Saturday, March 13, 2010

Yasmin is 11!

Yasmin turned 11 last Tuesday. My first born is now a teenage? My... time sure flies. I still remember the day brought her home from the hospital. It was drizzling & this young mom didn't know a thing of how to handle a baby. She even addressed herself "Kak Ja" to the new infant in her arms. How "mama' sounded too weird then :-)

My Yasmin is only a few inches shorter than me now. It will be no time when I have to look up when we speak. She has too much of her dad's gene. An XY of HB ;-)

On her birthday, HB was away. I was occupied & it was the exam week. We didn't really have time to celebrate. Didn't even manage to get a cake...

Yasmin is a sport. She knows, she's not forgotten. Only that the time was not convenient. We had birthday pizzas instead & she loved the books I got her. Couldn't wait for the exam to end so that she could start reading those books.

We had an earlier celebration of her birthday end of Feb. A joint party with Wardah. I was too busy to update ;-)But I have photos to share as usual. Let them photos do the talking. Enjoy!

Her Birthday Cake


Mama trying her best with matches. She wasted 3 for 2 candles!


The Birthday Girl with her sisters


A few of the guests at the party. Both the 2 ladies had jabishah's on ;-)


I set a game - Treasure Hunt. They sure had fun... (this was when they had to search for a handsome uncle who was the key to their final clue)


Yasmin's group was also stuck at this final clue. They asked each uncle at the party. HB was good distracting them away from the uncle with the clue ;-)


In the end, Yasmin's group won!


Wardah's group continued with their search :-)

No Pictures!


Celebrating... ;-)

Their birthday cakes. Nope! I didn't bake. The oven remains not repaired :-(


The birthday girls were at the back ;-)


Had to babysit Nadeen...


Didn't even have the chance to blow those candles. The little ones in front were given the honour :-)

Happy Birthday Yasmin dear. We love you always....

Saturday, March 6, 2010

When Is The Right Age?

I bet the title is kind of catchy there. Well, it was really the first thing that came out from my mind. The right age? To what? Jeng Jeng Jeng....

I was watching Cerekarama just now. The title "Dalil Cinta" was not as catchy as mine though ;-) What attracted me to be glued in front of the TV were the 2 leads. No big fans of them but I like their act.

I was simply killing time watching while waiting for Nadeen's bedtime which is late nowadays. But it was at the point when the quiet father responded to his outspoken wife regarding her parenting that hit me!

What? You didn't watch it? OK. OK. I give you a brief synopsis. It's about this newly married couple. The young wife is still studying & lousy with housework. She anyhow is granted with a very patient husband who is madly in love with her. Her husband tolerates with her totally because of love. I bet you can tell the rest. Something happened. Wife is willing to change & they live happily ever after.

Now back to the father. When the wife decides to change her mom agrees to coach her but not the father. He highlights the mother's fussiness. She is the best of wives & superb with housework. Due to that she rather does things on her own. Her style, her way, her pace! The victim is their daughter, the young wife.

My parenting was challenged! I sound almost like the mom. Not the best & superb part but doing things my style, my way, my pace... True I have a lot to learn but knowing that I have done almost 11 years of the wrong parenting gave me the hiccups.

When is the right age? Yasmin will turn 11 in a few days time but I have never been satisfied with the way she makes the bed, washes the dishes, sweeps, hangs clothes... I leave them to the maid & if she is too occupied, I would normally do them. My Yasmin has never used an iron! Gee... I'm that terrible. To me her concern is school. Yes, she is an A student but I doubt she would survive the world out there without me.

Now I remember how both Yasmin & Wardah love it when the duty roster states their names for sweeping. Something they don't do at home. How good are their sweeping in the classroom or shall I rephrase to how terrible are they at it?

Sri, my maid for 4 years has gone home for good. I promised to update right? But I choose not to. It's kind of disturbing which I don't want it to be jotted down for remembrance.

With this new maid, I can make a few changes. I'm including my girls with housework. I don't want my girls to be like the Nisa in that Cerekarama. I hope it is not too late. Any tips to share?