May Blues

It could have been pre-destined that May is not a good month for Son No 2.

Son No 2 spent the first two weeks of May taking his mid-year exams - which cover a total of 11 papers. Yes, you did not read wrongly - it is 11 papers for an 8-year-old boy, would you believe it? Let me list the papers again (I have frequently grumbled about this in my previous posts): Malay Writing, Malay Comprehension, Chinese Writing, Chinese Comprehension, English, Chinese Science, English Science, Chinese Math, English Math, Moral Education and Computer. By the time the exams were over, anyone would be braindead, I assure you.

As far as written sit-down exams go, I am convinced that for this age-group, they are biased towards girls. Girls have the better mental attitude and developmental maturity at that age to handle exams. Not the boys. Generally speaking, boys are playful, less meticulous and make careless mistakes frequently. And their attention span is really short. If you were to analyse most exam papers, the careless mistakes start appearing towards the end of the paper.

It is thus not surprising that all the the top 3 scorers in Son No 2's class are girls. It is also not surprising that the top student in the Primary School Leaving Exams (PSLE) in Singapore every year is a girl :(( Ya, ya, this is one sourgrape mother you are hearing from!

Anyway, Son No 2 DID beat the girls and came up top for one of his papers. *Hurrah* It's his pet subject, English Science. He couldn't wait to announce his achievement to me when I picked him up from school that day. Heck, not many adults is better than this third-grader (US equivalent) when it comes to English Science! Especially on this topic that he was being tested this term - Animals and Plants. The reward for his achievement? A photo of the magnificent jaguar on my desktop for a week.

May Blues nevertheless continued to follow Son No 2. He was not selected for participation in this year's Annual Sports Day (he won a gold medal last year) and was disappointed.

And he caught the flu bug a few days ago. Normally, I would self-medicate when the children had fever, cough and runny nose. But this time round, with the H1N1 threat in the air, I did not want to take any chances and took him to see the paediatrician. True enough, the good paediatrician said it was a common bug and prescribed exactly the same medicine that I would have given him. As it turned out, I really paid RM50 just for the peace of mind.

So Son No 2 is resting at home now. He can't wait for June as he will be going to Singapore for a holiday. He and his younger brother have been talking incessantly about the trip and are really excited. Let's hope that's the end to the May Blues.

Manglish, Singlish, No Diff-la

Not too long ago, Son No 3 was whining about how much work he had and he said, "Aiyoh, want to pengsan already!".

Pengsan? I was quite amused to hear such a local expression coming out of the babe's mouth. I haven't heard this word for a long, long time.

Hmm... Son No 3 is getting quite localised. Actually, he did not understand what pengsan meant. He just knew that was what his teacher would say when she had too much work. [Incidentally, pengsan is the Malay word for "faint".]

Yesterday, Son No 3 surprised me again when he asked me what is the meaning of "alamak". Apparently, his English teacher had used the exclamation in school. I told him it meant "Oh dear..." and that it is a Malay word.

Yes, amused I was, but at the back of my mind, I was also alarmed. I suppose there is nothing wrong with interjecting a local word or idiom into an English sentence. This is the mildest form of Manglish. But at school, children do pick up all forms of Manglish when they interact with other children.

We do not speak perfect English at home but we try to speak mostly Standard English. I admit we occasionally lapse into creole (which is what the linguists call this form of speech such as Manglish or Singlish) but I don't think it is often.

Son No 2 is not much better. When Son No 2 tells a story or relates an experience, he likes to begin, "One time ah, I did this and that...." And I will always correct his sentence and tell him to begin with "There was once I did this and that...".

On one occasion, he wanted to jump down the stairs and I warned him, "Don't jump!" His response was classic. "Where got I jump?!!"

Yes, he is beginning to speak the more serious form of Manglish. This is not unexpected because he goes to a Chinese primary school and the teachers there are probably the main culprits. This is the trade-off for going to a Chinese primary school. Luckily, Son No 2 likes to watch TV and that includes good edutainment channels like Animal Planet, Discovery, TVIQ and recently - and I was truly surprised by this - even the History channel. So his formal speech is quite OK.

I would like to think that the two boys can code-switch to Standard English when the occasion demands it. Most of the time, they can speak fairly well, though there is obviously room for improvement. I just hope there is no further deterioration.

Son No 1, though, almost always speaks Standard English. He has been attending premier schools since young, whether in Singapore or here in Malaysia, and his classmates mainly come from upper class English-speaking homes.

When he first started school here, he asked me what the word "action" meant. Of course, he knew the proper meaning of the word, but he has heard some of the locals here using it as a verb, as in "No need to action-la." I explained to him that action is akin to showing-off.

For me, I am used to hearing both Singlish and Manglish, and so I do not really spot any glaring difference between the two. The chief difference is that Singlish has more Hokkien/Teochew influence, while Manglish has more Malay influence.

Otherwise, both creoles are quite similar. Both creoles use the suffix "-lah" liberally, albeit in different forms as in "-leh" or "-lo". There is also a fondness to tag sentences with "-one", as in "It's not like that-one..." and to use "got" before any verb, to indicate the past tense, as in "I got eat already..."

I guess the commonality of Singlish and Manglish is the obvious manifestation of the "bond" that tie the people from Singapore and Malaysia as having the same roots. I wish more people will remember that.

My Son, The Blogger

Hey, there's another blogger in the family!

Son No 2 has been asking me to make a blog for him for weeks. He has seen me blogging and he seems fascinated by the process. He has never really read what I have written - which is a bit too long-winded for him - but he has an idea what blogging is about. The idea of writing on his favourite subjects enthuses him.

I did not take him seriously at first and used my normal delaying tactics to avoid creating a blog for him. I did not want him to start something and then abandon it.

But he was persistent, as only 8-year-old little boys can be.

So finally, last weekend, I sat down with him and together, we set up the blogger account. I gave him some ideas how he could name his blog and he chose the name, Jian's Diary. I like the simple title of his blog. He chose the template and soon, he was writing his first post. Hmm... it looks like he's going to take away my blog traffic, since we are likely to have the same target readers, but never mind!

Over the past three days, Son No 2 has written 6 posts. Not bad at all :) The story ideas are all his own. I step in to correct some grammatical and spelling errors - though as far as possible, I try not to change too many things or alter the flavour.

But I do take this as an opportunity to hone Son No 2's writing skills. I would ask him questions like, "So how do you feel?" or "What did you see?" - to help him in the writing process. From my experience with Son No 1, boys tend to be very focused on action when they write ("they did this, they did that") and not enough on the feelings or senses. I would like Son No 2 to be more perceptive in that way.

Well, it is really very easy to set up a blog, but it is the maintenance that is going to be tough - it does require considerable discipline, fortitude and a love for writing. There are millions of blogs in the world of which only a fraction are active. The rest end up as litter in the blogosphere.

Anyway, I am just glad that Son No 2 is enjoying himself now.

If by chance, he discovers that he has a love for writing, that will be a real bonus :)

All I Want For Christmas...

Son 2 lost both his upper incisors over the past 2 weeks and is darn proud about it.

Both teeth dropped off without fuss or fanfare, tears or hysterics.

I'm glad my boys are stoical about such things :)

Qing Ming

Yesterday, my hubby and I, together with the 3 boys, made an overnight trip to Johor Bahru, my hubby's hometown, some 300 km away. We were observing Qing Ming, which is the Chinese equivalent to All Souls' Day. Traditionally, the English translation of Qing Ming was Tomb-Sweeping Day, an important day in the Chinese calendar where families gather to commemorate the departed in their ancestry tree.

In Son No 2's Chinese school, Qing Ming is a school holiday. In general, schools in Malaysia have 3 discretionary holidays, and I am glad that the Chinese vernacular schools here have chosen to use one of those discretionary holidays for Qing Ming. It signifies the Chinese community's deeply committed values of filial piety and remembering roots.

For the first time, I was in charge of buying all the things that were traditionally used for such visits to the grave. My sister-in-law was ill and we were on our own this time.

Now, I am not a believer of burning joss sticks and paper effigy or things like that and I do not believe that burning such things will eventually reach the intended recipients. [Interestingly, I told the children we were going to "visit" grandma and grandpa's graves while my hubby told them we were going to "pray" to grandma and grandpa - I noticed the difference in terminology - but I wonder whether the children realised the difference.]

But I carried out my duty to shop for joss sticks, candles and stuff on my spouse's behalf and I did the best I could. I was amused that nowadays, besides the mansions, maids and mobile phones, the paper effigy merchants actually stocked LV handbags, birds' nests and even lace lingeries! The departed must be having a really rocking time down (or up) there. On the other hand, it was sad that school uniforms were also available for children who had met untimely deaths.

Anyway, this was the first time that Son No 2 and Son No 3 followed the rest of us to visit the columbarium where both their paternal grandparents rested. Unsurprisingly, they had plenty of questions. When we showed them the photos of their grandma and grandpa, Son No 3 was pretty insistent that he wanted to see them (as in physically), although he knew they were dead. I don't think he really understood what death meant.

Both of them were intrigued by the burning of the hellnotes. Why was it that when the money was burnt, the money would go to dead people? Well, I am glad they were logical thinkers! I told them it was just a traditional belief - I actually used the word "traditional" - lol, trying to hide behind big words again. But they were smart - they knew what I meant. Oh, you mean, it is like play-pretend??? Yes, something like that.

After that, Son No 3 asked why do dead people need money? Aha, good question. I told him, not really.... and before I could continue, Son No 3 answered his own question. Oh yes, he forgot, it was just pretend.

Son No 1 made an interesting observation of his own - the hellnotes had the same serial numbers! Trust him to be so aware of numbers!

The next question the younger boys asked was where did dead people go? I told them honestly, we really don't know - and that there were some things that people do not know, even when they became adults. I know it would be easy to tell him that dead people went to heaven, but there are some things that I think they would have to search and find answers for themselves.

Then came the difficult part - when they asked, after dead people were buried, what happened to the bodies underground. I remember they have asked this before when their pet hamster died. I told them the bodies would disintegrate. Disintegrate meant decay. In the end, the bodies would become like the soil again. Oh, they asked, is it like they will disappear....? Ya, something like that. Son No 3 then asked would worms come out from their bodies. Well, I think enough is enough! Surely we do not need to go to the gory details.

It was a quick and tiring overnight trip. But I am of the view that Qing Ming is a good and meaningful Chinese tradition. I look at it devoid of religious implications and I intend to carry on this tradition within my family. Now my children are young but looking into the future, it should provide yet another opportunity for busy family members to make time to get together and reflect on their common past. It would be a good way to refresh and renew ties.

Activity Snapshot

The following snapshots feature "One Week In The Life Of...."
(Scheduled events only)

Son No 3

- 5 days of kindergarten (8:30am - 12:30pm)
- 3 Mandarin Enrichment classes
- 1 English Speech & Drama class
- 1 Piano lesson
- 1 Taekwando class

Son No 2

- 5 days of primary school (1:05pm - 6:40pm)
- 2 Mandarin Enrichment classes
- 1 Piano lesson
- 1 Taekwando class

Son No 1

- 5 days of high school (8:00am - 3:30pm)
- 2 Mandarin Enrichment classes
- 3 Tennis sessions
- 1 Taekwando class

Mummy

- All of the above (driving duties only)
- Less overlap in Taekwando (class attended by the 3 boys together)
- 1 Marketing trip to the wet market
- 1 Grocery shopping trip to the hypermart

Wow... how humdrum can life be...

OK, invites going out to everyone to top the humdrum scale....=^=

The Rainbow Connection

It is fair to say that whatever our age, we are excited when we chance upon a rainbow. But after the initial excitement, what next? Well, then it does depend on your age...

Son No 3 would say "I want to go to the rainbow". His mummy, down-to-earth and dead-honest as usual, would say that he can't. Why not? Well, because a rainbow is just a vision.... (blank look), it is an illusion... (huh?), it is not real.... (it looked very real to him). Look, it will disappear when you go near it, OK? "You mean, it is like the clouds?" Hmm... never mind, I do not really want to take away that innocence so soon. I can't very well tell him that the rainbow is caused by the refraction of electromagnetic waves when the waves travel through media of different density.

Son No 2, two years older and thinking that he is wiser, would say "No-la, you can only get the rainbow when there is rain and sun together, right, mummy?" Then he would go on to say, "I want to go to the end of the rainbow." He has heard of the common folklore and wants that pot of gold. I am not sure whether it is a sign that there is still some innocence left in him.

Son No 1, the analytical big brother, would want to show off to his younger siblings. He would say, "I can tell you all the colours of the rainbow" and would go on to rattle off the names of the colours by heart. Then mummy would challenge him, so which colour is in the inner arc of the rainbow? And after pausing for a while to think, he would be able to provide the answer.

Mummy, on the other hand, would keep her thoughts to herself - pondering philosophically why she sees more rainbows here in KL than in Singapore. The last one she saw was just during the Chinese New Year period. Is the weather pattern here really so different?

Or is God showering more blessings on this country? After all, this country is run by clowns (and that's putting it really mildly since clowns do no harm to others) and yet, the country has managed to function and even escape great calamities. The country has been registering positive growth over the years despite the huge amount of wastage that flows through the very large crevices that everybody knows about. Is this country blessed (in a certain way) or what?

Coming back to the rainbow, some may offer this simple explanation: that Singapore has too many highrise buildings which block the line of sight. To even see the sky, for heaven's sake, one needs to look vertically up. So how to see the rainbow?!

There is an even simpler explanation: when most people come home from work, it is already dark. If one does not even see the blue sky, then how to see the rainbow?

Photo courtesy of pauel_0206

Tee-u-tion And Exams

The other day, Son No 2 asked me, "What is tee-u-tion?" Apparently, all his friends went for tee-u-tion and he was wondering why he did not.

Tee-u-tion is of course the local (mis)pronunciation of tuition.

I told him that he did not need tuition. Which is true and yet, not. This is because I personally coach him every weekday morning and so he does not need to go for tee-u-tion. At home, I take our coaching sessions seriously. We follow a fixed schedule: we start lessons at 9am every morning and end around 10-ish. When exams are near, we also do another short session at 9pm every night.

I have come to realise that, except for the really brilliant few, all students here do need tuition... for the simple reason that the young students are burdened with too many subjects. In the Chinese school that Son No 2 is attending, the students are expected to master 3 languages: Mandarin, Malay and English, besides other curriculum subjects, Math and Science. The standard of Mandarin and Malay are very high since both are pitched at the first language level. These two subjects alone take up most of our time. Language learning is really no joke. Luckily, Son No 2 reads a lot in English and has no problem there.

I have ranted endlessly about the system of education here. There are so many things that need fixing besides the curriculum. I have written to the press about it, many times, and even left my comments on the PM's webpage .... but this is not my focus today. Don't get me started! Coming back to Son No 2...

So, instead of engaging an external tutor, I am his personal tutor because I don't think anyone else can do a better job. Really. I am not trying to boast or anything... but the mother knows her child best AND the mother has the child's best interest at heart. Another advantage is that I can point out things to them that relate to their current learning, whether it is from the TV, newspapers or from the world around us.

Son No 2 is pretty disciplined himself and is a joy to teach most of the time, despite the inevitable ups and downs. He is now in the midst of his first term exams and he has been pretty pleased with himself the past few days.

When I pick him up after school, he would wear a big grin on his face. And in the car, he would be telling me what questions came out and how he answered them. Always seeking affirmation... and I would tell him that so long as he has done his best, that will be good enough. If he has made a mistake, it's ok, he just needs to learn from the mistake.

Son No 2 ever told me before that some of his friends were getting 3 marks, 14 marks, and so on, out of 100 marks. And I feel deeply for these children. Who will help these children? I know some of them are from disadvantaged background and I wish there's more institutional help for them....

But anyway, so Son No 2 is coping, despite the ills of the system. At the end of the day, the actual marks that he is getting is not that important. I just want him to maintain that positive self-esteem. That is reward enough for me.

Right Or Wrong? Part 2

Moral reasoning develops through different stages, so say the experts. I tend to forget this and make the mistake of applying more advanced reasoning to a young child which of course leaves little impact on the child. Luckily, Son No 3's school teacher knows better.

One day, Son No 3 came home and told me this: "You know, the teacher told us we cannot fight in school. If somebody punch you, we still cannot punch back. You know why?"

I asked obligingly, "Why?" And waited for some good moral reasoning, like an eye for an eye, makes the whole world blind, or something in that vein.

He answered, "Because the teacher will scold and punish both of us."

Kudos to the teacher - simple, effective and logical reasoning to a young child. And she has reached her objective of keeping an orderly classroom.

Son No 2 is at a more advanced stage of reasoning and it is to his school teacher's credit that he has begun to explore moral issues in society. Recently he asked me whether I have seen any beggars in the pasar malam.

"These beggars have their legs and arms broken by the bad people. They are always hungry because the bad people take away all their money. So we should not give them any money. My teacher says we should give them food."

The next time I visited the pasar malam, he remembered to ask me whether I gave the beggars any food. I told him, honestly, that I did not see any beggar. Lol, my son has become the keeper of my conscience! But it is good to see my son developing compassion for the less-fortunate.

But as we all know, the world is not black and white. As the children grow, they will need to learn to distinguish and think for themselves the various shades of grey.

During the school assembly this week, the Chairperson of Son No 1's school told them that the maxim "do not judge a book by its cover" is not true. She gave the example of a violinist busker who played beautiful music in a subway and earned maybe $32 a day. If the same violinist were to hold a performance in a concert hall, smartly dressed in a tuxedo, the same violinist can probably charge $100 per head per concert. In other words, the violinist is judged by all the trappings.

I am not sure whether I agree with what the Chairperson was saying or the message that she was delivering to her students. I can turn it around and say that if another violinist has no substance - that is, not talented - then nobody will pay to see him despite all the concert hall ra-ra. Substance always comes first. People will judge the violinist on how well he plays, not by his appearance. People may be taken in by appearance the first time round, but they will soon feel cheated and grow wiser. So it is good advice to us not to be taken in by appearance.

The story was told to me by Son No 1 who seemed impressed by the Chairperson's piece of logic. I was worried that my son may have got the one-sided message - maybe unintended - that appearance is all-important, which is something I cannot agree on. But to be fair, I asked my son in what context was the violinist story told. Son No 1 did not understand my question and I re-phrased it, how come the Chairperson suddenly brought up the story? What was she trying to say?

Apparently, her message was to remind the students to take care of their image through good grooming and not dress scruffily in school. Why? Visitors to the school might be impressed by the school building and physical environment, but when they see the scruffy students, they will leave with a less favourable impression. And to her, a good impression is important because a book is judged by its cover. It is interesting to me that her main concern was how visitors viewed the school, and not how her charges developed under her care - but I know that's besides the point here.

Now I have no argument against the importance of good grooming, but I hope she also emphasised to the students that whatever good grooming that they cultivated would be useless if in the end, the students did not become well-educated, useful members of the society. It is so important that the right message gets filtered to young adolescent minds.

Holiday's End

Learning a new skill needs persistence, grit and determination. Son No 2 shows that he has plenty of these qualities as he practises swimming almost everyday now this past week under his very patient but demanding brother coach.

As the designated swim coach of the family, Son No 1 has done an excellent job. He succeeded where I would not have because he demanded more and got more. Initially, I kept a close watch on their swimming sessions, but soon began to relax as Son No 1 earned my trust as a responsible brother coach.

Son No 3 has been understandably peeved that he has had nobody to play with in the "baby pool" - which we now call the "children's pool" - with due consideration for his feelings. He is not ready to learn swimming as he still dares not submerge his head fully into the water. I tell him when he is seven years old, like Son No 2, then it will be his turn to learn swimming. That does little to pacify him.

We have had a peaceful week, this last week of the school holidays - watching TV/DVDs, resting, completing homework assignments (in the case of Son No 1) and generally getting mentally prepared for the start of the new school year. I would say for all of us that this long holiday - starting from our trip to Singapore in early December to the Gold Coast to this do-nothing week at home - has been particularly rejuvenative.

Ya, we are all charged up and ready to run... bring it on!

The National Library, KL

These past two weeks have been really good for bonding with Son No 2. With him as the only one of my sons on holiday, I could plan activities with him in the starring role. I am sure he loved the attention. Likewise for me, I also loved these one-on-one moments.

Yesterday morning, both of us visited the National Library in KL. It was our maiden foray into the local sights and happenings. He wanted to go to the Zoo Negara but I was not up to it as yet. The Zoo Negara is further away in Ampang and after the Singapore Zoo, there is a strong feeling that we are just setting ourselves up for disappointment.

The Perpustakaan Negara along Jalan Tun Razak is located in an eye-catching, stand-alone building. Like many buildings in KL, its design is interesting - creativity in architecture is one aspect that Malaysia can stand tall. The Children's Library is in a separate area and so we did not enter the Main Library.

The Children's Library is better than I expected (I have deliberately lowered my expectations). It is well-stocked with books - but as far as Son No 2 is concerned, they are not the right type of books. After glancing at some books untidily strewn at the low shelves, he was put off because "all the books are in Malay and Chinese". You can see disappointment written all over his face. After some effort, he managed to come across an English book on Leopards and another book on Animals. His faith was somewhat restored. In the end, we read some Chinese story books which we did enjoy.

It is difficult not to compare with our Bishan Children's Library which is like the gold standard. My main grouse is that there is a lack of discipline among the librarians and the library-users to put the books back where they belong. It is near impossible if you want to locate any particular book. Getting hold of a good book is like a treasure hunt. There are English books - I saw a couple of Enid Blyton books - but there are not many of them. The library would have been quite suitable for us, I think, as we do not have enough Chinese books and no Malay books in our house, but it would take some convincing for the children to read these "foreign language" books.

The library was manned by courteous staff who made the effort to speak to me in English. We were the only non-Malays there. So there I was, asking them questions in Malay, and they were replying in English - neither of us totally fluent in our speech but both parties trying to be accommodating! The membership is a token RM1 and members can borrow 3 books up to 3 weeks. But we did not take up the offer as it is probably not worth the effort for us.

It was a short visit. We could see the Twin Towers from the Library building and we could not resist this picture-perfect shot.

Books Forever - Son No 2

Son No 2 loves his Animal books. Animals have been his enduring passion thus far and have outlasted Dinosaurs, Star Wars, Pokemon and other equally deep but transient interests.

Big Cats are his favourites and he has easily three books with that same title. As they are published under different publishers, they offer different perspectives and Son No 2 would plough through the books to find the little nuggets of information that may be present in one book and not the others. Besides that, he has numerous books on Predators, Wild Animals and the like.

The first Animal book that Son No 2 read was this edition called "Wild Animals" (see above) under the set of books "A Child's Library Of Learning". It is his firm favourite, as evidenced by its obvious state of use - it has scotch-taped spines and well-thumbed, dog-eared pages hanging loosely, in contrast to the well-kept, pristine state of some of the other books in the set, like "Music And Art". The topic which held his fascination the most was "Which Animal Is The Fastest?" which set out the different maximum speed achieved by different animals. Btw, the fastest land animal is the cheetah which can reach a blistering speed of 113 km/h.

Son No 2 went on to read many other children's books on animals that were available in the market. But there is this one book that became his definitive book. In my mind, when I imagined him with a book, it would be this book.

Son No 2 chanced upon this "Encyclopedia of Animals" (see below) at Borders@ The Curve sometime in early 2007. He really loved it but I hesitated to buy it as the book was not written for his age group and the contents might be too advanced for him - though paradoxically, at the back of my mind, I knew that was precisely the reason why he liked it so much - he wanted more advanced learning about animals. But as his mother, I was equally cautious not to kill his interest by getting him something that was beyond his years - he was only five years old then.

But subsequently, he frequently talked about this book and whenever we visited The Curve, he would want to go and see the book (he could not read that well yet). One day, when I was on my own at Borders, I saw that the book was on offer and it sort of gave me the impetus to make the purchase. I saved the book for his 6th birthday present.

And this book became his most cherished book ever. There was sufficient information for him to digest for the whole year and though he could not read very well what was written, I read to him. And sometimes he could not understand the formal English and I had to translate the meaning to his level. But he learnt a lot. And was proud of it. And I am proud of him.

So far, Son No 2 has demonstrated the ability for deep and self-directed learning. As an educationist, I know how important this is.

As he grows, I have no doubt that he will develop other interests. But whatever it is, if he continues to show the same learning attitude, he cannot go wrong. The challenge now, as always, is not to let the environment douse his flame of learning. And as his parent, I am aware that this heavy responsibility is mine.

A Spoonful Of Medicine

One of the most challenging tasks of a parent is to get a sick child to take his medicine.

With Son No 1, it was near impossible when he was younger. The only reason we brought him to see the doctor was to make sure there was nothing more serious. He hardly took any medicine the doctor prescribed. We tried all sorts of ways: gentle persuasion, trickery (mixing the medicine with some other food or liquid), bribery, physical manhandling and logical discourse. But all to no avail. It was always a trying time. Luckily, his body always recovered and now, he has no problems at all.

Son No 2 was more cooperative but the only thing was he had this in-built self-gagging mechanism. When he did not like the medicine, he would throw up everything after swallowing the medicine. He invented the term "throwing-up bowl" in our household. We always have one vesicle beside him so that he would not mess up the place.

Now with Son No 3, it is different. He generally has a positive attitude towards medicine. This probably stems from his love for food. If his brothers were sick and he was not, he would feign some illness so that he could also take medicine. I know his favourites - the orange-flavoured panadol syrup and actifed, the anti-histamine.

But his recent illness threw up a new precedence. Of the 5 bottles of medicine that he needed to take, he would cheerfully take four of them. When it came to the antibiotic, he would protest tearfully. It must be really yucky. This morning, the maid and I held on to the spoonful of antibiotic for close to one hour, talking to him, reasoning, bargaining, cajoling. We even created a fantasy with the antibiotic as the ammunition to attack the germs, a la the games that they like to play. It was only when Dad threatened with the cane that he yielded.

Now, it's almost time for the antibiotic dose again. I call for patience....

Fun At Ikea Playland

Son No 3 did not need to go to school today as the kindergarten declared a special holiday after Saturday's concert. As a treat, I brought him and Son No 2 to Ikea's Playland this morning.

This place is highly recommended for stay-at-home moms who need a reliable baby-sitter for an hour or so. While the children were playing, I had time to run some errands and browse at the Popular bookstore. It was a lovely morning. It's times like these that make me appreciate my life as a SAHM.

Growth, Growth, Growth

Let's talk about growth.... not contraction, recession or depression.

• Son No 1 has outgrown his old shoes. His shoe size is now bigger than mine.
• Son No 2 is no longer the shortest boy in class. His title is now passed on to Nuraiman.
• Son No 3 had needed to alter his Red Indian costume because he could not fit into it. His principal said that measurements for the costumes were taken just about 6 weeks ago.
• Mummy has not shown any vertical or horizontal growth. The only tiresome visible growth are hair (the grey bits) and nails.

Book Fair And Cheow Yang

This morning, we braced the heavy morning traffic to reach the MPH warehouse sale before 9 am. The sale was to start at 9am. I thought I've got it figured out - to reach there early to get a parking lot. But it was a shocker - both sides of the road were already fully double-parked by the time we reached there. I suspect it's the normal working crowd - it just goes to show that there are too many cars on the roads, but what to do? There's no alternative transportation.

To cut a long story short, by luck and gumption, I managed to get a decent illegal parking lot right in front of the warehouse. Son No 2 and I spent a fruitful 1.5 hours there and got 12 books for RM156. What a steal! Mind you, these are quality books, some hardcover, some by Usborne. Son No 2 got 4 books about predators, big cats and volcanoes. I chose a colourful coffee-table hard cover "Lord Of The Rings" book for Son No 1 and an illustrated children's atlas for Son No 3. I also got a few story books for the children.

For myself, I got 2 autobiography by people that I admire: Hillary Clinton and Vikram Seth, the author of "A Suitable Boy". I am gleefully waiting for the chance to bury myself in between the pages - umm, I should be well-prepared for my forthcoming holidays.

Later, we had lunch at the legendary Cheow Yang in SS2. Those of us familiar with the place already know it's no longer owned by Cheow Yang, but the name stuck. As a blogger, I tend to carry my camera with me most of the time and in the spur of the moment, I thought it would be a good idea to capture this significant place in digital history. So, in spite of the curious crowd there, I gamely took a few shots of the place and am posting them in this blog (see below). Ya, they all probably thought I was a tourist, or heaven forbid, an undercover agent from MBPJ, the town council!

In time to come, we can all look back and explain to our grandchildren this place called Cheow Yang (like it or hate it) and the delicious "you tiao" stall in front of it. If your grandchildren were to ask you, in a foreign accent (ya, my imagination is rather fertile at the moment), "Mama and gonggong, what is you tiao?", it's actually dough fritters. I have also taken a picture of this street-side cuisine for your "show and tell"!

Building A Volcano

Son No 2's exams were over last week. For putting in all the hard work, I gave him this volcano-building kit.

The completion took several days and finally we got the volcano working yesterday. For those who want to try, the eruption is just a simple reaction of baking soda with vinegar.

Voila!

Best Of Pals

Sons No 2 and No 3 have become the best of pals. It has not always been the case. Suffice to say, Son No 3 has finally caught up with Son No 2 in terms of speech and social development. The two boys, now at 5 and 7, have reached a stage whereby they can play, fight and quarrel well together :)

Son No 3 has blossomed considerably this past year. He has become much, much more chatty (help!) and more aware of the world. He has picked up sufficient vocabulary to express his ideas and can engage in delightfully nonsensical debates with Son No 2. It is really quite amusing to hear their quarrels or their constant attempts of one-upmanship.

Frequently, in the midst of a quarrel, one of them may yell one of the following:

• "Maaa-meee, he is telling a web of lies!"
• "Maaa-meee, he called me a lousy boy!"
• "Maaa-meee, he beat me for no reason!"
• "Maaa-meee, he is so evil!"

... but they will continue their verbal sparring without missing a beat. They do not really want me to intervene - they just want to score a point with the other party. Well, this wise mom will not interfere, unless absolutely necessary - I know they are not really seriously quarrelling - they just enjoy socializing in that manner!

When the two boys are good friends, they are very good together. Some Saturday or Sunday mornings, they wake up and remain in their bedroom, playing their Lego set in bed or using their pillows/bolsters to build homes for their toy animals. At other times, they play their respective Game boy quietly together. That must be their idea of a perfect lie-in on a weekend. Ah, couldn't agree more. Peace for all.

And when they are up to their pranks.....! I will never forget this - and neither will Son No 1, I suspect.

One fine day, the two younger boys decided to play a trick on Big Brother. The plan was to switch off the bathroom light when Big Brother was bathing to give him a fright. The idea came from Son No 2. But he was not tall enough to reach the light switch. So he convinced his younger but taller brother to commit the crime. This is what you might call teamwork - one providing the brainwave, the other the brawn.

You can guess what happened next. Big Brother indeed got a fright of his life. He dashed out of the bathroom, dripping wet and hopping mad, furiously demanding to know who switched off his light. But the partners in crime kept quiet - nobody owned up - and we were left wondering who was the culprit? It was much later, after much probing, that we got the whole story out. It never crossed my mind that the two younger boys were in cahoots!

Below are some moments captured when they are playing together:

Playing their own brand of chess. I cannot imagine how they can spend hours just moving the chess pieces around. They do not know how to play chess, but they have devised their own set of rules - beats me how it works - but it works well enough to keep them both engrossed in the game for long periods of time.

Playing a game of Wii. Their favourite game is Star Wars, of course. Both of them can play at the same time but in this dual mode, one takes the lead and the other must be the follower. That's when the trouble starts. These two will quarrel like who should follow whom and if the other guy is not following well, they will come to mommy to mediate.

Playing in the bath tub. The bath tub used to be able to accommodate all three boys at once. But not any more. Here, they are doing "experiments". Which object floats and which sinks? Now, don't think it's my idea - no, not at all. To them, it's just another game. This is the reason why people say kids should learn through play!

My Jem & Scout

Jem & Scout are the two child protagonists from the novel, "To Kill A Mockingbird." The story is told through the eyes of Scout. At the start of the novel, Jem was 11 and Scout, his sister, was 6.

Notice the age difference? It is exactly the same age difference between Sons No 1 and No 2. What prompted this post is that I can see the striking similarity in the personal development of the two characters in the novel and my two boys.

Early in the novel, we see Jem and Scout spending a lot of carefree time together, constantly playing pranks on their neighbours, with Jem taking the lead and Scout not always a willing follower. As the novel progressed, their relationship began to undergo a subtle change. Jem began to wander off into his own world and Scout had no choice but to seek companionship from their maid, Calpurnia. When Scout complained to their father, Atticus, about Jem, she was advised to "mind" Jem. All this was very confusing to young Scout, precocious though she was.

By the end of the novel, having gone through a court room experience as well as various other significant incidences, Jem at 13 had clearly grown in maturity and adopted a more "elder brother" role towards Scout. But thank goodness, the strong bond between the siblings was intact as can be seen from the last scene in the novel (shan't spoil the ending for those who have yet to read the novel).

The relationship between my Sons No 1 and No 2 seems to be undergoing such a transformation now. Not too long ago, they were the best of playmates. Nowadays, Son No 1 has other interests that tend to exclude his younger brother - nothing wrong with that - I know it is an inevitable progression in life.

For Son No 2, he is learning how to adapt. I notice that No 2 sometimes tries to initiate play by "disturbing" No 1 but his effort would meet with a sharp rebuke from No 1. I am not sure if it is hurt that I see flashing across No 2's face. Much like Scout, he is adjusting. The beneficiary to this development is No 3 to whom No 2 has turned for companionship. No 3 is now chief playmate. The two younger boys, now at 5 and 7, are closer in age and play as equals. But that is another story.

There are still moments now when Son No 1 would play with both his younger brothers and yes, they still have a rolling raucous good time together. Ya, these moments will be stored in the mind for a long, long time.

What's Up?

Our broadband has been down for the past 2 days. The cause is being investigated, pending which our whole family is left high and dry. How dependent we have grown to be on the internet! That feeling of disconnectedness and loss .... I am sure you know what I mean.

Who will feed the pets? How to return emails? What's happening in the world? How to complete my mission?

So here I am, together with Son No 1, crouched in a little corner in his room, hijacking bandwidth from my unsuspecting neighbour...

So what's up? Son No 2's final exam has taken up most of my free time. When I am not coaching him, I am preparing papers for him to try. Son No 2 is a cooperative student. He has worked really hard. Tomorrow is the last day of his long-drawn exam and we will do something together to celebrate. We deserve it.

As for Son No 1, he has met with one of the biggest trials of his life. How he handles it will help shape his character, I hope.

Yesterday, I brought Son No 1 for his haircut and the hairstylist has cut it somewhat significantly shorter than normal. OK, it's almost a crew cut. Well, it's not really a disaster, but in his eyes, it's close enough. He is even thinking of changing schools. When mom says no, he is now resorting to eating more proteins (of which hair is made) so that his hair will grow faster. I told him the best way out really is to find the gene that determines hair growth and seeks to manipulate it so that hair doesn't grow - static - then we all need not be at the mercy of hairstylists. Wonderful idea, isn't it? The rest of mankind, who all have hair problems, will thank him for it. Maybe except David Beckham.

The happiest child is still Son No 3. He attended a schoolmate's birthday party last Sunday and laughed loudly at the clown's jokes. The jokes were really lame, believe me, but the 5- and 6-year-olds thought the clown was the funniest man on earth. Son No 2 who tagged along won a prize for one of the games and declared "My dream came true!" because his prize was a box filled with all types of candies and chocolates (see picture).

Ah, to be young again...