My love affair with P began when I was 10. In all truthfulness, I don’t quite remember how old I was (I think it was 10 years old) but at least, I know it definitely happened when I was in primary school. It was a very unusual experience for one so young, even I admit that, but what an experience it was.

On Friday night, I had a feeling that something big was going to happen to our Instagram profile.

And I mean, milestone kind of big.

At 11:50pm I kept refreshing Little Baby Grains’ Instagram profile page. I was so excited that there was no way I could sleep!!!

At 12:36am, our Little Baby Grains Instagram account…

Most people find it intriguing whenever I reveal that I play golf and I used to represent my state at the national level. All sorts of assumptions come to mind, mostly that I’m from a wealthy family.

It’s “golf”!!!

The next assumption is that I’m good at golf because I started young. While this assumption is true, I still call it an assumption because it doesn’t reveal the whole picture. You can do a lot of things from a very young age but you may still suck at it.

Today’s post is not so much about me; the main star of the post is actually my father. This is a story of how a father’s perseverance and determination paid off.

I often have a challenging time with Dozer. He’s the eldest and the sweetest. Yet, we seem to be at loggerheads every day. He’s either going through a tantrum every day or behaving like a teenager (read: ignoring me) and I often wonder how it’ll be like when he actually becomes a teenager.

I know that Dozer went through quite a long adjustment period when Baby Dino was born. I know that sometimes he’s jealous of Baby Dino who’s usually clinging to me like a koala. I also know that Dozer is often expected to step up and behave like the magnanimous, older brother and he’s only 5.

Does knowing all these make it easier?
Absolutely not.

Does being Dozer’s natural birth mother make it easier?
Shockingly, NO. 

Some days, it feels too much. I’m overwhelmed with my responsibilities, facing issues, and things are not going very well. Then I come home, and the first thing I have to deal with is a tantrum crash. It feels like God is trying to drown me.

Those days, I am a horrible mother. I don’t stop to talk and understand what’s going on. I’m curt, impatient and a MOMster. It’s totally understandable but it’s still NOT RIGHT.

But most days, amazingly, despite my frustration, impatience and weariness of having to deal with tears after tantrum after tears, I manage to pull through. Yes, it’s doable! It doesn’t happen out of nowhere, in fact, I have a pretty systematic approach to it. It works amazingly well for me, and I hope it will help you too!

With the recent appointment of our new Education Minister, Dr. Maszlee Malik, I’ve been feeling really hopeful about the future of our education system. I grew up in a Sekolah Kebangsaan environment. At that time, there was criticism already of the syllabus but it was nothing unlike the criticism we have now.

These days, both international and private schools are booming and more affordable options like homeschooling are in place. When I talk to any parent, it seems like most (Chinese) parents are either aiming to send their kids to international or private schools, or SJK©, if affordability is an issue. SJK© otherwise known as Chinese schools are gaining popularity, (no) thanks to the perceived poor quality of kebangsaan (national) schools and the rise of China. 

I’ve registered my 5-year-old for Chinese school in primary one but, here’s the thing.

I am not sure if I will go through with it.

I’m still unsure if the pros of attending Chinese school outweigh the cons. I’m usually a very positive person but there are just too many hesitations when it comes to our children’s education. 

It has come to a stage where I think I would be really happy if my kids didn’t have the choice of attending a Chinese school. 

Here’s why:

Today is Mother’s Day.

I’m not celebrating with my mother and it doesn’t feel odd.

Some days I feel really horrid and today is just one of those days. 

Do you know this feeling? 

The feeling where you try SO HARD to be the best mother - you swallow your anger, bite back your impatience, take deep breaths and speak calmly instead of yelling, so you can set a good example for your children…

And yet…

Since Easter is coming up, and my kids are now going on 3 and 5 respectively (read: more civilised), I thought it’d be fun to try out some Easter egg crafts with them!

I’d tasked my helper to save the eggshells every time we cooked eggs. She managed to save 30 eggshells for me (we eat so much eggs) and that’s when I decided that it was time to get into action!

Here are 4 easy crafts we did with the eggs and you can certainly try it out at home too!