I am thankful for…

I am thankful quotes

This quote caught my attention and had me paused in my tracks to digest each and every sentence.

These quotes are such mundane things in life that often are taken for granted and easily lamented upon.  Earlier, I have written 2 posts that require much reflection and appreciation of my life.  The first is “It’s the simple things that count” where I paused for a moment to reflect on what I have now at this point of my life and really find much to be contented with. The second post is “Reminders to myself as a wife and mummy” which reminded me to do checks on myself on my attitude towards my hubby and children. I find such self-checks extremely important and meaningful to me as I tend to get blinded with the busy schedule everyday.  It’s so easy to forget what you already have. 

So, here it is, these quotes lead me to appreciate being able to work,  being able to hear, walk, talk, having a lovely home and a lovely family, and being alive among many other things that I may conveniently complain about and take for granted.

Have you ever paused in the moment to reflect what you have right now? You may find that you have so many things to be thankful for.

Thank you Letter to My Children’s Pre-School teachers and staff

Ascension concert

In 2011, I wrote a thank you letter to all the teachers and staff of my children’s pre-school the day before their last day in the wonderful place they call school for the past 4 years (to be exact, 4 years for XX and 2 years for YH).  It was my children’s very first school where they spent 8 hours a day for 5 days in a week, while I spend equal number of hours in my workplace.  This was a place of fond memories where they learn their ABCs and 123s formally.  This was a place where they learn teamwork, sharing with peers, abiding rules of an institution and befriending little friends.  I wrote this thank you letter to the school to show my appreciation of them taking good care of my children.  At the same time, I want my children to remember they had these great teachers whom they may not remember as they grow up.

————————————————————————————————–

A thank you letter to Ascension Kindercare teachers and staff

Dear All teachers who have taught my daughter XX and my son YH,

First of all, thank you for the wonderful concert last Saturday. The efforts of the teachers and children let all the parents present bring back unforgettable memories.

It’s with a grateful heart that I am writing this thank you letter. Seeing my girl XX in her Kindergarten graduation robe and mortar board, I am so happy that in her 4 years in Ascension Kindercare, she had been in good care. All the teachers who taught her were wonderful! Each year, from N1 all the way to K2, she loved her teachers and I know she is well-taught and loved by all of them.

When she was in N1, Mdm Chia and Mdm Yong showered her with love such that she was accustomed to the childcare quickly and became their great “little helper” where she was given many chances to help the teachers.

In N2, Ms Chew and 姚老师 (both who already left the centre) were good and caring teachers and they quickly became my girl’s favourite teachers.

In K1 and K2, Mdm Louis and 吴老师 played an extremely important role in teaching and preparing her for Primary 1. 吴老师 taught my girl Chinese and Han Yu Pin Yin so well that I have no worries that she go on to her Primary school where Chinese is very much emphasized in school. And thanks to Mdm Louis in instilling discipline into the K2 children and always alert me to any misbehavior in my girl. She always worked with me quickly to nip the discipline problems in the bud. Even though she is strict in class most times, she shows the children her love and fun side too. With both of them as her K2 teachers, I have totally no worries she is in good hands.

For my boy, YH, I would also like to thank his N1 teachers Mdm Chia and Mdm Yong for handling his fragile emotions during his first weeks in childcare when he was only 3 years old. It took a long time for him to settle and me and my family were really glad that his teachers both found ways to capture his heart. By the time he left N1, he was already a favourite boy to his teachers and he enjoyed being with them.

In N2, YH needed to readjust to childcare in a new class again after his comfortable environment in N1. His N2 teacher, Ms Chew found ways to get him talking and open up to her. She succeeded and YH was once again jovial. This is with great help from N2 吴老师 who showed him lots of attention. Later 张老师 and Ms Myra joined N2 Love class and were able to bond quickly with YH. Even though N2 had many staff changes, I was really happy that the teachers were able to bond well with my boy.

There are many other teachers and assistant teachers, helpers to thank. They all have took good care of my children even though they are not the main teachers in their classes. And I also want to thank Ms De Foe for her good guidance in steering the childcare and her care and love for the children.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for both my children. They may not feel the sadness of leaving a place where they have great memories now, but for sure, as their mummy, I felt it strongly. And also it signifies an end of a part of their childhood. I am happy that this part was a memorable and enjoyable one.

Thank you very much, Ascension Kindercare teachers and staff!

Best regards,

Mummy of XX and YH

————————————————————————————————–

After this letter was sent to the school’s principal, she shared my thanks with all the teachers in the pre-school.  Many teachers thanked me for the kind letter and I was equally touched.  The funny thing is a month later, after trying to put YH in a new pre-school which did not worked out (we changed to a pre-school nearer our house because we had moved house), we were back in this good, old pre-school again.  The wonderful thing is that the moment YH was seen walking towards the pre-school entrance, he was immediately welcomed by the principal, the teachers and the school-mates.  YH was initially very embarrassed to have bade farewell to all teachers and friends and to be back in the school again.  I was surprised that his little ego was affected by this turn of events, just like us adults. However, I was glad that by the end of the day, he was back to his normal self and was never so glad to be back in the same environment and be with his friends again.

Although the travelling from our new home to the old pre-school is some 20 minutes away by bus, we were nonetheless happy that he was comfortable in the old learning environment.  It wasn’t easy for anyone to let go of friendship and bonds with teachers after spending 2 years together, let alone for a 4 year old (that’s half his lifetime then!).  When the end of the year comes, it will be YH’s turn to put on his little mortar board and graduation robe in the year end graduation cum concert event.  I’ll be shedding tears of joy once more.

Have you ever tried to thank someone who took great care of your kids?  Maybe you should! The feeling is great!

Reminders to myself as a wife and mummy

3 years ago, when I was 6 years into marriage and 5 years into motherhood, I wrote a list of reminders that I hope to revisit from time to time.  They are the reminders to myself to be a good mummy to my children and a good wife to my hubby.  I wrote this list for fear that one day I might be too caught up in a whirlwind of life’s changes, I might lose myself somehow and forget the basic ingredients in building a happy family. 
 

Reminders to myself as a wife and mummy:

1)    do not nag too much

2)    learn to let go and care less, not care more

3)    do not stress your kids academically

4)    accept your child’s ability and accept who they are

5)    accept who your hubby is

6)    learn to take good care of yourself, take care of your own needs before others

7)    treat yourself well

8)    appreciate small improvements / changes

9)    appreciate your blissful life now

10)  appreciate that everyone including yourself is healthy

Now, 3 years after the above list is made, I am happy that I keep to most of the reminders, except maybe for no. 1 “do not nag too much” and no. 7 “treat yourself well”.

Nagging too much seems to be the inevitable for mothers. It’s a vicious cycle. If the kids or even the hubby had to have repeated reminders to pick up a piece of paper or to bring the cup to the sink area, how can the homemaker not say the same instruction repeatedly which is what they termed the “nagging”? If all I need to do is to just say it once, and the task gets done, will I ever need to “nag”? Nevertheless, I have accepted this as part and parcel of being human and what I’ll need to do is to say it out in a different tone and manner, perhaps that’ll take away the nagging tone to make the nagging not such a nag. I don’t know. But I will have to try. Does anyone has a good solution on this out there?

Treat yourself well. Usually mothers are like “burnt chop”. They are the ones who eat the burnt chop and give the good ones to the rest of the family. They always put the well-being of the family first and themselves last. Whatever they do, they do with the best interest of the family even if it means to sacrifice their me-time and social life. This is the area I need to improve on. Self-sacrifice has always been the norm for me and putting myself above the others is going to be difficult. So far, I have been trying to treat myself better minus all the guilt. Wish me luck!

For no. 8 and 9: “appreciate your blissful life now” and “appreciate that everyone including yourself is healthy“, I have written a blog post on this and am happy that a check at this point in time, I do appreciate such simple but easily taken for granted things.

How do you keep check on yourself to not take things for granted?  And do you nag? Do you have ways to cut down nagging?