hands for morning break. Finally I mustered up the strength to pull myself away from the window and allowed Hubby to drag me to breakfast.

Real Kids mummies, reunited for breakfast!

Sharp at 10am (school ended early the first day), we picked him up. His first words? "Just now I cried but after that I didn't cry!" Phewwww he must have stopped crying then. Lega! Coaxed him to tell us more about his day at school, and even managed to record it on my phone. Interestingly, he ended his story with "I don't want to go to school." *chuckles* Wish me luck with tomorrow!!! Met up with his teacher who reassured us that he stopped crying, made some friends, and even asked his friends to call him Iskandar! Hahaha that last one was quite a shocker!

Well done baby boy, for your first day of school!

Anyway, enough airtime for Ian. Aiden had his first day of school today too. Tapi anak bujang nie memang tak payah worry. He knows his way around school already. Maklum lah, dah jadi senior sessi petang! But since it's our yearly ritual to send him to school on his first day, Hubby and I made it a point to walk him in, and stayed with him in line until it was his turn to walk to class.

Otai sangat senior nie, sampai tie pun tak nak pakai. *giggles*

Standard 3 already! Time certainly flies.

Gave him a kiss on the cheek before he went to sit with his friends, and he actually wiped it off! Ish ish ish. Ok lah, so mum's kisses are no longer allowed in the school compound. You're growing up too fast, Aiden! This year, his class is all the way at the top most floor (yet again), but he specifically requested for a non-trolley bag. I hope he can cope with the weight of his books. *sigh* Other than that, he looked really happy to be back with familiar faces and friends.

Ended the day with a pizza dinner as a reward for an awesome first day at school for the boys.

Phewww Hubby, we survived the first day of school!