Tag: wrap up

Wrapping Up 2018 – Relationship Matters

Each time I write about my year-end reflections, I am always in a mix of feelings. I am happy and contented for things that go well and everyone I love is healthy and close-knitted. Perhaps even a little happy because anything that doesn’t go well will be ending in a few days time. The new year always seems to promise a hope of fresh start in the right direction or so I hope! On the other hand, I am also feeling a tinge of sadness because time flies so fast and I am growing older by another year. Oh, and I wonder what have I accomplished in the past 12 months?

Each time I write about my year-end reflections, I am always in a mix of feelings. I am happy and contented for things that go well and everyone I love is healthy and close-knitted. Perhaps even a little happy because anything that doesn’t go well will be ending in a few hours time. The new year always seems to promise a hope of fresh start in the right direction or so I hope! On the other hand, I am also feeling a tinge of sadness because time flies so fast and I am growing older by another year. Oh, and I wonder what have I accomplished in the past 12 months?

At Work

Work is slow and stagnant for 2018. There are so many interpretations of what deems a successful person career-wise. Opportunity has not knocked on my door this year. Luck plays a part. So, this year I have no such luck. But in terms of EQ (Emotional Quotient), I gained a fair bit. The trying times gave me plenty of practices on how to deal with difficult people and situation. It is not without tears and frustrations. I get to know myself better too. I know that I work best under stress. I work collaboratively and I love working with people!  To sum up my learning at work: There is always a positive takeaway in the worst of situations and for me, gaining higher EQ is my greatest asset for this year.

At Home – House chores

House chores reflections sound weird. But ever since I am maidless for a year, I admit that sometimes I wish that I still have an extra pair of hands. I am not a supermum. I am tired when I come home from work and the last thing I want to do is really NOT having to wash dishes and clean up the house. I want to relax and have more time to play with the kids. But since the family decision was made to be maidless, I like to think of the positive side of doing the chores together with the kids. Apart from the many benefits I had shared about going maidless, there are two truths to it: One is that my kids do help out, the other truth is that the kids are humans and being humans, they have their moods and preference to do chores at their own time and pace. I cannot expect them to do at beck and call every single time or expect them to help out automatically all the time. That leads me to do most of the chores simply because I want the chores to be done quickly and it is easier to do it myself than to nag at others to complete the same thing.

For a year now, we do have some sort of routine. Not perfect, but good on some days. The kids learnt to be more independent and certainly no chance to rely on a maid to pick up after them. These are good survival skills and self-reliant skills that will stay with them forever. I have told my kids, I don’t want them to have the excuse of saying, “My mum did not teach me how to wash clothes or mop the floor!”

Missy at School

For the past year, Missy grew taller, smarter, and gained lots of leadership skills. I have kind of sum up her learning in her neighbourhood Secondary School here. She has yet to give me much disciplinary problems as with teen-hood although I can see some healthy signs of rebellion coming up. Does the word healthy and rebellious even exist in the same sentence? Yes, I believe some healthy rebellious behaviour is part of growing up and emerging character traits. It provides opportunities to tread on turbulent waters and learn. When the time comes, I hope I will be a cool mum to handle her growing up pains and challenges. After all, she is a kind and sensible girl, and I hope I will be a kind and sensible mum to go through this growing up phase with her patiently.

No. 2 at School

No. 2 proved to be paying attention and learning well in class and hence, lessen much home learning burden on both of us. However, there were quite many conflicts between us on tackling middle-child syndrome, my overly and unnecessary concern and tussle over his homework and nagging. It drains my energy and strains our relationship. I need to let go and trust him to take charge of his learning. It irritates me when I see that he is always so relaxed while all his friends are not. Come the new year will be his PSLE year. Should I let go or be concerned? I need to trust No. 2 more. It certainly sounds like I am the problem child here. How do I let go??

No. 3 at School

This year marks the end of pre-school days for my youngest! Next year on, we will have 3 school-going kids. Routine will change again. No. 3 develops lots of social skills in school. He is not reserved anymore and from the look of it, too nice to everyone. This is what makes him so endearing too. I hope no one abuses his trust and bullies him in Primary School. Even if he encounters bullies, it will be good exposure to toughen him up from the experiences. No. 3 is a very independent kid who picks up after himself. We are very impressed! I hope he stays such a darling and makes many friends in school.

Family Trips

We have been to 2 family trips and 3 staycations this year. We went to Bali with the kids and went to Taiwan in our group of nine with parents, in-laws and kids. We make it a point to travel with our parents together simply because every one of us looks forward to our yearly trip. Family trips are always full of jokes and laughter! We might be richer without this annual huge travel expenditure, but Kel and I would not trade more money in the bank for the experiences of bringing our parents and kids to see the world together. How many more years can we bring everyone to travel together? While our parents are still healthy and able to travel, and our kids are still eager to follow us around, we will be spending within our means to keep this highly anticipated family travel as long as we can.

Friends

In this year alone, I form many new friendships, mainly in my company. That is pretty amazing to find friends beyond work. My dinner appointments are quite fully packed as a result. The kids are older now and are able to stay home for a few hours without me. They know that Mummy stays in touch with friends although they are not too happy about home alone in the evening. Hence, I try to keep the weekends free just for family time.

We have hosted less dinners in our house since the maid left. Partly because I am too tired to clean up till the wee hours. But some traditional hosting will not be forgone and are highly anticipated. Our annual Christmas cum New Year party at our house with my best friend’s family is one of the highlights of the year. This year, Kel cooked his famous Hokkien mee, acclaimed to be the best in Singapore by almost everyone who had tried and he made super crispy roast pork. To top it up, we had Mao Shan Wang durians delivered to our house! So convenient and of premium quality, check here for their service if you need a durian fix or feast! (Quote “kidsrsimple” for a $7 off your first order!)

Myself and the coming big 4

Heyhey! I was not planning to reveal my age! But somehow I feel that the big 4-0 is a gracious age to acknowledge proudly. At every stage, there is some focus in life. At my current stage of life, relationship matters most to me. Be it family, friends, marriage, or myself, I treasure dearly. Close knitted family and friends make me complete. Maintaining good relationship with all my family, extended family and friends, is perhaps, my most accomplished and proud thing that I have done right. It takes effort, patience, love and a big heart to bring the family close together. It is certainly not just my individual efforts, it requires everyone’s open heart to achieve it.

I have started to practise Gratitude. Each night, I will spend 5 minutes to jot down what I am grateful for that day. It helps me to feel and think positively and has benefited me in many ways. I am using the mobile app called 365 Gratitude. If you have not tried this, you should.

Healthwise, I am keeping up with some regular exercise every week – Pilates and Kickboxing. I hope to resume jogging when my new routine in the new school year is more settled. So currently, I try to clock my 10,000 steps everyday by walking to and fro the MRT station and climbing stairs! The Healthy 365 app from HPB is really not bad in motivating me with small treats and games.

Reading, to me, is a long lost love. I am just too happy to have found it again. This year I have read 8 books. Not as many as I had wanted but good to be keeping it up! Here is my booklist of 2018:

  1. Kite Runner – by Khaled Hosseini
  2. And the Mountains Echoed – by Khaled Hosseini
  3. Every Last Lie – by Mary Kubica
  4. Opening the Door of Your Heart – by Ajahn Brahm
  5. The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking – by Chris Anderson
  6. Kiss Kiss – by Roald Dahl
  7. The Good Girl – by Mary Kubica
  8. A Place for Us – by Fatima Farheen Mirza

This sums up my 2018 year: A normal, mundane life of a working mum 🙂

Happy New Year 2019 to my family, friends and my dear readers! Hope the new year will be a great one for everyone!

2018 New Year Party

Crossing to 2018 – Discovering Myself

2017 is over and it had been a terribly busy and hectic year. However, that also means that I have discovered many things about myself that I never noticed about and all these good and bad experiences will be added to the many grandma stories to be told to the kids and grandkids in future. Haha, I think and prep myself far ahead, don’t I?

2017 is over and it had been a terribly busy and hectic year. However, that also means that I have discovered many things about myself that I never noticed about and all these good and bad experiences will be added to the many grandma stories to be told to the kids and grandkids in future. Haha, I think and prep myself far ahead, don’t I?

Through various opportunities, I have discovered some aspects of myself which I never knew about. I discovered my capabilities. I discovered my strengths. I discovered my weaknesses. I discovered my likes. I discovered my dislikes.

You may be laughing at me about me knowing so little about myself at this mid-life period. I guess, when someone is approaching 40s, there are some new things you learnt along the way and internalised to be your abilities and interests and some things that you know very well whether you are confident enough to accept or reject.

Discovering Myself At Work
The first time I heard someone tell me that I have more confidence than I know about it, I laughed it away. And that person insisted it was my blind spot. And after that, I begin to take the compliment seriously. It was not just one person, but more people telling it to me in one way or another. Perhaps, as an Asian, it is humble to not acknowledge your strengths and as a result, I have never knew myself exuding so much confidence that it actually became threats to others in the workplace. It is a good feeling to know that I am portraying myself as a confident person and my first thought goes to the kids’ impression of me. It will be good that they see their mummy as a confident woman, especially to my girl. I hope I am a smart, intelligent and confident woman whom she would like to role model after.

Unfortunately, in workplace, things may not be rosy as a result of this confidence I have. I brushed feathers, caused anxiety and ended up with sour relations with a handful. But, I also gained compliments, affirmation and forged friendships with others. As much as I try to stay low profile, I seem to remain in the bad books of some. I cannot help it and hence have to live with it. All these make me stronger and gave me many opportunities to hone my EQ skills. I think I am thankful for people who make me stronger albeit in unpleasant ways. Even at such unwelcome situations, I am glad that I find positive takeaways!

Discovering Myself as a Teacher
If you had followed our PSLE journey, I had been a tutor to my Missy and brought up all her subjects by 2 grades from P6 SA1 to PSLE. I will not take all the credit to myself because without a cooperative Missy, this could not have happened.

Teaching Missy has taught me lots of things. It made me more patient than ever, but still there is room to improve. It proved to me that I was able to put my mind to do something well against all odds and criticism as long as I believe in myself. Believing in oneself is powerful. Just like what I always tell my kids: If you think you are able to do it, you can. Your mind can control your capability as long as you set your mind to do it.

So, it was a hectic PSLE year that sees me learn the P6 syllabus, craft revision and teaching methods and then teach at the same time within a short 9 months period. Nothing can be achieved if not for the strong support of my family together with the strong belief in me from my hub and kids that gave me the strength to bite the bullet to success. It was really unbelievable now that I look back at the past year.

Discovering Myself Through House Chores
Ever since my helper went back for good, we have been helperless for 2 months. Despite everyone’s well-meant advice that I should continue to employ another helper for my sanity, I guess I was stubborn enough to decide otherwise. Just like my insistence on not employing tutors for my kids, I was determined that I can do the house chores together with my kids, and for long term. After all, it was not so long ago that we never had helpers till 3 years back. Now that the kids are all 3 years older, it should be rightfully easier than before.

Doing house chores really does help in strengthening one’s health. I feel it is true! I have been much busier at home doing lots of chores on my own. I feel I am being brought out of my comfort zone and forced to yield my physical and mental strength to ensure our household is run on clockwork.

Some things have to be sacrificed like lesser me-time and blogging time. I am forced to juggle work, household, quality time with kids, me-time and self-care at the same time. I am still fine-tuning and learning. I believe without a helper, it benefits everyone in the family. The kids are so much more independent than before! Through their help, I discovered their characters too. Each has his/her own strengths and weaknesses. I am able to use the opportunity to correct bad habits and train independence. All these are intangibles that, I am glad, come at the right time while the kids can still be moulded and trained. It is worth it to sacrifice my hardship to gain all these!

Discovering My Likes
I was never a bookworm when I was young. Somehow, starting from 2 years back, I began to enjoy reading. Becoming a parent has also opened the door wide to reading classics I missed in my childhood and rejuvenates my interest in books from the past. This year, I discovered the gems of Classics and I am happy to have read 11 books in 2017 😃

1) Beyond The Tiger Mom by Maya Thiagarajan
2) The Call of The Wild by Jack London
3) The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
4) Girls Uninterrupted by Tanith Carey
5) To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
6) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
7) How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids by Jancee Dunn
8) Screens and Teens by Kathy Koch
9) Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
10) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
11) Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

I make it a point to jot down each book that I read. I try to introduce good books to the kids too. I hope they will gain their interest in books eventually. Now, they are reading books slowly, and need prompting now and then. I believe one day they will find a whole wide world in books when they find their reading interest!

Discovering My Family
2017 is a year of relationship building. We have lots of opportunities to forge stronger ties through hosting dinners and attending family dinners regularly. At the crossing of 2017 to 2018, all of us have love for one another! I am talking about our parents, in-laws, siblings, siblings-in-laws and siblings’ kids. I can’t be happier with our family bliss. Family is really everything that we need in life. Building good relationships with every family member is not easy at all. It takes everyone’s magnanimity and open hearts to accept one another’s differences and faults. It takes everyone to look beyond misunderstandings and doubts. It takes everyone’s efforts to meet and create opportunities for get-togethers. I hope that we can continue to enjoy such family harmony into 2018 and beyond!

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Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone’s heart is filled with love and magnanimity too!

Ending October 2017 with …

It has been a quick 9 months since the start of our preparation and now it is awaiting the fruits of labour. Ask me what my thoughts are. I would say having no expectation on the results is keeping our family cool and calm about the whole PSLE thing. In fact, I have totally no idea what Missy will fare. I am only happy that she has done her best and improves by a great leap in her academic understanding. So, what’s next will be carefully choosing a school that is suitable for her. A school that will leave good memories to grow and learn happily.

It has been a while since I updated what was going on with us. PSLE of course, what else ya? So very happy that PSLE is finally over!! YEAH!!!

On Post-PSLE…

It has been a quick 9 months since the start of our preparation and now it is awaiting the fruits of labour. Ask me what my thoughts are. I would say having no expectation on the results is keeping our family cool and calm about the whole PSLE thing. In fact, I have totally no idea what Missy will fare. I am only happy that she has done her best and improves by a great leap in her academic understanding. So, what’s next will be carefully choosing a school that is suitable for her. A school that will leave good memories to grow and learn happily.

Choosing a Secondary School at this point is hard as we have no idea on what cut-off point to filter. So, focusing on niche CCA, interest, location, subjects and even Mission statement seem to be the practical thing to do for now.

Life after PSLE has been a relax one for Missy and me. So relax that I hardly focus on Master 10’s revision. I am happy that he was quite independent in his revision while I was away for business trip for 2 weeks. It will be good to leave the responsibility of revision in his own hands with minimal help from me. I am looking forward to see how his solo efforts will work out. It will be an insight into how attentive he is in class. You’ll bet that I will be similarly cool about Master 10’s academic and certainly continue our NO TUITION route. If it works out for Missy, it will work out for every of our children 🙂

Someone new in my company had asked me how did I do it with my insistence on the NO TUITION route since almost everyone around us are sending their kids to tuition. So, I answered her with the below:

No Expectations on marks (even if exam results are in the 50s range)

Believe in raising HAPPY kids

These 2 mottos will guide me through raising our kids happily and having laughters and smiles in our house 🙂

On Away from Kids…

This is my 2nd business trip this year and longest so far. It is still hard for me to leave the kids with their unhappy faces and cries. It made me weep secretly too. I am that emotional. I made it a point to leave after the PSLE Science paper even if it meant to travel solo to a country I have never been to which otherwise I would have company. We celebrated with me waiting outside school and bringing Missy to Mac Donald’s for breakfast. After that, we went home to bake her favourite New York Cheesecake. We went for a Teppanyaki lunch together with the Dad and Master 10 before a Mummy-Daughter shopping trip. We went back home for dinner, cut the Cheesecake before I leave for the 2-week travel. Missy still had her last Higher Chinese paper the next day. I need not have to worry about her needing my help in that. She is probably better than me in answering complicated Comprehension questions. Furthermore, it is not such a core subject and I am just glad that it did not need to compete for attention.

We are left with 1 last paper HCL tomorrow but our celebrations start today! Hurray!! PSLE is … quite OVER! Haha! First thing Missy asked to celebrate is to bake her favourite cheesecake. I am stoked by their love for my cheesecake ❤ We are going for a special lunch too and ending with a short shopping trip! Missy decided that she had studied enough for HCL paper and I think she is gonna hoard the TV tonight. As long as she is confident, I let her decide: revise or not 🙂 I don’t know what results she is gonna get. But I am already rewarding her for her terrific attitude and hard work put in for the past 9 months. You deserve your celebrations my dear! Come what may, we know you have done your best and let’s look forward to the next stage of growing up, forging friendships and learning fun! 🍦🍸🎈🎊 #kidsrsimple #kidsrsimplepsle #notuition #laidbackmum #psle #psleisover #sgmum

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I guess the difference between a Mum’s biz travel and a Dad’s biz travel is that the Mum is expected to face-call daily no matter if she is attending to business halfway or shopping at outlets. I enjoy seeing their happy faces or even crying faces in the background. I felt closer to home and felt at ease knowing that they were fine at home. Still, boys and girls behave differently. My girl was all excited to talk to me while my elder son was cool about it and showed no expression. Maybe it was better for him not to see my face so as to freeze whatever mixed emotions he had. The youngest one was still a bit confused about the number of nights he had to sleep before I was home. Very sweet of them to send night kisses and voice recordings to me. The longer I stayed overseas, the longing for home got stronger. I guess 2 biz trips in a year is enough for me.

Another difference is that Mum will have to plan everything in advance before her trip to ensure things run smoothly at home. That includes writing out a time-table on what time each kid comes back from school, what events happen at what dates, planning on marketing allowance, piano fees, bills to pay in advance, to planning playdates and informing other parents to contact the spouse for special events pick-up and arrangement. Whoa! These are things that the Dad will not know or pay attention to details. I need to ensure minimal disruption to compensate for my absence. Things still need to run at clockwork at home.

On family ties…

A friend of mine shared with me that the family will meet up at the grandparents house every Saturday. The cousins will be there too. Her daughter told me excitedly that she never misses the weekly gathering because it is so much fun to play, chat and catch up with the cousins. Another friend also shared with me that she will meet up with the siblings at the parents’ house even though each of them are married with kids. The only time any of them is absent will be because he or she is out for business trip. How lucky these families are!

While my family meets up with the grandparents and cousins frequently, we do not designate a weekly gathering. It is usually impromptu, or for celebrations. I really wish to plan out a fixed weekend to gather and bond. It may take some conscious coordination since almost all kids have weekend commitments to attend to. But I am sure we can work out something! It is never too late to start one.

On myself…

After PSLE is over, I am dreading what comes next. I will be helperless in November! It has been 3 years of quality time at home and now that I will be back to doing house chores, it will be challenging for me not to let a messy and dirty house affect my mood when I come home from work. That is the biggest challenge. I will certainly update on my blog on these challenges and how we are coping. Wish us luck!!!

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So, I am ending October with a happy shout that… PSLE IS FINALLY OVER!!! Back to many relax evenings free of revision and more bonding time with the kids!!! YEAH!!!!

How did your October go?

Ending July 2017 with …

We have crossed a good half of the year for 2017! Very soon, it will be the end of the year. I am kind of glad that I did not set out any resolutions for 2017 to beat myself for not achieving much at this mid-year check. I guess life goes on and we just busy ourselves along. What’s important is really whether we are happy with our life now and are we contented? At this mid-year check on myself, I should really be counting my blessings more than harping on meeting any goals. Don’t you think so?

We have crossed a good half of the year for 2017! Very soon, it will be the end of the year. I am kind of glad that I did not set out any resolutions for 2017 to beat myself for not achieving much at this mid-year check. I guess life goes on and we just busy ourselves along. What’s important is really whether we are happy with our life now and are we contented? At this mid-year check on myself, I should really be counting my blessings more than harping on meeting any goals. Don’t you think so?

I have many blessings to count and I am saying that because life is kind of mundane and mundane in itself is a bliss. At down times, I choose to find consolation in any small things that I should be contented with and be thankful for things that we often take for granted. At happy times, these feelings go into my emotional bank to be retrieved at times of need. Life is short, so why not make everyday count? It will be good if my kids know how to stand strong and be contented with their lives and be happy. Resilience, perhaps, is more important than any academic achievement that the kids should achieve.

So much for a philosophical wrap up for July. Now, here’s what we have been up to.

Preparation for Prelims …

I am thankful for an understanding boss and hence am able to give much support to Missy for Prelims preparation. Sometimes when I am home, Missy is busy doing her homework or doing self-revision. On many afternoons, my role is really to be THERE for her. I am a walking dictionary, prompter to academic questions, and my teacher role is getting smaller to much of my satisfaction. That shows that she is improving and taking good charge of her learning such that my involvement has switched focus on supporting her other needs. I chat with her, entertain her performance of hand-stand, stunts when she takes study breaks, prepare snacks for afternoon tea-breaks and encourage her when she loses steam.

Prelims is over. I am exceptionally anxious to see if our hard work for the past months will be paid off. I really hope to see more than a small improvement so that Missy’s confidence will be boosted.

On Health …

We had been hit by a bout of flu that went round the family in July. What was worse than this was that I sprained my ankle badly on a morning jog. I fell down a flight of steps. Ever since then, my ankle has been healing ever so slowly. I envy those who can run and hop and jump with their good legs. 1 month after I sprained the ankle, I still cannot run for the bus. I cannot continue my Pilates and Zumba clases. I cannot run about with the kids. Another recent disappointment is that I have to give up any long distance runs for the time being. How can I even take for granted my good pair of legs before this? I am frustrated with the stupidity of not warming up before a run. This teaches me a painful lesson.

Perhaps there are still good things that comes out of this episode. I learnt to walk slower. I start to consciously take care of my body and avoid taking short cuts or compromise my posture, anything that will hurt my body. Hopefully I can be up and about in 3 months time.

On Reading …

I am reading slowly but not stopping. To inculcate a reading culture in our home, I removed decorative pieces from 2 shelves of the TV console to make way for books. The books are refreshed every now and then to entice the kids to pick up a book and read. We frequent the neighbourhood library, bought new books and brought the kids to sgbookdeals to grab 49 books for $50 in a box. I purposely leave books strewn about on the tables and bathroom for any chance that the kids will pick them up. I ask the kids to bring a book along to read while on public transport or waiting for meals. I have a book list chart for them to fill up completed titles. We have reading hours and bedtime reading if time permits. It takes time to build up a reading culture at home, and it is never too late to start now.

So, I am ending July 2017 with… contentment

Contentment

July was not an exciting month partly because we spent much time for Prelims Preparation (Click here if you wish to know more on how we prepared for our Prelims). However on weekends, we still bring the kids out to breathe fresh air, dispense their energy and for family bonding. Examinations will not stop these play times. I am totally thankful that so far, our no-tuition way works out for us so that we have more time to relax and indulge in more important things than academic. I hope August will be a healthier month for us and better luck to accompany us from now 🙂

How did your July go?

Ending June 2017 with…

I missed my “Ending May with…” last month due to high workload at work and examination preparation with the kids. I went on a business travel on the first day of school holidays to many heartaches. Blogging had to take a back seat. Well, as a FTWM, I guess I learnt to juggle comfortably with multiple roles daily in work, blog, kids, home and self-care. Each is important to me in different ways and perhaps all these put together make my life more fulfilling and endurable when life has a purpose. However, not all days are rosy and I do drop the balls every now and then. On times like this, family and friends are my main emotional support and encouragement. I am just too blessed to have them with me.

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I missed my “Ending May with…” last month due to high workload at work and examination preparation with the kids. I went on a business travel on the first day of school holidays to many heartaches. Blogging had to take a back seat. Well, as a FTWM, I guess I learnt to juggle comfortably with multiple roles daily in work, blog, kids, home and self-care. Each is important to me in different ways and perhaps all these put together make my life more fulfilling and endurable when life has a purpose. However, not all days are rosy and I do drop the balls every now and then. On times like this, family and friends are my main emotional support and encouragement. I am just too blessed to have them with me.

Missy 12 and revision

This topic continues… Missy 12 received many positive feedback on her attitude towards learning from her teachers during the Parent-Teacher meeting. Every one of her teachers praised her discipline and eagerness towards academic and leadership. They all agree that she should do alright in PSLE. I agree too. We do not have expectations to start with, hence, any improvement from now to Prelims and improvement from Prelims to PSLE, I am happy. I just have a wish that she enters the school of her choice which she very much wants to go.

Our revision in June is not as intensive as what her friends are going through. Ask her if she is stressed, she still says “No” which I am relieved. However, come July, I am pretty sure her school will load lots to prepare for Prelim in first week August and she will start feeling stressful, especially she has a piano exam in July too. But we will manage.

We still continue our night revision, although they are no longer just #30minrevision. During school holidays, we can do longer hours. We drafted a revision schedule on what topic to study and papers to do from now till Prelim. We do not want to overload and get Missy 12 burnt out before Prelim and PSLE, hence, it is important to moderate the intensity and duration appropriately. The main subjects to focus on are Math, Science and English. Math and Science take up much more time. Through Marshall Cavendish Science Workshop which I am attending right now (will be blogging on that soon!), we learnt about journaling and that got Missy very motivated to study Science. I am so thankful to the trainer.

Separation Anxiety strikes again

Oh, sometimes I think I suffer Separation Anxiety more than the children do. It struck twice for these 2 months. First one was when I was leaving for the airport for my business trip. The kids saw me off to the car and could not control their tears. I was holding back furiously too. But the moment the car turned out of sight, I started to tear. And I teared again when I entered the Departure Hall and waved to Kel. You must be rolling your eyes now. But I am that emotional.

The second time was when Master 10 went off for his 3D2N camp. I knew the camp would be fun and he would certainly enjoy very much with the company of his friends. Perhaps he is now much mature and grown up, I did not sense any separation anxiety in him. I missed him so much and found out that the mummies in the same chatgroup all missed their kids too. Some even drove to the camp site to peek and each day we tested our instinct and eyesight by spotting our kids in the shared camp photos updated on website. I often wondered how I can take it when Master 10 goes to Army 8 years later.

Fun Times

Mums hardly rest, do they? Even while I was busy preparing for my business trip, I needed to plan to ensure the household can run smoothly without my presence. I planned for activities prior to my trip and ensured my hub made them happen. I packed for Cold Storage Kids Run, Dads and Child Camp, scribbled fetch timings to and from school for school holiday activities, standby piano fees for teachers, assigned home revision for Missy 12, planned marketing, planned playdates, staycation, etc, etc, etc. And I was only away for 10 days.

So off the hub and Master 10 went to the Dads camp which was really a bonding session for them. The camp was fun except for the very warm night in the tent under the Singapore Flyer. It was more of an Army camp and they ate ration packs, went for rifle shooting, survival skills and lots more. Master 10 enjoyed the overnight camp.

We went for Safra Open House and tried on Canopy Walk and zip line which both became good training for our Bedok Forest Adventure Kids Course and Master 10’s school camp which had the similar obstacle course.

There were a lot more outings to the ice-skating rink at Jcube, Museum hopping, Amazonia indoor playground, BASF Lab, Forest Adventure, a staycation, Concert, a play and numerous playdates. We still have weekly bonding session with the grandparents for breakfast and frequent family home-cooked dinners at home. It was a good June holidays.

Mummy learns…

I have not given up on my appetite for reading. I am catching up on books and although a little slow, at least I am now reading my 5th book for this year, To Kill A Mocking Bird. A fantastic book that I had lots to learn from the characters and the author’s beautiful English language. I must remind myself to introduce this book to my kids to learn precious values like Respect, Standing strong by values in averse situation, Righteousness, and much more.

I am also attending classes too. I had attended a cooking class, attended Marshall Cavendish PSLE Science Workshop for Parents for 2 Saturdays in my quest for knowledge on coaching my Missy. I went for a Will-Writing seminar which was really entertaining and informative. I find gaining knowledge never stops at any age. It gives me the ability to tell stories and impart wisdom to my children.

[Not sponsored] A very entertaining talk on Will Writing! If you are married with kids and leave without a will, your parents run in the risk of getting nought from you and you shall be giving your spouse’s remarried partner 50% of your wealth! If you and spouse leave without a will, your kids may suffer at the hands of the guardians that are not chosen by you. So.. to have a will or not? I think the ans is obvious 🙂 And best thing is: it doesn’t cost much to have a will done! This talk is into its 4th session in 4 months and always sold out! You may like to go to @soulwealthygroup fb page to read up more on will writing. Btw, this is not a sponsored post, just sharing good knowledge! If you wish to have a will done or simply to find out more, PM me and I can share my trusted contact with you 🙂 . #kidsrsimple @financialliance #soulwealthygroup #willwriting #financial #seminar #financialplanning #sgmum #sgblog #sgblogger

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So, I am ending June 2017 with… lots of play before the big exams arrive!!! 

Seriously I am not so looking forward to the next 3 months due to the exam preparation. Even though compared to many, many out there, we are really taking it in our stride, and not competing with anyone else in revision speed or trying hard to make my money spent on assessment books worth. Much conscious effort is being made to moderate study stress and how much Missy can absorb or cope everyday. I don’t think she feel that her mummy is actually more stress than her because I make a good effort to shield my anxiety from her. Where does my anxiety come from? Frankly speaking, I blame myself partly for not catching her when she lagged behind in P3 and P4. Hence, I put lots of effort trying to bring her up to standard and my wish is that she does well enough to enter her dream school. I hope come end of the year, I can proudly say that she made it. But if she doesn’t, she still gets the BEST EFFORT AWARD from me, from her Daddy, and from our whole family.

How did your June go? 🙂