All About Your Child

Had an enjoyable day at Great World City and this would not have been possible if its not for Cendrine from Snippets of Joy.

I have not been to Great World City for more than 2 years now. I used to be the ‘regular’ there from 2003-2005, not as a shopper, but as a vendor renting the pushcarts to sell my handmade accessories. Whenever I think of Great World City, their unusually decorated toilets come to mind straight away.

On the ground floor, you can find yourself shitting in Spain with the Bulls…

and the African animals…

Moving up to the 2nd floor, you are sitting on a bed of tulips in Holland…

and peeing in Venice….

Going to the top floor of the 3-storey building, you meet up with the Cowboys…

and land yourself in authentic Japan….

Lastly, the only toilet that is tailored for the kids, with those mini-toliet bowls and washing basins, you can find them here in Eygpt…which was right next to the Foodcourt, so its really convenient….especially if you have a kid like my Keatkeat, who needs to discharge, almost immediately, almost all the time, whatever he had just stuffed into his mouth….

It was through Cendrine, I came to know about the big revamp they did to the Foodcourt. They are kids-friendly now. This was our discovery…There were small tables, tall tables but accompanied with high chairs everywhere, in the slightly bigger than half the size of a badminton court.

There were kids-rockers around to keep children entertained while Papa-Dearest go get their food.

Ever had trouble deciding what yummy to order for your child? They have this whole list of kiddy set meals painted on the wall, indicating which stall you can get it from. Its a wide selection for you or rather your child to choose from…

After food, its burning calories at the arcade. You know how car-crazy my boys are. They sat here for more than half-an-hour, unmoved, except for their hands and eyes, totally sucked into the video displays of cars zooming around. Of cos’ no $$$ was involved for such indulgence….

I think its in the genes, Allan used to ride bikes when I first met him almost a decade ago. Keatkeat has always wanted to sit on one. Now that Allan no longer owns any bikes, this was the only way to fulfill the young boy’s dream earlier.

But as a biker himself in the past, Allan seriously hope that the boys wouldn’t choose this vehicle as he knows the vulnerability and potentially more dangerous for man-over-vehicle than vehicle-covering-man…So he has already started physco-ing them on the matter ever since they know how to mouth the word ‘motorbike’.

Ever had concerns about what you wish your children wouldn’t do when they grow up? Its never too early to start getting the point into their young brains when they are still so dependent on Mommy and Daddy. Because at this stage of their lives, parents are their idols, isn’t it true?

This is the very first time I wasn’t sure if today is Mothers’ Day, or not….I was very sure that Mothers’ Day is always the very 1st Sunday of the Month of May, but on all my 2008 calendars, Mothers’ Day was marked on next Sunday, 11th may 2008.

Some of my friends insisted that its today, others say because 1st of May was on Thursday so it isn’t a complete week, hence today cannot be considered as the 1st Sunday. I was going “huh?”. Simple English made so complicated. 1st means 1st, what has half a week got to do with whether the Sunday is first or not? *Humph*

Anyway, I was looking back at my almost 5 years of parenting life, I was thinking back when was my happiest moment? I couldn’t really pin-point on any date or any event. I was quite surprised with myself. I was thinking, was it the first time I held the tiny little ones in my arms at the labour room with my perspiration trickling down from my forehead, or the very first time they called me “Mommy” or the very first time they said “I love you” without me saying it first to them….?

These moments bring a big smile to my face and warm my heart, but I wouldn’t consider them to be the happiest. I refused to struggle longer to find the happiest moment. I paused. I thought, maybe because of my own childhood, I feel so blessed to have them by my side every single day, just to hear “Mommy” being called out loud every other minute, be it for a request to play, a demand for a sweet or two, or simply just want to hear my resounding “Yes?!” to check if I’m still alive.

Whatever it is, so long as every night before I close my eyes, I could whisper into their ears, speak to their unconscious mind, “I love you baby” and kiss them on their cheeks, I am contented. When the sun rises again the next day, if I could still be woken by Binbin’s morning call, “Mommy, I want milk-milk…” I know I am alive, I am given another day, another chance from God above, to be there for my kids, to be their Mother.

There is an everlasting Chinese song titled, In the Entire Universe-Mother is the only one who is Good (direct translation- I know it sounds weird, like some broken-English, oh, pardon me), it goes like this… (sorry you’ve got to bear with my bad translation for a few more seconds…)

In the entire universe,
mother is the only one who is good,
children who have mother is like gem,
into the bosom of their mother,
they enjoy bountiful blessings.

Children who don’t have a mother are distressed
children who don’t have mother are like grass,
away from the bosom of a mother,
where else can they find happiness?

In the entire universe,
mother is the only one who is good,
Children who have a mother will never know (how distressing that is)
if they do understand
they will smile, even in their dreams